SELECTION OF STANDARDS. 233 



tioa of whether any given tree is exploitable or not, must be 

 decided only at the marking for reserves, just as is done in 

 forests managed by tlie State. As regards the selection of tlie 

 large trees which it is expedient to preserve as an exceptional 

 measure, that is purely a matter of skill and policy, requiring 

 care, attention, discernment, and a thorough knowledge of all 

 facts regarding the growth of standards and the value they ac- 

 quire as they develop. In certain districts in France an increase 

 in diameter of 25 per cent, suffices to double the value of an oak 

 tree. Thus an oak standard measuring 16 inches in diameter 

 at this moment and worth £l-4s. may sell for £2-8s. when its 

 diameter has increased by only 4 inches. Prepalred with such 

 facts, we may, it is easy to conceive, proceed to select the 

 standards to be preserved in any coupe with a full knowledge 

 of what we are going to do. 



As a matter of fact, whatever the nature of the proprietor 

 concerned, it is always the vigour of growth of the tree concerned, 

 which ought to decide whether it should be preserved or felled. 

 The vigorous tree attains a large size in a comparatively short 

 time, a circumstance which alone renders its preservation desirable. 

 An oak standard 2 feet in diameter is worth now, say, £4. Sup- 

 pose that the state of its vegetation is only moderately vigorous, 

 and that it will measure at the end of the next Rotation of 25 

 years not more than 28 inches ; it will then be worth in the same 

 market only £6-8s. But if its growth is vigorous, it may attain in 

 the same time a diameter of 32 inches and fetch £10. Supposing 

 the latter to be the case, would it be right to fell the tree at once 

 or let it stand for another Rotation ? If it is felled at once, the 

 annual income it would represent would be 5 shillings. The same 

 method of arguing holds good for the tree of .32 inches diameter as 

 for that of 24 inches diameter, and it may be found that the very 

 same reasons exist for preserving also the bigger tree. In any case 

 the larger the tree is, the greater the vigour it should possess to 

 justify its further preservation. 



The large standards which enrich the stock of a copse are, as 

 a rule, vigorous trees, since they have, as a fact, attained their pre- 

 sent dimensions in a relatively short time. We meet with enor- 

 mous beech which, thanks to an ample crown, have grown at the 

 15 



