30 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE. 



seedlings is complete, the time will have come to 

 give them more light. This is effected by the 

 secondary cutting. 



But before proceeding any further, we must be 

 quite agreed as to what we mean by a complete crop 

 of seedlings. Strictly speaking, it is one which 

 entirely covers the ground. But although such 

 a result would always be desirable, it is seldom 

 attained in one single year. The only case in which 

 we may insist on it is where we have to deal with 

 young plants of delicate constitution which can live 

 on under cover from one year of seed to another. 

 But in the case of hardy trees, while we are thus 

 waiting for another fall of seed, we run the risk of 

 seeing the young plants die off one by one under the 

 cover, and having the crop always incomplete. In 

 this case we must generally be content with a partial 

 sowing, provided that the young plants are well 

 distributed, and are in sufficiently strong numbers to 

 close over the ground by the time they have reached 

 the thicket stage, say in ten years. 



The general procedure is to mark for felling the 

 trees that overshadow the most completely stocked 

 and vigorous patches of seedlings, and to leave un- 

 touched every spot where there are no young plants- 

 Much judgment is required in this operation ; 

 while increasing the supply of light we mustgaard 

 against the drying up of the soil, which the seedlings 

 cannot as yet protect by themselves. 



Thus, in the majority of instances, we are obliged 

 to extend the secondary cutting over several opera- 

 tions, a practice that is necessary in the case of 



