152 ELEMENTS OF STLVICULTUEE . 



But very soon the stool-clumps spread out and unite 

 their crowns, forming a leaf-canopy, and the seedlings 

 are inevitably destroyed under their low cover. It 

 is therefore necessary to come to their aid, at the 

 latest four or five years after the last cutting. 



The time when cleanings should begin is easily 

 determined, since reproduction is obtained at once 

 by means of shoots. It is sufficient to find out how 

 long oak seedlings can remain mixed up with the 

 rest of the coppice without disappearing entirely or 

 at least without beginning to wither. It is obvious 

 that one single cleaning will even less fulfil its 

 object here than in a high forest ; it should there- 

 fore be repeated every four or five years until the 

 fifteenth or twentieth year of the coppice. 



In these cleaning operations, while aiming at 

 setting seedlings free, the saving of every one of 

 them is not for a moment to be thought of, when 

 their number is very large. It will be quite enough 

 to uncover a few everywhere, where there is any 

 chance of their preservation. The first cleaning 

 must consist in cutting the overhanging plants down 

 to the ground; in subsequent operations of this 

 nature, it is better only to cut them just below the 

 level of the seedlings. By keeping up a continuous 

 mass of foliage below, the disengaged seedlings are 

 drawn up and natural pruning is favoured. 



The first cleanings will yield no marketable pro- 

 duce. That is a strong reason for getting them 

 executed by the forest guards, among whose duties 

 this will be one of the most important. More than 

 this, the guards alone are in a position to do them 



