APPLICATION OF METHODS 23 1 



tion sites. In group selection the trees so far as possible are 

 felled in toward the center of the group. The tops can here 

 be piled and burned without injury to the forest. 



Since the selection stand contains trees of all ages 

 in mixture the difficulty of burning slash without injury to 

 the forest is greater than under most other reproduction 

 methods. 



Broadcast burning cannot be used without destroying the 

 unevenaged forest. 



Cuttings under the Coppice Methods.- — Utilization is nec- 

 essarily close in order to make possible the simple coppice 

 method of reproduction. The rotation is short and the largest 

 trees in the stand when cut are relatively small. Only a 

 small amount of slash consisting of small branches and fohage 

 is left after the cutting. This material rots easily and is not 

 abundant enough to smother sprout reproduction. 



An added reason for allowing the slash to rot on the area 

 rather than burning it up is to prevent deterioration of the 

 soil under coppice management. 



The polewood coppice method provides for a longer rota- 

 tion and hence produces larger trees with bigger tops. Even 

 so the accumulation of slash is not enough to require the 

 expense of piling and burning. In sprout stands of hardwoods 

 the chief fire hazard comes from the inflammable leaf litter 

 and not from the slash. Surface fires serious enough to kill 

 mature trees can develop in hardwood leaf Htter. Presence 

 of slash may increase the severity and the difficulty of fight- 

 ing the fires, but not sufficiently to justify the expense of 

 piling and burning the slash. 



Slash disposal after cuttings under the coppice with stand- 

 ards method is not advisable for the same reasons which apply 

 for the simple and polewood coppice methods. 



Intermediate Cuttings. — The slash remaining after inter- 



