94 NATURAL REGENERATION 



Coppice with Field Crops. — " Sartage," the combination of coppice 

 with field crops, has been largely condemned in France as poor silvi- 

 culture, but Jolyet beheves in it "since the potash resulting from burn- 

 ing the branches enriches the soil sufficiently to permit with some 

 success the cultivation of grain." On the other hand Boppe [222] calls 

 attention to the damage from fire, the decrease in the amount of oak, 

 the washing away of soil foods on the slopes, and the difficulty of in- 

 creasing the rotations. 



Selection Coppice (Beech). — While considerable difficulty has been 

 experienced in treating beech under the simple coppice system, it can 

 be worked in selection coppice (taillis furete), since the selection cuttings 

 enable the retention of part of the stand which protects the shoots 

 against the first autumn frosts. It is usually worked on a diameter- 

 hmit basis and furnishes a great deal of charcoal for manufacturing 

 purposes. Huffel, who likes this method, says [147] that "the treat- 

 ment in selection coppice is really a methodical treatment and perfectly 

 rational, justified by the silvics of the beech and the exceptional condi- 

 tions of the coppice. . . . When employed correctly it gives good 

 results." 



Correctly apphed, the selection coppice does protect the young beech 

 from frost, but since the best sprouts are being cut continually the 

 stand must in time deteriorate. In practice, with a 30-year rotation, 

 one-third of the stand in each compartment would be cut every 10 years. 

 Naturally it is difficult to cut the larger sprouts from a clump without 

 damaging some of those that remain. 



Coppice-Under-Standards. — Coppice-under-standards is composed of 

 two distinct elements: the lower story, the coppice, which is cut clean 

 on a short rotation, and the upper story, or reserve,^^ which is usually 

 managed on a rotation four to five times the length of the coppice. 

 The object of this kind of management is to increase the proportion of 

 timber. It is now generally admitted as being inferior to high forest 

 without the advantages of coppice. The species composing the coppice in 

 coppice-under-standards evidently should have splendid sprouting ability 

 and should also be species that will endure some side shade. The hornbeam, 

 the maple, and the linden are the chief species; heech and oak are less valu- 

 able. The pyrenean oak is used as coppice a good deal in the west of 

 France, birch is useful on sandy soils, and poplar on wet soils. The chief 

 skill in managing a coppice-under-standards forest is the choice of the 

 upper story, which should be chosen from species of a light foliage so as 

 not to suppress the under story, and should be selected so far as possible 

 from seedlings or root suckers as a second choice. The pedunculate and 

 sessile oak are of the first importance as standards, although ash, elm, 

 " See Jolyet, pp. 225, 250, 382, 431-439 for data on coppice-under-standards. 



