RESTOCKING FOREST LAND. 67 



and it is the practice to do so in some of the plantings of 

 White Pine that have been made in New England. It is said 

 that the lumber there is so greatly improved by so doing that 

 the operation is a paying one. But under the proper condi- 

 tions for the development of timber trees very little is gained 

 by pruning. 



The Covering of Tree Seeds in Woodland, whether the seeds are 

 sown naturally or artificially, can often be best accomplished 

 by stirring up the soil with a strong harrow or a brush drag 

 made of the branches of an oak or other tree having strong 

 wood. This may sometimes be done most advantageously 

 before the seeds fall and at other times after they have fallen. 

 Where the soil is made loose and the forest floor is broken up 

 before the seeds fall they are generally sufficiently covered by 

 wind and rain. They may sometimes be covered most satis- 

 factorily by driving a flock of sheep over the land after the 

 seed has fallen, the feet of the sheep pressing the seed into the 

 ground. 



Thinning is the most important part of the forester's art in 

 securing good timber and in reseeding the land. The ideal 

 condition in the life of timber trees is to secure a natural crop 

 of seedlings so crowded when young as to increase very 

 rapidly in height and produce slender trunks free from side 

 branches. When this crowding has gone far enough the less 

 valuable and weaker trees should be removed to give the 

 better trees sufficient room for their crowns to develop. These 

 remaining trees in the course of a few years will again crowd 

 one another too severely and this process of removing poorer 

 trees must then be repeated. Then when the final stand of 

 trees is approaching maturity, thinning should be commenced 

 to let in light and air to produce the conditions under which 

 seedlings develop to best advantage. 



In this connection it should be remembered: (1) That 

 increase of wood is proportional to leaf surface and therefore 

 the lands should be kept as nearly as possible covered with a, 

 canopy of leaves which should be on trees that are valuable 

 for their timber. (2) That leaves need light; therefore, partly 

 shaded branches form but little and imperfect wood and those 

 that are very heavily shaded die out; crowding prevents the 

 formation of branches on trees and is important in securing 



