19 



sprouting power of the oaks was largely exhausted and reproductiou 

 of any character was scarce. Oak sprouts are apparently hardier and 

 more resistant to fire than chestnut sprouts, or poplar and white pine 

 seedlings. Often, in spite of frequent fires, some oak sprouts survive 

 and form an irregular second growth, whereas on poplar, chestnut, or 

 pine lands, second growth would be permanentl}^ excluded. 



Fire not only affects the density of sprout forests; it afi'ects also the 

 height of the individual sprouts. Since it was impossible to find 

 coppice stands several j^ears old that were not burned, the comparison 

 given in Table 8 has been confined to badly burned and slightly 

 burned stands. 



Table 8. — Effect of fire iipou height f/roicth, stand of sprouts It years old. 





Species. 



Average height. . 





Badlv 

 burned. 



Slightly 

 burned. 



Black oak 



Feet. 

 24.3 

 25. 8 

 ]9.7 



Feet. 

 25.9 



Scarlet oak . .. 



27.7 



White oak .- 



21.3 







An effect similar to that of fire is produced by grazing. This 

 factor, however, is of only local importance. Occasionally areas are 

 found Avhich have been so heavih^ grazed that stock is forced, before 

 the end of the season, to browse upon chestnut, poplar, and oak 

 foliage. Here oaks again suffer much less than 3^oung poplars, and 

 somewhat less than chestnut. 



It is comparatively easy to gain all the knowledge needed for the 

 intelligent handling of a sprout forest. Stands of sprout growth, 

 since they were once cut clear, contain trees which are all practically 

 of the same age. With several such uniform stands differing one 

 from another by one or more years, it is not difficult to determine the 

 amount of timber which will be yielded by each stand at certain in- 

 tervals, since each older stand serves as an indication of the 3deld 

 which may be expected from the j-ounger stands. The future yield, 

 which is the basis of forest management, can therefore be determined 

 with greater accuracy for a sprout forest than for an irregular forest 

 composed of trees of man}^ diameters and ages. 



In Tables and 10 the yield is based on the results of a series of 

 sample areas taken on che coaled-off lands around Bear Spring Fur- 

 nace, Stewart County^ and Brownsport Furnace, Decatur County, 

 Tenn. Cutting for <"harcoal was begun seventy years ago, and at Bear 

 Spring it is still continued, so that there are now uniform stands of 

 ti'oiDpice grov'th from 2 to 70 years old. 



'[CM. J 18.] 



