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crop is more simple than that of the first. To secure a good 

 growth of sprouts the trees should be cut in March or early in 

 April. The stumps should be cut smooth, with the slant all in one 

 direction. In May each living stump will develop from ten to 

 twenty sprouts that will grow very vigorously and that by the mid- 

 dle of June will begin to be thrown by the wind. Later in the sea- 

 son many of the sprouts become top-heavy and fall of their own 

 weight, breaking at the point of union with the parent stump. In 

 plantations where the sprout-growth is rank, the loss due to the 

 sprouts falling of their own weight or being felled by the wind is 

 very heavy in the first summer. During the second sea&on's 

 growth the union of the sprout with the stump develops sufficiently 

 to withstand all ordinary strain. 



There are two methods that have proved entirely satisfactory in 

 handling the sprouts. The first method is to allow all the sprouts 

 to grow untouched until the summer of the second year's growth. 

 At this time all but one or two of the largest sprouts are cut off 

 close to the stump. This method has been practiced extensively 

 with good results. 



The second method of handling the sprout-growth is to go over 

 the plantation as soon as the sprouts reach a height of two or three 

 feet, select three or four of the largest arising from each stump, 

 and tie these together loosely with a band of binding twine. The 

 tops of all the other sprouts are then broken off to retard their 

 height growth. When the sprouts selected are bound together, , 

 each helps support the other and reduces the loss from wind-fell- 

 ing to a minimum. By midsummer, it is necessary to go over the 

 plantation a second time to bind the sprouts again and break off 

 the tops of the undesirable ones. The second band should be 

 placed as near the tops of the sprouts as possible, in order to hold 

 the stems from falling apart of their own weight. During the 

 summer of the second year, all the sprouts are cut off close at the 

 stump, except those that are selected for the future trees. 



There are three advantages in the practice of allowing all the 

 sprouts to grow until the second year before cutting them off. 

 First, the full growth shades the ground and prevents a growth of 

 weeds that would practically smother the sprouts. In every plan- 

 tation that has been studied, a rank growth of sunflowers and 

 horseweeds has grown up during the summer following the cutting. 

 In several plantations the growth of weeds exceeded the growth 

 of the catalpa sprouts. Wherever this occurred, the catalpas were 

 seriously injured. In attempting to reach up into the light, they 

 grew too slender, and were unable to support) the weight of 

 their own leaves. 



