FORMATION OF WORKING CIRCLES. 91 



neration becomes -difficult. Some hundreds of acres devoid of any 

 shelter or some thousands of tons of wood worked out all. In one 

 locality cannot but^be accompanied with great risk. So much said, 

 nothing is moie variable than, the area, to give to Working Circles 

 and no limit can he suggest-ed-in thi« respect. Nevertheless "Work- 

 ing Circles -of high .forest icoHtaiiiing from 1250 to 2500 acres and 

 those of copse covering from 375. to 750 acres are -free from the 

 defects -noted above. The -difference between the relative extent of 

 a. "Working Circle of high .forest'and one of copse is due to the fact 

 that, acre for acre, the annual . cutting , goes over more ground in a 

 copse than in a high forest. Moreover the produce of the former, 

 less important, as it is> not only on account of its lower value but 

 also of. its nature and. quality, does not comaiand. such large and 

 ready sale as high forest produce. . 



Ih forming his "Working Circles,.the Am^nagiste must .be guided 

 by his Boundary Plan and the data he has collected together in 

 forming and describing his compartments. He must begin by noting 

 the great natural divisions formed by ridges, rivers, main roads, or 

 cultivation. Such divisions are ordinarily few in number. Then con- 

 sidering each of these great divisions separately, he can easily judge 

 what portions require a special method of treatment or a particular 

 rotation; Next? he must take up each of these smaller portions one 

 by one,- and observe -how the crops of the principal age-classes 

 are grouped- together or distributed.. He will thus end. by 

 def«ning one or moreof his Working Circles. But if he is- obliged 

 to make some special arrangement in order to obtain a convenient 

 distribution of the age-classes in. each of these Working Circles, he 

 has besides to form a correct estimate of the promise held. out by the 

 different crops, to consider in. what various ways he can make the 

 most of them. and to combine all the resources at his disposal in such 

 a manner as to minimise the disadvantages of. a defective gradation 

 or distribution of the age-classes. On this subject no rules can be 

 laid, down : it is entirely a question of professional savoir faire.. 



