THE ART OF THE SECOND GROWTH 



forming a separate and detaclied root system for the sprout inde- 

 pendent from the mother stump. This is the case in species forming 

 sprouts from the base of the .stump (at the root collar). 



V. Optimum number of stumps per acre: 



The optimum depends on ihe length of the rotation. It is con- 

 sidered to be: For German Oak coppice, rotation twenty years, 

 2,000 stumps per acre; for Osier culture, rotation one or two years, 

 80,000 stumps per acre. 



VI. Manner of Coppicing: The use of the axe is preferable to 

 that of the saw. Stumps should be as low as possible, to begin with. 

 In case of stumps — notably Beech and Birch — coppiced a number of 

 times it is better to cut in the new wood. The scar should allow the 

 water to run off, instead of collecting it like a saucer. The expense 

 of the genesis of the coppice forest is practically nil. 



VII. Season of coppicing: 



If the wood must be peeled, the cut should be made in early 

 spring. Late spring cutting subjects the new sprouts to early 

 frosts. Coppicing in August is supposed — for similar reasons — to 

 aft'ect the vitality of the stumps. Where the slioots are not to be 

 peeled, cutting in late winter is best. Winter cutting prevents the 

 stumps from bleeding and allows to remove the product cut before 

 the appearance of new shoots without injuring the stumps. 



Cutting in fall subjects the stumps to frost-cracks and to bark- 

 blistering; it causes the new fleshy shoots to appear early in spring, 

 at the season of prevailing late frosts. 



Accessibility of the locality at the proposed season of cutting 

 and availability of local labor further determine the season of 

 cutting. 



VIII. Reinforcing: Where the number of stumps is or becomes 

 deficient, there the owner may plant seedlings or stump-plants to 

 replenish the growing stock. 



B. Root suckers: Cottonwood, Willow, Locust, Alder, some 

 Elms and Maples, after European experience Liriodendron, also 

 Beech in the Southern Appalachians, form root suckers, especially 

 on porous soil. The suckers are increased by locally uncovering the 

 porous soil. They might be severed from the stump and planted 

 when two or three years old; but this is expensive. Gardeners 

 often use pieces of roots, say ten inches long and finger-thick, for 

 propagating broad-leafed species in good soil. An observer in F. 

 and J., May, 1904, claims to have found that Fir and Spruce 

 in tlie Presidential Range of the White Mountains propagate their 

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