COMPLEMEXTART WORK IX THE OKGANISATIOX OP COPSES 245 



The case may, however, be quite dififerent in compound copses 

 worked on a long Rotation. Nevertheless the growth of the poles 

 of the underwood is a minor matter compared with an abundant 

 yield ; the extraction of small wood that is in a dying state is costly 

 in proportion to its actual value, and can form only a secondary- 

 object of thinning operations. Thus the main object here is quite 

 different from that sought in Thinnings made in a crop of trees of 

 the same age ; briefly, it is the encouragement of those poles of the 

 underwood, which are to become first-class standards at the next 

 exploitation. These may not only be improved in their growth by 

 means of Thinnings, but when that operation has been neglected 

 few and even no poles really fit for reservation may in consequence 

 be found to exist. Tlie poles of an underwood which are to form 

 the First Class Standards of the next Rotation must, for the most 

 part, be thia and weakly, or at least be prevented from growing 

 freely by the surrounding inferior poles ; thinning operations offer 

 the means of opening out the forest round them sufficiently to en- 

 able them to expand their crowns and acquire a greater diameter 

 before the surrounding underwood is completely cleared at the 

 next exploitation. 



If there are any seedlings on the ground, these cannot but be 

 suppressed by the immediate cover of the underwood overhead and 

 be eventually killed before the next coppice felling ; here, again, 

 thinning operations afford the means of saving a certain number of 

 them by raising the cover immediately overhead. Lastly, it sometimes 

 happens that seedlings of the hardwoods are entirely wanting; thin- 

 ning operations provoke their appearance by opening out the leaf- 

 canopy, and by necessarily getting rid of a portion of the trailing 

 shoots, which interfere with the work of the wood-cutter, and which 

 he, therefore, removes. All these excellent results may be obtained by 

 simply thinning out the leaf-canopy (i) over and round the poles 

 that are to form the first-class standards at the next coppice ex- 

 ploitation ; and (ii) in the portions of the forest stocked with'species 

 requiring abundant light, such as aspen, ash, alder, and oak ; and by 

 cutting out shoots that are in a dying state, so as to raise thereby 

 the cover, however slightly that may be. But it would be a great 

 mistake to prune off the side branches of the coppice poles, or to 

 clear the ground of low vegetation, or to cut out anything whatso^- 



