LIBERATION CUTTINGS 149 



increased yield of the valuable species freed. In exceptional 

 cases where the material removed is large enough for cord- 

 wood a cleaning will yield a small profit. Actual costs of 

 making cleanings will range from a fraction of a day's labor 

 per acre up to several days.^ Rarely can a cleaning be made 

 for less than 50 cents per acre. An expenditure of more than 

 $10 per acre for cleanings should receive careful considera- 

 tion. For freeing white pine planted on cut-over hardwood 

 land, two cleanings in the third and sixth years after plant- 

 ing and requiring altogether from less than one to two days' 

 labor per acre are considered necessary and justified by the 

 benefits to be secured. In every case the increased net re- 

 turns to be obtained as a result of the cleanings should be 

 investigated before such cuttings are made. Cleanings usu- 

 ally can be justified where there is a wide difference in 

 value of final product between the trees freed and those cut 

 and where the yield of the valuable species will be greatly 

 reduced if nothing is done. Plantations of conifers interfered 

 with by hardwood growth furnish an excellent illustration of 

 this principle. 



A variety of tools will be found useful in making cleanings. 

 The size of the material, method of making the cuttings and 

 available room for using various tools should determine the 

 selection. The axe is the best tool where the material is 

 large enough for cordwood. In small brush, bushhooks, bill- 

 hooks and heavy knives of the machete type can be employed 

 to advantage. 



Liberation Cuttings. — Cuttings made in immature stands 

 for the purpose of freeing the young growth from older indi- 

 viduals (wolf trees) which are overtopping. Liberation cut- 

 tings are made during the same period in the life of the stand 

 as are cleanings, but differ in that the former extend in appli- 

 cation into middle age and take out trees larger and older 



