458 REARING OF THE ESTABLISHED CROP. 



market at all for most of the intermediate produce or its selling 

 price is so low as not even to recoup cost of felling and removal ;. 

 in the fourth place, the exercise of rights and especially the whole- 

 sale concessions made to grazing interests leave us but few forests 

 in which we can adopt any intensive system of treatment ; and in 

 the last place, our establishments are as yet too small and, in many 

 cases, also too little instructed and experienced, to cary out opera- 

 tions which require close and constant attention and the highest skilL 



Such being the case, it might be considered sufficient to de- 

 scribe these various operations in a summary manner. We are 

 however, of opinion that a Manual which professes to treat of 

 general principles, would be incomplete without a more or less full 

 discussion and exposition of so important a branch of sylviculture. 

 The minuter developments of the theory ot thinnings, on which 

 alone a large volume could be written, have obviously not been, 

 touched upon. 



The young crop requires a different kind of treatment from the 

 older one. For all practical purposes we may divide the period 

 from the establishment of the crop to the commencement of its 

 regeneration into three distinct stages, each requiring a separate 

 method of treatment. The first stage lasts as long as there is no very 

 marked differentiation between neighbouring stems. Then comes 

 the second stage, which gives place to the third only when the 

 component trees have begun to show a strong tendency to expand 

 themselves laterally. In each individual case, when the one stage 

 ends and the next one begins depends on the constitution of the 

 crop and the purpose it has to fulfil, and on the nature of the soil 

 and the climate. 



In the first stage, we protect and complete the crop, while also* 

 strengthening it in order to enable the stronger individuals to 

 bring themselves clearly into evidence. In the second stage, we 

 endeavour to regulate its composition and development during the 

 phase of rapid elongation before the component trees have assumed 

 a tendency to expand themselves laterally with vigour, while in 

 the third we undertake to control and foster the growth of the 

 crop when the component trees have begun to show this tendency- 

 This last stage can of course be precipitated if the early produc- 

 tion of stems of a certain diameter is specially required, but then 

 per contra length of stem and bole has to that extent to be sacri- 

 ficed. 



During the first stage, the fostering operations to be undertaken 

 are (a) care of advance growth, (b) general protection against ex- 



