HERMAN H. CHAPMAN 51 



inherited these undesirable qualities. The seedlings will 

 be very certain to produce trees which have the general 

 characteristics of the old stand, and not of the single tree. 

 Only in case all or most of the trees in a vicinity are stunted, 

 crooked or otherwise defective, will the seedlings of 

 any one tree inherit these qualities since in such a case 

 it is evidently the general conditions which have produced 

 these qualities. 



The real objection to leaving rotten seed trees pur- 

 posely is that they can never be utilized and are a dead 

 loss. With increased value of wood, there are very few 

 trees that it will not pay to cut and use at least in part. 

 But by the time a second cutting comes around, such trees 

 will have blown down from weakness, due to rot and old 

 age. The best plan is to select sound, young, thrifty trees 

 which are old enough to produce plenty of seed. These 

 trees will increase greatly in size, remain sound, and form 

 a valuable part of the next cut. The chief danger in 

 using this method is from windfall. Trees suddenly ex- 

 posed on all sides to the wind are apt to blow down be- 

 fore they have time to adjust their roots and stump to 

 the new strain. The older the tree is the greater the dan- 

 ger. In selecting trees it is possible to choose trees which 

 are as exposed as possible, since such trees have already 

 become adjusted to wind strain. The species which lend 

 themselves most readily to this method are strong rooted 

 trees, which ordinarily grow in somewhat open stands, 

 as the western yellow pine or the southern yellow pines. 

 Shallow rooted trees like spruce would be almost sure to 

 blow down, and even white pine in the mountains of 

 Montana, on shallow soil, was found to be unable to stand 

 when left singly. 



Selection System. The opposite extreme to clear- 

 cutting for reproduction is found in what is known as 

 the selection system. Tinder this plan, only the oldest 

 and largest trees of a forest are removed, leaving most 



