European Plans of Forest Management. 97 



are eaten off, or are broken down, and the tendency to ruin is 

 hastened. 



363. In such woodlands, where trees are felled every year, the 

 young timber is very liable to injury, bare places are very apt to 

 form, and the general tendency is to a continual narrowing in of 

 the boundary and final clearing off. In such irregular forests, the 

 wirus are apt to do more injury than where the growth is uniform, 

 and the timber itself is generally not so valuable, on account of the 

 injuries and accidents to which it is exposed when young, and the 

 unequal growth that it forms. Nevertheless, in certain cases, it is 

 the only form of management that is admissible, as, for example, 

 upon a mountain side liable to erosion from torrents, if all cleared 

 at once, or in places difficult of access, where large timber could 

 not be got out, or upon loose sands that might be liable to drift, if 

 fully exposed to the winds. 



364. In the case of pine or spruce woodlands, and in cedar 

 swamps, where ail interval of several years occurs between the cut- 

 tings, and due protection is given, the practice of selection is a good 

 one, because in such cases a chance for seeding is afforded at each 

 partial clearing, and the younger growth has the benefit of air and 

 light, most favorable to its welfare. 



365. In all cases, where the young growth becomes too dense, so 

 that the branches interlock, it is advisable to thin out a part, in 

 order to favor the growth of the remainder. In some localities, the 

 young trees thus taken out may be profitably used for stakes and 

 poles, affording a small revenue to the owner. 



(2.) Method of Coppice-growth. 



366. The term "coppice" is applied to a woodland that is cut 

 off completely when the timber has grown to a size for the uses to 

 which it is intended, and a new growth is allowed to spring up from 

 the roots and stumps. 



367. We have scarcely an instance among the resinous species in 

 which this can be done with advantage. But very few * will sprout 



lf The redwood of California (Sequoia sempervirens) is a notable exception 

 to this rule, as it sprouts freely from the stump, and even from the fallen 

 timber, if cut at the proper season. The pitch-pine of New England (Pinus 

 rigirln) shows some tendency to sprout, but the sprouts seldom attain much 

 growth. 



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