IMPROVEMENT CUTTINGS 



8l 



These crown classes are as follows: 



Dominant; which contains the leading trees having compara- 

 tively symmetrical crowns and receiving full light. 



Codominant; which includes trees a Httle shorter than the 

 dominant ones and with smaller crowns crowded on the side. 



Fig. 31. — The .-aiiic ijlaiUdiiuu bciuie I liiuiiiii.'. Xuic the dcuse dark appearance of the 

 stand in contrast to its appearance after thinning. Ahhough the stand is 27 years 

 old the dead branches still persist on the trees down to the ground. On the trees in 

 the foreground the lower dead limbs have been knocked off. 



Intermediate; comprising trees shorter than those in the pre- 

 ceding class and with crowns open to Light only from above and 

 seriously crowded on all sides. 



Suppressed; including all Kving trees with crowns entirely 

 overtopped. They can obtain only filtered light. 



Dead; containing all standing dead trees. 



There may be in a stand a wide range from dominant to dead 

 trees and it may often be difficult to distinguish in which of two 

 adjacent classes a tree belongs. This is especially true between 

 dominant and codominant trees and between codominant and 



