86 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE. 



too great the stumps of felled trees should be dug 

 out, and if necessary the soil may be lightly cultivated. 

 If the ground is quite bare, it will generally be suffi- 

 cient to rake it over. In a word, loosening the soil 

 on the surface is the necessary condition for success. 



As soon as one or two plants are found on the 

 square yard the sowing may be considered complete ; 

 and when they are three years old, and are fairly 

 verticillated, the secondary cutting will be made. 

 About one half the reserve must now be taken out, 

 the other half being allowed to stand until the 

 young thicket is fairly established. In the present 

 case it is not the species that requires the secondary 

 cutting to be made, for the young plant is exceedingly 

 hardy, and fears neither frost nor heat, but the 

 operation is necessitated by the danger that invari- 

 ably attends too great an accumulation of produce 

 on the surface of the ground. As in the case of the 

 cak, and especially in order that additional age may 

 reduce the large proportion of sapwood, it may prove 

 advantageous to leave a few reserves in sheltered 

 spots at the time of the final cutting. 



IMPKOVEMENT CUTTINGS. It is seldom necessary 

 to make cleanings in forests of Scotch pine on sandy 

 and dry soils ; very few other species are found with 

 it there, and their growth is moreover slower. The 

 birch alone can compete with it in speed, but it is 

 rarely dangerous. 



The Scotch pine requires so much light that its 

 branches never interlace, and on that account the 

 periodical thinnings may be made sooner than for 

 other species ; but they should be moderate at first, 



