UTILIZATION AND MANAGEMENT OF LODGEPOLE PINE. 27 



2. Mature — Selection cutting: 



Cutting will be done only to such a degree as, in the judgment of the marker, 

 will leave the stand safe from windfall, particular attention being paid to exposure. 



Cut the larger trees — all 14 inches and over — unless needed to prevent windfall. 



Cut trees 10 to 13 inches, unless they are needed to prevent windfall, or unless 

 they are especially sound, thrifty individuals standing where they will profit 

 greatly by the amount of light which they are now receiving or will receive after 

 cutting. 



Cut 8 and 9 inch trees only when their removal is desirable for the good of the 

 remaining stand, and when they are entirely acceptable to the operator. 



Cut no converter poles or lagging trees, or trees of similar size (7 inches or under) , 

 whether green or dead, from stands of this classification. Such material may, how- 

 ever, be utilized at the option of the operator, from the tops of the trees designated 

 for cutting, or from material cut from roadways, banking grounds, etc. 



Excepting with the general consent of the operator, expressed as to definite 

 areas, no tree which will not make at least one 8-inch-16-foot piece will be marked 

 for cutting. On the other hand, all defective and limby trees, whose retention 

 in the stand is not desired to prevent windfall, will be marked for cutting if they 

 will yield one 8-inch-16-foot piece. 



Small pockets of larger trees may be cut clean. Such patches should not ordi- 

 narily exceed a quarter acre in area and will usually be much smaller. These 

 clean-cut patches should not exceed 20 per cent of the cutting area in mature 

 stands, and the cutting in the timber around their edges should be lighter than 

 usual to maintain the windfirmness of the whole stand. 



The marker should have constantly in mind the object of leaving the stand in 

 the best possible condition for increased growth after the cutting, for which 

 purpose thrifty crowned trees should be left with as reasonable an amount of 

 growing space as the limitations of the system as above set forth will permit. 



Selection marking should be very light around the edges, especially the leeward 

 edges, of parks or clean-cut areas an acre or more in extent. 



On "safe" exposures, as defined above, no attention need be paid to windfall, 

 since the other rules will leave sufficient timber on the ground to insure windfirm- 

 ness of the stand. 



On "medium" exposures the marking should be done about as it has been in 

 the selection areas below the main flume at French Gulch, where there are left 

 70 per cent of the trees 3 inches and over, 62 per cent of the trees 6 inches and 

 over, and 20 per cent of the trees 10 inches and over. 



On "great" exposures the cutting should remove approximately 25 per cent 



less than from the "medium" exposures, or should leave approximately 80 per 



cent of the trees 3 inches and over, 70 per cent of the trees 6 inches and over, and 



40 per cent of the trees 10 inches and over. 



The foregoing are general rules as to the amount to be left, and must be adapted 



carefully to the exposure, soil moisture and depth, topography, and condition of the 



timber in each case, but the leaving of a sufficient stand to be safe from wind throw 



will be the primary consideration in all selection marking. 



3. Immature — Improvement thinning with the object of retaining the best trees and 

 leaving them in the best possible position to grow rapidly to large size. 



(a) Converter-pole stands: 



The marker will mentally select for leaving the best trees, straight, sound trees 

 with considerable clear length and a good crown development for the most part, 

 and will aim to leave such trees as evenly disposed as possible over the area, 

 and at the rate of about 2 per square rod (320 per acre) as an ideal number. All 

 other green trees which will make converter poles (4 to 6 inches diameter breast 



