Forest Practice. 333 



most cases where a complete yield calculation has been 

 made. The rotations employed are from 80 to 100 

 years for timber forest, 30 to 60 years for coppice. 



In the pineries the strip system in echelons is mostly 

 in vogTie, the strips being made 180 feet wide, leaving 

 four seed trees per acre, and on the last strip, which is 

 left standing for five years, this number is increased to 

 eight which are left as overholders. This method seems 

 to secure satisfactory reproduction. To get rid of 

 undesirable species, especially aspen and birch, these 

 are girdled. In spruce forest, 50 to 60 per cent, of the 

 trees are left in the fellings, when after three to four 

 years the natural regeneration requires often repair, 

 which is done by bunch planting ; after eight to ten years 

 the balance of the old growth is removed. 



While for a long time natural regeneration was alone 

 relied upon, now, at least, artificial assistance is more 

 and more frequently practiced. Yet, although over 

 2 million acres were under clearing system, not more 

 than 5% of the revenue, or $100,000, was in 1898 

 allowed for planting as against 7.5% in Prussia; the 

 total budget of expenses then remaining below 3 million 

 dollars. 



Within the last few years a new law (1897) inaugu- 

 rates a method of securing the means of more intensive 

 reforestation by making the wood merchants, who buy 

 stumpage on government lands, .clear the ground and 

 plant it. To insure compliance with this condition, a 

 deposit of $3 to $4 per acre is exacted. We are not 

 informed as to results from this law. 



The forest administration of the province of Poland, 

 where the State owns over 1.5 million acres was for some 



