150 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE. 



felling is to be made, when a quarter or a half 

 of the whole surface still remains to be examined. 



For the sake of despatch there is often a tendency 

 to mark the trees to be reserved and to measure 

 those to be felled, simultaneously one with the 

 other. 



This is a vicious practice, as it exposes the forester 

 both to make a bad selection of reserves and an 

 erroneous estimate of the quantity of produce to be 

 cut. This last fault might, strictly speaking, be- 

 come insignificant if there is an active competition 

 among purchasers ; but the effects of an injudicious 

 selection of reserves are felt for several rotations. 

 It is therefore necessary to execute this latter 

 operation with the greatest possible care. When 

 the estimation of the material to be cut is taken in 

 hand separately, after the reserves have been marked, 

 the forest officer is obliged to pass all the trees in 

 review a second time, at least the oaks. He is thus 

 often led to preserve standards of more than one 

 rotation, which were either overlooked owing to an 

 imperfect examination or forgotten in the pre-occupa- 

 tion of keeping the register correctly. No doubt 

 this method requires a little more time, but it is only 

 a question of a few minutes, and time spent in 

 examining the forest is never time lost. It is thus 

 that the execution of these operations becomes a 

 labour of love, and the public no less than the 

 proprietors cannot but gain by it. 



ANNUAL YIELD. As for simple coppice, so also for 

 coppice with standards, and for the same reasons, 

 the annual yield should be based on area. To the 



