96 OUR VANISHING FORESTS 



viously marked in accordance with theories and 

 precepts more than a century old. First just a few 

 trees are removed to allow the light to filter through 

 the leaf canopy and permit new seed to germinate 

 in the soil — the "seeding cut," they call it — then, 



The whole forest policy of European nations rests upon one basic 



principle. Every time they cut a tree they take care that another shall 



grow in its place. 



several years later, a few more old trees to give the 

 young ones a better chance; and finally when the 

 new forest is safely established under the old, down 

 come the remaining mother trees and it is only 

 necessary to await the beginning of the next cycle. 



