EXAMPLE OF A CONVERSION. 181 



caution, and generally in two instalments. It should 

 include all trees which exercise an injurious effect 

 on the seedlings, be they the old standards or the 

 poles spared from the last stool crops. Though lower, 

 the cover of these poles may be less hurtful than that 

 furnished by the dense and spreading crowns of old 

 beech trees. On the other hand, the cover of an old 

 oak is often less injurious than the less ample but 

 lower cover of young beech and hornbeam. This 

 cutting requires great prudence and savoir-faire. 

 Moreover, it is necessary to guard against the develop- 

 ment of shoots on the young stools ; this may be done 

 by being careful not to let in too much light. In spite 

 of the primary cutting having been made close, some 

 shoots may nevertheless have sprung up. These 

 shoots must be cut back when a year of abundant 

 seed presents itself; at the latest they must be cut 

 back at the time of making the secondary cutting. 

 The final cutting should be made in the same 

 manner as in high forests, that is to say, when the 

 seedlings form a thicket and have nothing to fear 

 from exposure to atmospheric influences. But here, 

 even more than in actually existing high forests, 

 there is every reason for reserving promising oak 

 trees, for the reserve contains second class standards 

 and young third class standards, which are still far 

 from being fit to fall. These ought not to be cut 

 except at the time of the successive coppice fellings, 

 and besides this, their immediate exploitation would 

 be little productive. Their number need not cause 

 any anxiety, since only those which seem promising 

 ought to be reserved, and such trees are but rarely 



