CHAPTER rX 



INTERMEDIATE CUTTINGS 



Treatment of the Stand during that Portion of the Rotation 

 not included in the Period of Regeneration 



Definition and General Considerations. — The period of 

 regeneration comes at the end of the stand's life and covers, 

 for all evenaged stands, only a small portion of the rotation. 

 Throughout the greater part of its life from the time of estab- 

 Ushment on until the reproduction period arrives, cuttings are 

 needed at varying intervals and for different specific pur- 

 poses, although all with the common aim of correcting the 

 defects of the unmanaged forest and increasing the amount 

 and value of the timber produced. 



All cuttings made during this period are termed interme- 

 diate cuttings. 



Intensive practice of silviculture demands that intermediate 

 cuttings be applied systematically throughout the rotation, 

 in order to realize the highest returns. Unfortunately, inter- 

 mediate cuttings, which in general do not create permanent 

 openings in the forest canopy, remove material that is of 

 relatively poor quality and small size as compared with the 

 trees left. As a consequence they cannot always be made 

 with immediate financial profit where opportunities for selling 

 such products are lacking. Frequently an actual cash outlay 

 will be required. Such an expenditure may be fully justified 

 by the future returns to be derived, but require too much of a 

 present investment to meet the owner's circumstances. There 



will be many forests where intermediate cuttings cannot be 



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