60 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUKE. 



time of the final cutting, or shortly afterwards, 

 cleanings become necessary to set free the oak, 

 whether these are self-sown or planted. These 

 cleanings will get rid of the soft woods, inferior 

 species which may have crept in, and especially those 

 beech which threaten to overtop the oak. It may 

 even happen that a few partial cleanings have to be 

 made before the final cutting itself. 



When there is a large majority of oak seedlings in 

 the young -crop, there must be no hesitation in 

 sacrificing a few of them here and there, so as to 

 secure a proportionate mixture in the future. 



Cleanings may thus commence what thinnings will 

 complete, viz., the attainment of a satisfactory propor- 

 tion between the two principal trees, and the 

 assurance of their healthy vegetation. 



THINNINGS. We must never lose sight of the fact 

 that the oak should always have its crown free if we 

 want to obtain large sized and well lignified timber. 

 This is often a source of serious difficulty in the 

 treatment of mixed oak and beech, because the latter, 

 even when its upward growth slackens, still pushes 

 ahead at least as fast as the oak, whose bole has to 

 be guaranteed against the formation of epicormic 

 branches. Nevertheless if from the very beginning 

 the thinnings are always carried out with a view to 

 favouring the oak, excellent results maybe obtained. 

 To this end during the first thinnings, the forester 

 will make it a point to fell the tallest and most 

 vigorous beech among those which are in the 

 immediate vicinity of oak, leaving untouched by 

 preference those that are slightly overtopped. The 



