SYSTEMS OF CLEAR-CUTTING 1 1 5 



by them and ceded to the United States, provision was 

 made by statute that in cutting the pine timber 5 per 

 cent, was to be left standing as seed-trees. A later statute 

 required that the amount left for seed be 10 per cent. 

 The forest was by no means regular, and in some places 

 the cutting has left several seed-trees to the acre, and in 

 others only one seed-tree to from three to five acres. 

 There was no special preparation of the soil and the 

 cuttings were made without regard to seed years. 



The results have not been very satisfactory, first, be- 

 cause there are not enough seed-trees, and second, because 

 the ground has been covered with a growth of brush which 

 interferes with reproduction. A clearing of the brush 

 by carefully regulated burning just before a seed vear 

 would enormously aid reproduction. 



The value of the seed-trees would probably not be 

 over one or two dollars per acre. 



This system has also been used in the white pine 

 forests of the Northeast. Where it has been applied, the 

 forest has been usually a second growth from 50 to 100 

 years old. From 2 to 5 seed-trees have been left per 

 acre, and these have been of comparatively small value, 

 averaging ordinarily not over $3 per acre. In certain 

 sections, as, for example, in southern New Hampshire, 

 very good reproduction follows this method, for there 

 is very little competition with other species in mixture, 

 and the conditions for germination are excellent. In 

 Massachusetts, on the other hand, there is a distinct 

 tendency toward the replacement of white pine, after 



