THE NORTHERN HARDWOOD FOREST. 41 



to forestall it and shade it out; beech and maple, however, are less 

 exacting. To induce sprout production, the cutting should be done 

 during the season of vegetative rest, from late fall to early spring, 

 and the stumps should be cut low. 



In respect to the ultimate size and quality which they attain, 

 seedlings are much superior to sprouts. In beech, as has been seen, 

 sprouts rarely or never attain merchantable size in the North. Maple 

 and birch sprouts, however, like most of the other common hardwoods, 

 often grow rapidly and well to a moderate size, suitable for cordwood. 

 Only the small stumps, 6 inches or less in diameter, should be chosen 

 for sprout production, and wherever possible all but one of the many 

 sprouts which appear on each stump should be removed. Such a 

 thinning will result in the vigorous and rapid growth of the remaining 

 sprout. Basswood is second only to chestnut in sprouting capacity, 

 and sprouts of log size are often found springing from stumps 2 or 3 

 feet in diameter. (PI. IX.) 



Aside from the cutting of sprouts, the young stand will need little 

 attention for 5 or 10 years. During this time it will have succeeded 

 in killing out most of the blackberry and other competing shrubs, 

 while many of the fire cherry and other short-lived, light-needing 

 species, and even some of the maple and beech saplings, will have been 

 choked out. At this period in its life the young growth commonly 

 forms a dense thicket of slender saplings, 8 or 1G feet high, in which 

 growth is quite slow, owing to the intense crowding. If from one- 

 third to one-half of the young trees are now removed, so as to give 

 more light and growing space to those which remain, the survivors 

 will at once put on foliage and begin to grow vigorously until their 

 crowns once more crowd each other. (PL XV, figs. 1 and 2.) The 

 first thinning, which takes out entirely useless material, can be 

 expected to pay for itself only in the increased growth of the stand, 

 hastening the time at which it may be properly cut. Subsequent 

 thinnings, however, besides resulting in rapid growth, produce a 

 merchantable yield which may not only pay for the thinning, but 

 may also give a small profit. 



The aim in all thinnings should be to remove enough trees to 

 prevent danger of crowding for several years to come, and at the same 

 time to leave enough trees to utilize fully the increased light and to 

 prevent the growth of grass and weeds on the soil beneath them. 

 Damaged, poorly formed, and small trees should be removed in pref- 

 erence to the more vigorous ones, and the quality of the stand should 

 also be improved by removing the least desirable species. 



Wood-distillation factories in the East (notably in the Catskills) 

 have already taken steps toward the management of second-growth 

 hardwoods, and have bought mountain lands in quantities sufficient 

 to supply them perpetually on an estimated yield per acre basis. 



