THE SPRUCE REGION 229 



cutting method must be used and, if seedling reproduction is 

 desired, special provision must be made to have the seed bed in 

 best condition for the germination of these two species. They 

 both need exposed mineral soil and plenty of light for satis- 

 factory reproduction. To secure such a condition on the clear- 

 cut areas it will be best to burn the brush and ground cover. 

 This can be done by allowing fire to run over the whole area. In 

 burning over the area great care must be taken to prevent the 

 spread of fire to adjoining stands. Lines fifteen to twenty-five 

 feet wide should be cleared of all inflammable material on the 

 edges, and, if the tract to be burned is a large one, at intervals 

 across it. Then the burning should be done against the wind 

 on a still day in damp weather, with a sufficient force of men at 

 hand to control its spread. 



The seedling reproduction on these burned-over areas must be 

 secured from belts or patches of uncut timber along the sides of 

 the cutting, or an occasional seed tree left on the cut-over area. 

 All conifers to the lowest merchantable size should be removed. 

 What seedlings and saplings remain will be destroyed in burning, 

 and the site left free for birch and poplar. 



Instead of depending on seedhngs for reproduction it may be 

 secured by sprouts in the case of the birch and by root suckers 

 in the case of the poplar. This is really the coppice system, 

 which consists of cutting the stand clear and allowing the sprouts 

 from the old stumps to make the second crop. The stand must 

 be cut when not over fifty to sixty years of age for birch, as above 

 that age birch sprouts poorly (see Forest Service Circular, 

 No. 163); for poplar, when fifty to seventy years of age. This 

 system could not be used without burning where a dense conifer- 

 ous undergrowth was present, as the conifers would suppress a 

 majority of the sprouts or root suckers. 



A light fire will not completely destroy the power of the birch 

 stumps to sprout, although it weakens them. Poplar root 

 suckers will start even when the stump has been quite badly 

 burned. A fire in the summertime injures the sprouting capac- 

 ity of both species. 



