12 FORESTRY TN NEW ENGLAND 



these early operations, but to-day when railroad transportation 

 has brought coal to the cities from long distances and manu- 

 facture is given an impetus, the demand is for softwood lumber 

 and the systems of management have been changed to produce 

 it. A mixed forest provides against such changes of the market 

 by furnishing different classes of timber. On the other hand, 

 pure forests have now well-recognized advantages, the primary 

 one being the simplicity of management. While the chances 

 for injury are greater than with mixed forests, the profits are 

 also greater if such injury is avoided, for a pure forest of trees 

 adapted to a situation will produce more valuable timber than 

 a mixed one. 



Much can be said theoretically in favor of each kind. For 

 practical purposes in New England, it may be said that good 

 management of our existing mixed forests will gradually restrict 

 the mixture to two or three of the most valuable species; while 

 plantations will be made pure, at least over small areas. As 

 certain soil-fertilizing qualities are furnished by the heavy shade 

 and decaying foliage of less valuable species, such as beech and 

 hemlock, they may be sometimes planted, but this planting 

 should usually be in the form of under-planting. 



Mixed forests undoubtedly have a greater aesthetic value than 

 large pure forests, and for this reason will always be character- 

 istic of estate forests. 



Coppice and High Forests. 



Nearly all the deciduous trees of New England have the 

 ability to resprout when cut, a power common to only one or 

 two conifers. In some cases these sprouts spring from the top 

 of the stump, but with most trees from its base. In the New 

 England forest, chestnut is the most prolific sprouter as regards 

 the number of sprouts, their thriftiness, and the advanced age 

 to which it is able to produce them. While the white oak 

 sprouts but little after the age of sixty years, there are numerous 

 cases of chestnuts which have grown from stumps one hundred 

 and ten years or more old. Besides the chestnut and various 



