REPRODUCING THE WOOD LOT. 291 



cut out, and wliere tlie soil is deteriorated with weed growth or compacted by the tramping of 

 cattle it should be hoed or otherwise scarified, so that the seed may find favorable conditions. To 

 let pigs do the plowing and the covering of acorns is not an uncommon practice abroad. 



It is also quite proper, if the reproduction from the seed of the surrounding mother trees does 

 not progress satisfactorily, to assist, when an opportunity is afforded, by planting such desirable 

 species as were or were not in the composition of the original crop. 



It may require ten, twenty, or forty years or more to secure the reproduction of a wood lot in 

 this way. A new growth, denser and better than the old, with timber of varying age, will be the 

 result. The progress of the regeneration in groups is shown on the accompanying plan, the 

 different shadings showing the successive additions of young crop, the darkest denoting the oldest 

 parts, first regenerated. If we should make a section through any one of the groups, this, ideally 

 represented, would be like fig. 40, the old growth on the outside, the youngest new crop 

 adjoining it, and tiers of older growths of varying height toward the center of the group. 



»VIND MANTLE. 



On the plan there will be noted a strip specially shaded surrounding the entire plat (iig. 39, &), 

 representing a strip of timber which should surround the farmer's wood lot, and which he should 

 keep as dense as possible, especially favoring undergrowth. This part, if practicable, should be 

 kept reproduced as coppice or by the method of selection, i. e., by taking out trees here and there. 

 When gaps are made, they should be filled, if possible, by introducing shade-enduring kinds, 

 which, like the spruces and firs and beech, retain their branches down to the foot for a long time. 

 This mantle is intended to protect the interior against the drying influence of winds, which are 

 bound to enter the small wood lot and deteriorate the soil. The smaller the lot the more necessary 

 and desirable it is to maintain such a protective cover or windbreak. 



COPPICE. 



Besides reproducing a wood crop from the seed of mother trees or by planting, there is another 

 reproduction possible by sprouts from the stump. This, to be sure, can be done only with broad- 

 leafed species, since conifers, with but few exceptions, do not sprout from the stump. When a 

 wood lot is cut over and over again, the reproduction taking place by such sprouts we call 

 " coppice." 



Most wooded areas in the Eastern States have been so cut that reproduction from seed could 

 not take place, and hence we have large areas of coppice, with very few seedling trees interspersed. 

 As we have seen in the chapter on "How trees grow," the sprouts do not develop into as good 

 trees as the seedlings. They grow faster, to be sure, in the beginning, but do not grow as tall and 

 are apt to be shorter lived. 



For the production of firewood, fence, and post material, coppice management may suffice, 

 but not for dimension timber. And even to keep the coppice in good reproductive condition care 

 should be taken to secure a certain proportion of seedling trees, since the old stumps, after 

 repeated cutting, fail to sprout and die out. 



Soil and climate influence the success of the coppice; shallow soils produce weaker but more 

 numerous sprouts, and are more readily deteriorated by the repeated laying bare of the soil,- a 

 mild climate is most favorable to a continuance of the reproductive power of the stump. 



Some species sprout more readily than others; hence the composition of the crop will change 

 unless attention is paid to it. In the coppice, as in any other management of a natural wood 

 crop, a desirable composition must first be secured, which is done by timely improvement cuttings, 

 as described in a previous section. 



The best trees for coppice in the Northeastern States are the chestnut, various oaks, hickory, 

 ash, elm, maples, basswood, and black locust, which are all good sprouters. 



When cutting is done for reproduction the time and manner are the main care. The best 

 results are probably obtained, both financially and with regard to satisfactory reproduction, when 

 the coppice is cut between the twentieth and thirtieth year. All cutting must be done in early 

 spring or in winter, avoiding, however, days of severe frost, which is apt to sever the bark from 

 the trunk and to kill the cambium. Cutting in summer kills the stump, as a rule. The cut should 



