COMPOUND COPSES IJNDEE CONVERSION. 297 



To these various positive justificatory reasons for acting gradu- 

 ally and witL moderation in the execution of the Secondary Fell- 

 ings, we will add that there is no advantage in operating in any 

 other way, that is to say, in completing this class of fellings in one 

 or two operations instead of in three or four. By adhering to the 

 rule we have just been enjoining, the risks which a crop of young 

 seedlings is exposed to, are obviated, the young seed-grown forest is 

 advantageously composed of all the species spontaneous in the loca- 

 lity, and the merely apparent backwardaess of the young seedlings 

 is largely compensated for by the development of the trees compo- 

 sing the res*ve. 



As regards the Final Felling, it ought not to be undertaken 

 until the new self-sown crop is of sufficient height to be beyond the 

 reach of early frosts, so fatal to young oak and beech. And, in- 

 deed, to say the truth, the reserved oak trees that must be main- 

 tained until then, and which are still in more or less full growth, 

 render an early Final Felling unnecessary. The oaks which may 

 have been preserved at the previous coppice exploitations, because 

 they were full of promise, should also be left untouched in the Con- 

 version Fellings above the seedling growth below, which is neces- 

 sarily less valuable than standards of no matter what class. To 

 fell these trees, while they are still in full growth, would mean the 

 increasing impoverishment of the forest in proportion as the conver- 

 sion drew nearer to its conclusion, a result deplorable in itself and 

 one that would belie the very object of the conversion itself. If 

 conversions necessarily involved the premature extraction of trees 

 in full growth standing in the compound coppice crops to be con- 

 verted, there could not be the shadow of a doubt that it would be 

 better to giv,e up at once all idea of effecting the conversion. 



Hence in conversion operations the Final Felling should be 

 entirely restricted to the removal of the last coppice poles spared 

 in the previous Regeneration Fellings. But hand in hand with this, 

 it may be found expedient to execute another work of no little im- 

 portance. In spite of all the possible care and foresight that may 

 have been displayed in making the Regeneration Fellings, it seldom 

 happens that the seed-grown portion of the young crop is not inter- 

 fered with, or even overtopped, by abundant stool-shoots. To cut 

 back these latter once for all is the best means of assuring the good 

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