European Plans of Forest Management. 103 



ground previously prepared) over its whole surface, or in squares or 

 pockets, so as to be near enough together to shade the whole ground 

 in two or three years, and thus take an upward growth to reach the 

 air and light. They should be thinned out when too dense, but no 

 rule can be given as to the time when, and the extent to which this 

 thinning should be done, where so much depends upon circum- 

 stances, and the judgment of the forester in charge. 



399. In Germany, upon a good soil, and a uniform growth, the 

 number of trees at different clearings, after the trees get to be of a 

 considerable size, is about as follows : 



1st clearing, at 30 to 40 years, 1 ,300 to 1 ,600 trees left to an acre. 

 2d " " 50 to 60 " 500 to 600 

 3d " " 70 to 80 " 300 to 400 

 4th " "90 to 100 " 200 to 250 



400. In the evergreen or coniferous kinds the number left may 

 be greater, because, with a given size of body, the foliage is less. 

 Upon poor soils and in rude climates it may be greater, because the 

 trees will be smaller, and upon mountain sides the same, because the 

 trees do not then shade one another so much, and are better exposed 

 to the light. 



401. Much importance is attached to these thinnings, for they 

 secure a great gain in value of the final product, besides that de- 

 rived from the trees taken out, and that would have perished from 

 shading out if left to themselves. From the first of these thinnings 

 they have a value, which increased at every time, from poles to 

 timber of useful size; and at all stages they furnish wood for fuel 

 and charcoal. 



402. While these accessory products afford in advanced stages a 

 revenue, much above the whole cost of supervision and labor, their 

 removal stimulates the growth of the remainder in a notable degree, 

 and they gain much faster in size, as their branches and roots find 

 more room to spread. By letting in the sun and the air, they con- 

 tribute to give qualities of solidity and elasticity, that they could 

 not acquire in a dense shade. 



403. In a well kept woodland, dead and dying trees should be 

 taken out whenever found, as their presence favors the breeding of 

 beetles, that might injure the remaining trees. It is a poor policy to 

 allow the dead leaves and the litter to be taken out ; but when the 



