PKACTICAL FORESTRY. 23 



Felling the trees. — ^The diflference between the practical work 

 under ordinary lumbering and under conservative lumbering is 

 chiefly in the selection of the trees to cut, in felling them, and in the 

 first part of their journey from the stump to the mUl. Under a 

 working plan the trees to cut are chosen in such a way that when 

 they are gone the forest will suffer but little from their absence, 

 because their places will be taken by others as quickly as possible. 

 Usually the trees selected are first stamped with a marking hatchet 

 to prevent mistakes, and then the next step is to cut them down. 



Fig. 13.— Low stumps in logging. 



The amount of harm done to the forest by the cutting depends 

 considerably upon the season of the year when the work in the woods 

 is carried on. Less damage results to the young growth and the 

 trees left standing if the lumbering is done after the growing season 

 is over than if it goes on in the spring and summer while the bark 

 is loose and the leaves and twigs are tender. 



A tree may be felled either with the ax or with the saw. In either 

 case the first thing to consider is the height above the ground at 

 which the cut is to be made. High stumps needlessly waste the 

 best timber in a sound tree. Low stumps are slightly more difficult 

 to cut, and therefore a little more expensive, but the additional 

 cost is more than balanced by the gain. 



358 



