THE ART OF THE SECOND GROWTH 



III. The cultured forest is still a rarity in the United States, 

 and will continue to be a rarity during our lifetime. 



Imagine for a moment, that the famous Black forest of Ger- 

 many were suddenly transferred, with its fine Spruce woods, its 

 splendid roads and its skilled laborers, into the heart of the Adi- . 

 rondacks! Would it be wise, financially, to continue its sj'lvicul- 

 tural treatment as inaugurated in Germany? 



It certainly would; the logs salable in the Black Forest are 

 also salable in the Adirondacks at a good profit. And a network of 

 splendicl roads would tend to cheapen transportation by exactly 

 that many cents per standard, which the stvmipage itself would 

 gain per standard. 



On the other hand, that same Black Forest transferred to the 

 Pacific coast — say into the Olympic mountains — -would certainly 

 prove a financial and therefore a sylvicultural failure. 



The better it pays to cull the forest, the closer at hand is 

 the time of the cultured forest. 



It must be kept in mind, however, that the change from the 

 culled to the cultured forest requires, aside from a market for the 

 products obtained and from the willingness of the owner to embark 

 in sylvicultural investments 



a. Investments in permanent means of transportation; 



b. Relative safety from forest fires; 



c. Time. 



Wherever the woods emerge in a decrepit condition from the 

 primeval stage after reckless lumbering, heavy fires, unlimited 

 pasturage, theie the ado^jtion of a system will be found necessary 

 after scores of years breaking entirely with the past and raising, 

 after thorough destruction of the past growth, by artificial means 

 a new crop of valuable species. 



Large, continuous clearings badly resist reforestation; they be- 

 have, in this respect, like the prairies, although on a smaller scale. 

 Extensive, even-aged woods form " incubators " for disastrous dis- 

 eases; sufl"er from snow, storm, drought, and frost. On the other 

 hand, their management is greatly facilitated, so that reinforcing, 

 cleaning, thinning, regeneration and utilization are much cheapened. 



B. Selection of form by the forester. 



I. The primeval forms of seed forest found by the forester 

 usually appear unretainable. Whatever the case be, the first stroke 

 of the axe is sure to remove the mature and hypermature trees, 

 the preponderance of which belongs to the character of any primeval 

 form. 



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