12 IMPROVEMENT THINNING. 



The mark usually consists of a small blaze with a hatchet 

 or axe on two sides of the trees to be removed, so that they 

 can be easily distinguished as the workman moves back and 

 forth through the stand. If the chopping is to be done by 

 contract, it is well to have a marking hatchet with a raised 

 letter or symbol on the back, and to hammer this into a third 

 small blaze near the ground. This affords a check on 

 choppers when they are inclined to cut more trees than is 

 desirable, in order to increase their wood piles with as little 

 work as possible. 



When considerable areas are to be gone over, it pays to 

 hire two men to do the marking, while the forester designates 

 the trees. The men each take a strip of convenient width, 

 and mark the trees in their respective strips as they advance. 

 The forester moves along several paces in advance of and 

 between the men. 



Importance of Careful Selection. 



To bear all of these points in mind, and also the degree 

 to which the cover may be opened without danger, requires 

 considerable skill. A great deal of harm is sometimes done 

 to a forest stand by so-called "thinning out." In cases 

 where a trained forester is called in to draw up a forest 

 working plan, his recommendations as to improvement 

 thinnings are often left to an inexperienced hand to carry 

 out. The writer knows of a case where the men who had 

 the contract to cut the wood were allowed to select the 

 trees to be removed. It is high time that such important 

 details should receive the personal attention of trained men. 



Improvement Thinnings combined with Other Operations. 

 While an improvement thinning applies more particularly 

 to the treatment of a dense stand in the process of develop- 

 ment, it may also be combined with other work. When, 

 for instance, a stand is very uneven in age, improvement 

 thinning among the younger trees may go hand in hand 

 with the removal of the mature trees in the stand, and the 

 cost of each operation may be reduced by both being done 

 at one time. However, it is well to keep the two opera- 



