WOODLAND WORK AND WORKING PLANS 193 



of clearing off the entire crop of timber from a limited area, 

 or may consist in weeding out the oldest and largest trees 

 over a large extent of ground; but, whatever the method 

 adopted, it is evident that the quantity obtained must bear 

 a more or less definite proportion to that produced by each 

 season's growth. On a properly stocked area, it is easily 

 seen that the proper proportion which each periodical cutting 

 should bear to the periodical increase should be as 1 is to 

 1, and that the annual increase should be equivalent to the 

 annual fall. If less than this quantity is cut, then the 

 accumulating stock, apart from its possible deterioration in 

 value, is occupying ground which ought to be carrying 

 younger wood ; while, if more is cut, then the capital value 

 of the stock will be reduced, and ultimately the annual 

 yield. It is in attempting to regulate the periodic falls 

 in accordance with this principle that the value of a working 

 plan lies, for it is impossible to obtain the highest returns 

 without it. 



The most frequent difficulty experienced in executing a 

 working plan is the fact that the area to which it applies 

 is scarcely ever normally stocked, that is to say, the various 

 age classes, which on a normally stocked area would range 

 from 1 to 100, or whatever the age of the oldest wood may 

 be, are rarely fully represented. The stock is often found 

 to consist of very young or very old plantations, and a big 

 gap exists which it is very difficult to fill up. Or it may 

 consist entirely of middle-aged or old woods, which ought, 

 from a strictly economic point of view, to be cleared off in 

 the course of a few years. Another, but rarer case may 

 occur, in which practically the whole of the plantations are 

 young and immature, and in which no final fellings can be 

 expected for an indefinite period. In any of these cases a 

 working plan can only be drawn up on very elastic principles, 

 for the various features upon which its success depends are 

 more or less matters of speculation and uncertainty. With 

 young plantations the period of maturity can only be 

 fixed in advance within very wide limits, except in the 

 case of an indigenous species growing upon ground which 

 has already borne similar crops. The clearing of large 

 areas of mature wood depends upon the condition of. the 



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