92 THE PRINCIPLES OF HANDLING WOODLANDS 



mature old fir, hemlock, or cedar covering an area half a 

 mile wide. Suppose, further, that it would not pay to 

 log in strips and patches, but only to cut clear the whole 

 area; and suppose, further, that the only feasible way 

 to secure natural reproduction were to leave as seed- 

 trees large trees containing at least 2,500 feet each — very 

 common conditions on the Coast. There is no question 

 that the best method would be to cut clear and restock 

 artificially. The Forest Service is using this method 

 more and more. It has been frequently possible to rely 

 on natural reproduction, but as the sales of timber in- 

 crease and the areas cut over become larger, the artificial 

 restocking will be increasingly used. 



It is probable that this system will be applied in cer- 

 tain portions of the semiarid region of the West. For 

 example, in the Southwest there are certain types near 

 and at the edge of the forest where reproduction comes 

 exceedingly slowly. Frequently the present forest is ma- 

 ture, and it is desirable to make cuttings to utilize the 

 timber while it is sound. There are, for instance, hun- 

 dreds of acres of Western yellow pine in which the ma- 

 jority of trees are mature, with very little young timber, 

 and where the conditions for reproduction are such that 

 it is exceedingly doubtful whether the removal of the 

 trees will be followed by young growth within any reason- 

 able length of time. It may be that not less than from 

 50 to 75 years will have to be allowed for securing 

 adequate reproduction. A period of 50 years amounts 

 to fully one-half or two-thirds of a tree generation. 



