136 



CORSICA 

 TABLE 19. CUTTING 



This was virtually a light improvement cutting, with the 

 addition of a few of the best veterans. 



It is always possible to mark heavier at the next felling and 

 the present tendency is unmistakably toward lighter marking, 

 owing to the object lessons of past sales where too many trees 

 were removed. 



An inspection of the Valdoniello forest cutting justifies the 

 following deductions as to marking: where the stand is open 

 though mature, but with poor regeneration, only fungus in- 

 fected or defective trees are cut; on a ridge trees are usually 

 left for seed until they are actually dead or dying; along roads 

 trees are left for shade and for scenic purposes, one inspector 

 going to the extreme of leaving a few dead trees that he thought 

 added to the picturesqueness of a rural highway. 



On a slope where the regeneration had come in on fully three- 

 fourths of the area, one-half to three-fifths of the scattering over- 

 story was cut. The removal included mature and defective 

 trees. Yet many mature trees shading regeneration were left 

 in accordance with the policy of irregularizing the forest as a 

 fire protective measure. One of the unfortunate features of 

 marking, in Corsica (as in other parts of Europe), is the yield 

 limitations which often hinder the application of correct silvical 

 marking. The problem often arises: given a cut of 400 cubic 

 metres (14,125 cu. ft.), which should be distributed over an 

 area of 27 hectares (66 acres), what trees shall be cut? 



