MANAGEMENT. 55 



ishment stored over winter in the roots has risen in the sap. Summer- 

 cut stumps often produce weak sprouts, which are still too tender 

 when frost comes to withstand it. 



Much waste may be prevented by cutting stumps low. Where 

 sprout reproduction is desired the stumps should be left with smooth 

 surfaces, and should be cut at a sufficient angle to allow water to 

 drain off. Care should be taken not to strip the bark from the stump, 

 since this injures or. destroys the sprout-producing buds, besides 

 facilitating decay. 



To lessen danger from fire and to restore to the soil food elements 

 taken from it by the tree, all branches too small for use should be 

 lopped so that they will lie flat, and then scattered in order to hasten 

 decay. The wood should either be removed at once or piled along 

 roads, and not hauled through the woods later among tender sprouts. 



POLE- WOOD SPROUT SYSTEM. 



In spite of the simplicity of the clear-cutting system it can be 

 recommended only where there is a reasonable certainty of abundant 

 and evenly distributed reproduction. Failure in this respect is most 

 likely to occur in the oak and oak-chestnut types, and in old chestnut 

 stands where a complete stand of sprouts can not be depended upon. 

 In such cases it is necessary to insure enough seedling reproduction 

 to fill in the spaces not occupied by sprouts. The best way to do this 

 is by "the pole-wood sprout system/' in which the stand is removed 

 in two cuttings. The first cutting resembles a heavy thinning and 

 leaves more than half the stand well distributed over the area as a 

 source of seed supply. The second cutting is made 5 or 10 years later, 

 or as soon as seedlings have appeared in sufficient abundance to com- 

 plete the scattered sprout reproduction from the stumps of the first 

 cutting. If the second cutting is too long delayed, both sprouts and 

 seedlings will suffer from, the shade of the standing trees. 



In the first cutting the inferior and suppressed trees are removed, 

 as weir as those of undesirable species. Portions of the stand which 

 can be counted on to furnish complete sprout reproduction — as 

 clumps of thrifty young chestnut — should be cut clean; elsewhere the 

 thinning should be as uniform as possible. 



The second cutting should be clean, unless it is desired to leave a 

 few scattered, thrifty trees for the production of large timber. In 

 removing the stand care should be taken not to injure the under- 

 growth of sprouts and seedlings. 



The cost of cutting and getting out the wood under this method 

 will be somewhat greater than under clear cutting, but where satis- 

 factory sprout reproduction is uncertain this additional expense will 

 be justified by the better reproduction secured. 



