28 



BULLETIN 234, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUBE. 



high) will then be marked for cutting. No lagging trees will be marked for cut- 

 ting, for such trees will not interfere with the growth of the larger trees especially 

 selected for leaving. No dead trees will be cut unless they will produce at least 

 one 8-inch-16-foot piece. On account of the difficulty of handling long poles in 

 dense stands, the cutting of frequent skid roads is permissible. 



Under this system of cutting no attention need be paid to windfall, for a suffi- 

 cient number of larger trees together with a large number below converter-pole 

 size will be left to withstand the wind. 

 (6) Lagging stands: 



The marker will mentally select for leaving the best individual trees — so far 

 as possible straight, sound trees, with either some clear length or at least without 

 large limbs developed at the base of the tree — and will aim to leave such trees 

 as evenly disposed as possible over the area, and at the rate of 3 per square rod 

 (480 per acre) as an ideal number. All other green trees which will make lagging 

 (3 to 5 inches diameter breast high) will then be marked for cutting. No dead 

 lagging will be cut. The cutting of frequent skid roads is jjermissible. No 

 attention need be paid to windfall. 



The result of cutting under this selection system at French Gulch 

 has been to leave a considerably larger number of trees on the ground 

 than under the clear-cutting system, and so placed that the rate of 

 growth of most of them will be increased. The proportion of cord- 

 wood and small stulls taken by the operator has been reduced and 

 the total number of large stulls increased as indicated by the fol- 

 lowing figures : 



Per cent large (8 

 inches and over). 



Selection 

 cutting. 



Clear 

 cutting. 



Per cent small 

 (under S inches). 



Selection 

 cutting. 



Clear 



cutting. 



Number of stulls cut 



Cubic foot volume of stulls cut . 

 Board foot volume of stulls cut 



By the present method of cutting, 2.67 cords, or their equivalent, 

 are taken with each 100 large stulls; by the clear-cutting method, 

 4.95 cords were taken. In the selection cuttings, too, the average 

 size of the large stulls is greater than was the case in the clear cut- 

 tings. The amount of material of various classes cut under the two 

 systems is given in Table 13. The amount of material and the num- 

 ber of trees of various sizes cut and left by the selection system are 

 shown in Tables 14 and 15. 



