IMPROVEMENT CUTTINGS 



77 



widespreading crowns are interfering with a younger growth that 

 it is desired to favor. Unhke cleanings where the trees removed 

 dififer in age from those left by only a few years, liberation 



Fig. 26. — A liberation cutting is needed to remove the large oak to free the young 

 growth which is already feeling the effects of the crowding. 



cuttings remove trees of a much older age class than the re- 

 mainder of the stand. 



A study of the diagrams of cleanings and liberation cuttings 

 on page 78 will make this point clear. Two diagrams of Hbera- 

 tion cuttings are given. The first is in a very young stand 

 of seedlings with large trees high above them. This form is 

 very similar to the final cutting under the shelterwood system 



