90 THE PRINCIPLES OF HANDLING WOODLANDS 



way to compete with the weeds and brush which inevit- 

 ably spring up on clearings. 



Use of the System in this Country. — The systems of 

 forestry which will be practised in the United States in 

 the immediate future will, for the most part, be those 

 which depend on natural reproduction. The clear-cut- 

 ting system with artificial reproduction will, however, 

 be used under certain circumstances, and the use of the 

 system will increase rapidly in the future, as the oppor- 

 tunities to practise intensive forestry become more com- 

 mon. The conditions under which it will be practised 

 fall under the following groups: 



Use in National Forests. — Without doubt, there will 

 be in the immediate future many areas of public forests 

 in which natural reproduction of a desired species will be 

 exceedingly difficult. At the present time, planting on 

 public lands is largely confined to barren areas. As the 

 organization of the planting becomes more complete, 

 and as the knowledge of the methods of planting is 

 perfected, the s\'stem will undoubtedly be used in re- 

 placing mature stands where now natural reproduction 

 is chiefly relied upon. It will find an extensive applica- 

 tion in certain forests of the West, where the trees are 

 ver\' large and valuable, and where any system of natural 

 reproduction involves an investment comparable to arti- 

 ficial reproduction. Alread)' in certain instances this sys- 

 tem is being used by the Forest Service in cutting the 

 overmature forests of the Northuest. 



Suppose, for example, that there is a block of over- 



