100 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE. 



out in the first periodic block will differ from the 

 ordinary cuttings, in that the chief aim should be 

 rather to take advantage of already existing seedlings 

 and to blend them together, than to obtain new 

 ones. From this point of view, it is evident that 

 crops in the various stages of thicket, saplings, and 

 even young poles can grow up side by side without 

 inconvenience to each other ; the differences in 

 height will disappear in course of time. The only 

 places where we may endeavour to obtain new seed- 

 lings are in spots that are blank or covered with 

 dwarfed plants ; but it must not be forgotten that 

 the silver fir and the beech are endowed with the 

 property of shooting up vigorously as soon as they 

 are uncovered. Each annual cutting may thus vary 

 in its nature from point to point, resembling here a 

 primary cutting, there a secondary or final cutting, 

 according to the condition of the underwood. In a 

 word, it is not nearly so important to look for im- 

 mediate regularity, as to obtain a crop in a promis- 

 ing state of growth which may be regularised during 

 the subsequent regeneration. 



The selection fellings over the remainder of the 

 forest must be confined solely to taking away all 

 trees that are dead, unsound, or completely decaying, 

 while preserving any trees that are only just mature, 

 or are still flourishing, no matter what be their size. 

 The wants of the market will be abundantly sup- 

 plied by the operations in the first block. As the 

 selection fellings will pass through the forest every 

 year, or at any rate at short intervals, opportunities 

 of removing old trees, as soon as they are thoroughly 



