32 FORESTRY IN NEW ENGLAND 



birch, maple, especially soft maple, ash, hickory, and other 

 hardwoods. 



There are three systems depending wholly or partly on sprout 

 reproduction : 



A. Simple Coppice. 



B. Coppice with Standards. 



C. Pole-wood Coppice. 



A. SIMPLE coppice. 



Under this system which is so simple that it has long been 

 practiced in southern New England, the stand is cut clear and 

 allowed to sprout up again from the stumps. Usually several 

 sprouts start from a single stump although only a few live to 

 attain tree size. In the western part of Connecticut where the 

 forests have been repeatedly cut under this system at intervals 

 of about twenty years for the production of charcoal for the 

 iron mines, it is possible to distinguish three or four generations 

 of stumps in many wood lots, each younger generation of stumps 

 surrounding the older ones. The system is so easy of applica- 

 tion that neglect is common and a forest is very apt to dete- 

 riorate. Some species continue to sprout freely much longer 

 than others, but nearly all after a certain age fail to sprout 

 vigorously. Chestnut, for example, generally sprouts well if 

 cut at loo years or even at 120 years, while white oak sprouts 

 poorly after sixty years. To maintain thrifty, fully-stocked 

 coppice stands short rotations are necessary. Ordinarily the 

 rotation must be less than forty years except for a species hke 

 chestnut, which sprouts well to a considerable age. Therefore 

 the simple coppice system is chiefly applicable for the production 

 of fuel, and for this purpose is generally applied in Europe on a 

 rotation of about twenty years. In this country where fuel wood 

 is as yet such a drug on the market, the system has little to 

 recommend it. To secure the best results in sprouting the trees 

 should be cut between September 15 and April i. The stumps 

 should be left with a clean slanting surface so that water will 

 not settle in them and cause decay. 



