WHITE PINE UNDER FOREST MANAGEMENT. 45 
weedings made at intervals of a few years will gradually remove from 
the stand all undesirable species. Stands should be kept fairly 
dense, however, and no trees need be removed which appear to be 
succumbing to the competition of more desirable associates. The 
expense of improving the composition and increasing the value of 
mixed stands should be relatively small. 
The growth of valuable broadleaf seedlings which, like white ash, 
sprout vigorously from the stump may be accelerated by cutting 
them back when the last of the original stand is finally removed. 
The "seedling sprouts" thus produced grow very rapidly, and soon 
attain a commanding position in the stand. Ash and black cherry 
cast only a light shade, and the presence with the pine of a reason- 
able number of those trees will greatly increase the value of the 
stand, both through their value for lumber and through their ten- 
dency to clear the pine trunks of branches. 
OLD GROWTH. 
Only scattered remnants of the original white-pine forests remain. 
These, however, are being logged in such a way that the complete 
disappearance of pine from such areas is threatened. Attempts to 
secure natural reproduction have rarely been successful, either 
because of defects in management, or fire. 
While fire more than any other agency may play havoc with the 
forest, yet, if rightly used in connection with lumbering, it may be 
the means of insuring a natural growth of white pine on cut-over 
areas. The soil on which white pine does best is good enough to 
support many kinds of woody undergrowth, as well as relatively 
worthless broadleaf trees. As long as the shade from the old pines 
is dense the undergrowth is kept down. When the pine reaches an 
advanced age, however, the crown cover becomes thinner and the 
woody and herbaceous undergrowth increases in abundance. When 
the stand is finally cut nothing remains to hinder the development 
of the brush and hardwoods. Should a fire burn over the area just 
before a heavy seed year, however, and should the cutting follow 
immediately after seed fall, an abundant stand of pine reproduction 
is almost sure to come in, giving competing vegetation little room 
in which to grow. The problem from then on consists simply of 
protecting the young growth from fire. 
Since it is almost impossible to prevent occasional fires from 
burning over large areas of pine slashings and destroying the 
young reproduction upon them, it is necessary to provide some 
means of reseeding such areas. This can be done either by leaving 
scattered seed trees or, better still, by removing the stand by the 
shelterwood method. In either case cuttings should be made only 
during years of heavy seed production. In most cases a careful 
