89 



interval as 30 years has been adopted. Usually, however, not 

 more than 10 or 15 years is taken; and, where the demand 

 is intense, even a shorter interval may be adopted with 

 advantage. 



The above considerations may be expressed in the form 

 of rules as follows : — 



' (i) The felling rotation must be short in order to 

 permit of the extraction of deteriorating trees 

 before these lose their value. , 



(ii) The length of the felling rotation mus^j be suffi- 

 cient to repair all damages which may have 

 been caused in felling over the area and in 

 extracting the produce. 



(iii) A very short felling rotation may give oo large, 

 felling areas, and thus inordinately increase 

 the cost of extraction. 



(iv) A short felling rotation may necessitate too fre- 

 quent re-enumeratiohs, which unnecessarily 

 increase expenditure. : 



(v) A long felling rotation may lead to too heavy an 

 exploitation in each felling area. 



(vi) The felling rotation should either be made equal 

 to the average number of years required for. 

 trees of the lowest girth of the second class to 

 attain the lowest exploitable size, or the fell- 

 ing rotation should be a sub-multixjle of the 

 exploitable age. 



The determination of the felling rotation and the corresponding division of the 

 forest into conpes is essential to methodical working. In some cases, in India, the 

 application of the selection method has merely consisted in the prescription of 

 certain cultural rules without any annual coupes. Such plans miss the point : they 

 do not serve what ought to be their chief purpose, namely, the introduction of order 

 into the working. 



3. Period for which fellings are prescribed. — The fellings 

 should always be prescribed for one or more complete felling 

 rotations as in that period they should pass over the whole 

 area of the working*circle. 



4. Area to be operated on — The area to be taken in hand is 

 determined, as has been described for simple coppice, by 

 dividing the workiag-circle into as many areas of equal 

 forest resources as there are years or periods of years in the 



