4 GENER.\L CONSIDERATIONS 



of the life cycle of the forest, while too dense stocking leads, 

 as in the case of a thick bed of beets (to draw an illustration 

 from the garden), to stagnation and a small final crop. 



Silviculture must provide and maintain throughout life 

 enough trees to properly stock the area and no more. 



(c) Part of the area which should be forested is without 

 forest. Fires, logging and clearing, for agricultural use, lands 

 which are unsuited for that purpose are chiefly responsible. 



The deforested condition may be only temporary — nat- 

 ural seeding stocking the open lands — or may be, for all 

 intents and purposes, permanent, due to the extent of the 

 deforested lands and lack of trees to reseed them. Silvi- 

 culture must prevent the creation of further open areas and 

 restock those now existing. 



(d) Crooked, misshapen and defective trees (even though 

 of valuable species) are apt to accumulate in the forest not 

 under silvicultural treatment and retard the development of 

 better individuals. These trees should be removed. 



(e) Losses, due to agencies such as insects, animals, fungi, 

 wind, etc., are sustained, often without salvage of the dam- 

 aged material and without efforts to check the injury from 

 being spread to adjacent parts of the forest. Silviculture 

 must afford protection to the forest. 



(/) Due to mismanagement and lack of protection the 

 forest may cease to properly protect the site on which it 

 grows and lands adjacent to or indirectly related to the forest. 

 The forest floor may be destroyed and the soil eroded or 

 baked and cracked open to the detriment of the physical 

 factors of the site. Lands depending upon the forest for 

 protection may be eroded or covered with infertile soil and 

 debris. Navigation on the lower reaches of streams rising in 

 the forest may be interfered with, reservoirs be filled and irri- 

 gation works rendered useless. 



