THE NORTHERN HARDWOODS REGION 



277 



be a comparatively small demand for species adapted to sterile, 

 sandy sites, as little of such land occurs in this region. Norway 

 pine can be advantageously mixed in the plantations of white 

 pine as a precaution against the various enemies of the latter. 

 European larch is another good tree for planting on the well- 

 drained, fertile soils of the hardwood type. 



Naturally the first sites planted will be the vacant fields not 

 now used for agriculture. When this class of land is stocked the 



Fig. 95. — A field in Vermont on which shifting sand is encroaching. The sandy lands 

 from which the sand comes should be fixed by planting. 



planting of poorly stocked hardwood land, where handled in- 

 tensively, can be started. The method of planting this class of 

 land, using only a few hundred plants per acre, is described in 

 the Chapter on Planting. 



I. Hardwood. — In handling stands of this type the selec- 

 tion system will give satisfactory results. The species to be 

 favored (ash, sugar maple, yellow birch, basswood, and red oak) 

 are easily managed under this method, as they are either very 

 tolerant or fairly so. Ash is the least tolerant of those men- 



