112 SEVENTH REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 



burs which form on them. Whenever possible the orchard should be located some 

 distance from native chestnut woods, or, if a grove, all the trees should be cut off 

 and grafted. Some means should also be taken to trap the winged beetles during 

 the egg-laying period. As far as known no attempts have been made to spray the 

 young burs with a solution which would kill or drive away the adult beetles. It is 

 worthy of experiment. The various treatments just enumerated can be applied 

 most advantageously in the chestnut orchard. The chestnut grove, however, if kept 

 clean and free from underbrush also responds readily to treatments which help to 

 reduce the beetles. 



Tl)e Coppice Forest. 



To those not sufficiently interested, or not so situated as to make the growing of 

 chestnut trees for their nuts advisable, there still remains a profitable and interesting 

 field of operations in the growing of the native tree for timber or fuel. This work 

 may be loosely conducted or made intensive as desired. 



Two systems present themselves. The one easiest of control and offering the 

 quickest returns is the " coppice system." Under this system the forest is cut over 

 clean with a rotation of about thirty years, the time depending on the use to which 

 the timber is to be put. From the stumps thus left a new growth of sprouts spring 

 up which are the basis of the new crop. The cutting should be done in the fall or 

 winter, when the vital functions of the tree are at a low ebb and most of the sap is 

 withdrawn from trunk and limbs. The stumps should be cut low and smooth. The 

 sprouts which result from this system of forest management are very rapid in 

 growth, and will furnish poles, posts an ^ cross-ties in twenty to thirty years. The 

 forest when once started may be left to itself ; but it can be greatly improved by 

 making thinnings and improvement cuttings, while the material thus removed can 

 be utilized for fuel. This involves the removal of defective and crowded trees, and 

 likewise those of other species which are of little value, or are around the more 

 valuable trees. 



The other system which may be recommended is that of " coppice with 

 standards." This system is essentially the same as the one just described, except 

 that in addition to the sprouts a number of seedling trees are left, or, if needs be, 

 planted. These seedlings are not to be cut when the sprouts mature, but are left 

 through two or three rotations of twenty or thirty years, so that they may attain a 

 size suitable for lumber. The number left per acre may vary from 30 to 50. 



