Forests and Forestry 135 



that may spring up spontaneously in his fields 

 without his sowing. A tract of wild forest in the 

 first place does not contain so many trees as might 

 grow thereon, but only so many as may have sur- 

 vived the struggle for life with their own and 

 other species of plants occupying the locality. 

 Many of the trees so surviving never attain their 

 best development, being suppressed, overshadowed, 

 and hindered by stronger neighbors. Finally, 

 much of the space that might be occupied by valu- 

 able timber may be given up to trees having little 

 or no market value. The rule is universal that the 

 amount and value of material that can be taken 

 from an area of wild forest remains far behind what 

 the same land may bear if properly treated by the 

 forester. It is certain, therefore, that in the future, 

 when most American forests shall be in a high 

 state of cultivation, the annual output of forest 

 products will, from a much restricted area, exceed 

 everything known at the present day. 



It is the business of the forester, therefore, to see 

 that the land bears as large and as valuable a crop 

 as possible. For this purpose he uses the axe far 

 oftener than the planting tool — another idea that 

 will come with a shock of surprise to not a few. 

 One of the most common silvicultural operations 

 is a series of what are known as improvement 

 cuttings, that is, the cutting away of a proportion of 

 trees where they grow so thick that they hinder 

 each other, the elimination of species that are not 

 wanted and take up the room required for more 



