EXAMPLE OF A CONVEESION. 185 



regeneration arrives, and that hence it is wise to 

 distribute the produce among the different fellingr, 

 in order to avoid too great inequalities in the annual 

 yield. Lastly, if a numerous reserve of young plants 

 has been formed, the temporary preservation of a 

 few standards of the third class cannot present any 

 danger ; when they are ripe for the axe, their extrac- 

 tion will not compromise reproduction. It must be 

 clearly understood that the importance of preserving 

 these old standards has been urged chiefly with 

 reference to the species oak. As for beech it is 

 more advantageous to preserve first and second class 

 standards than old trees in these provisional coppice 

 cuttings. 



Hence it may be asserted : 



(I.) that in marking for reserves, while preserving 

 the largest number possible of first and second class 

 standards, the nearer the period of regeneration is, 

 the stronger reason there is for reserving old oak, 

 even if they are just beginning to decay ; 



(II.) that if the young reserve is numerous in the 

 blocks which stand last in the order of regeneration, 

 of standards above the second class, only those 

 which are still really unfit to cut ought to be pre- 

 served. 



In these coppice cuttings it is necessary to be very 

 careful not to omit the different accessory up-keep 

 operations, notably the pruning of first class stand- 

 ards to add to their length of bole, and cutting off epi- 

 cormic branches on oaks of all classes. Also advantage 

 should be taken, if it is necessary, to plant out a few 

 young oak, whether with the object of afterwards 



