SILVICULTURAL SYSTEMS 



31 



The shelter trees which are left under this system to shade 

 the ground and the little seedhngs (thus distinguishing the 

 system particularly from the clear-cutting systems) are taken 

 out in the removal cuttings as soon as the reproduction is well 

 established. The first of these cuttings is made within three 

 or four years of the seed cutting. Under the most intensive 

 system, as developed in Europe, there are three or four of these 

 removal cuttings, including the final cutting, occurring at inter- 

 vals of about three years. The inevitable breakage in the re- 

 production caused by these cuttings, if severe enough to leave 

 gaps, is repaired by planting. 



The following table shows the occurrence of the various 

 cuttings used in this system, covering a period of twenty-five 

 years. The number of preparatory and removal cuttings will 

 undoubtedly be decreased and the total length of the period from 

 the first to the last cutting will be shortened in the use of the 

 system in New England. 



TABLE SHOWING DISTRIBUTION OF CUTTINGS UNDER 

 SHELTERWOOD SYSTEM AS MOST INTENSIVELY APPLIED. 



Kind of cutting. 



Preparatory cuttings. . 



Seed cutting 



Removal cuttings 



Including final cutting. 



Date of 

 beginning. 



1900 

 1910 

 191S 

 1925 



Approximate 

 number of 

 cuttings. 



Percentage of 



original stand 



removed. 



25 to 40 

 25 to 50 



10 to 50 



II. Systems Depending on Reproduction Wholly or Partly 

 from Sprouts (Coppice). 



The systems already described depend for their success upon 

 the production and growth of young trees from seed. The 

 following systems depend largely on the ability of trees to sprout 

 when cut back. Naturally these systems can only be apphed 

 in forests composed of trees which sprout readily. In this 

 country the most prolific sprouters are chestnut, oak, basswood, 



