358 



FORESTRY IN NEW ENGLAND 



better suited than the simple coppice system for use with oak 

 where the rotation must be long enough to produce timber, and 

 where expense of logging and slow growth do not prevent thin- 

 nings and the gradual removal of the mature stand. 



The length of the rotation will depend somewhat on the 

 species. Where red oak is abundant with a sprinkling of 

 chestnut, a rotation as low as sixty years can be used and good 

 yields of timber secured. But when other oaks compose the 



Fig. 134. — Mixed hardwood type. A stand of chestnut and oak 5 years after being 

 thinned. Note the thick leaf litter and lack of undergrowth showing that the thinning 

 was not too heavy. A reproduction cutting under the polewood sprout system will 

 now be made. Age of stand 70 years. 



stand seventy or eighty years will be needed. At this greater 

 age many of the stumps will fail to sprout, and seedling repro- 

 duction must be relied upon to fill the gaps. The details of 

 making the cuttings have already been described under the 

 description of the polewood sprout system.^ Several thinnings 

 during the rotation can be made under this system. 



Quite a variety of products can be secured from stands of 

 the mixed hardwoods type, lumber, ties, poles, and piles being 

 the principal ones. It is not necessary to determine in advance 

 of maturity the particular one of these products into which the 



^ See chapter on "Silvicultural Systems." 



