158 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE . 



it overreaches the end in view of preparing good and 

 sufficient material for the reserve. 



Another suggestion is to select blanks or poorly 

 stocked places, loosen the soil in spots nine to twelve 

 feet wide in every direction, and put a certain num- 

 ber of young transplants in each. These spots are 

 difficult to find afterwards, and therefore to look 

 after; moreover, of all the transplants crowded 

 together in each spot, only one is likely to prove 

 useful. 



The defect common to these several methods results 

 from their being practicable only after the coppice is 

 cut, that is to say, when the new stool crop has 

 already made its appearance. This is a circumstance 

 eminently unfavourable to transplants, whose growth 

 is already forcibly retarded by the mere removal 

 from the nursery bed. We must therefore seek to 

 carry out the planting before the coppice is cut. 

 For several years past the planting out of young 

 seedlings at the time the crop is thinned has been 

 attended with marked success. The transplants are 

 put out as regularly as possible, but especially on 

 blanks, under high cover or under reserves which 

 will be removed at the next felling. As coppice 

 grows with difficulty under cover, the transplants 

 are not cut back at once. During the few years 

 which still remains before the rotation closes, they 

 scarcely make any growth ; but they establish them- 

 selves in the soil, and are only cut back along with 

 the coppice. They are then quite strong enough to 

 throw off one or two shoots, which make their 

 appearance simultaneously with the young coppice 



