1 4 NO TES ON FORES TR Y. 



short of that full light which fosters the appear- 

 ance of dense undergrowth ; and by the time the 

 bulk of one generation has disappeared, a succeed- 

 ing generation is sufficiently strong to hold 

 together and shelter the soil on hillsides, and to 

 triumph over the undergrowth of shrubs in any 

 'condition. Nature's method is simply the gradual 

 admission of sufficient light to foster the young 

 seedlings, and short of that full light which 

 would leave them to struggle with rank under- 

 growth before they have attained to the necessary 

 strength for a successful struggle. 



This method I found largely imitated in Ger- 

 many ; but the German forester, instead of wait- 

 ing for his trees to decay, attacks them at ma- 

 turity, thinning out the block at first only 

 lightly to foster germination, then to admit more 

 light to encourage healthy development, reserving 

 the clean sweep until such time as the forest is 

 covered with a new and vigorous growth. The 

 period between the first thinning and final clearing 

 varies from ten to thirty years. On the plains of 

 India, such is the rapid growth of some of our 

 trees in their earlier stages, as compared with 

 the rate of growth in Europe, that it will probably 

 not be desirable to extend the period beyond two 

 or three years ; but this difference of conditions 

 does not affect the principle, which is the admis- 



