40 BULLETIN 13, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 
aggressive sprouts which have succeeded in overtaking the young 
pines. Really valuable hardwoods, such as white ash or black cherry ; 
need not, of course, be cut back with the others. 
A judicious burning of the cleared area would destroy much of the 
competing vegetation, expose the mineral soil, and destroy the slash 
left after logging. On the other hand, it would also destroy most of 
the pine seed. It is not safe, therefore, to use fire except when adja- 
cent timber insures an abundant seed supply or when artificial repro- 
duction is contemplated. Furthermore, it involves some additional 
expense and inevitably results in more or less serious damage to the 
soil. Lopping of branches from the treetops after logging will cause 
the slash to lie flat on the ground, and so present the least risk of 
being ignited. At the same time it will give the young seedlings the 
shade they need, and by its decay add to the moisture retaining 
humus layer essential for the best growth of the stand. In situations 
exposed to intense sunlight or to drying winds the protection given 
by the lopped branches is especially beneficial. On clear-cut pine 
lots in New England excellent reproduction springs up in old slash, 
while open places often bear little or no young growth. Along rail- 
road rights of way and in other places where the fire risk is great, 
the brush should, of course, be piled or scattered and burned. In 
such cases, however, it may be necessary to reproduce the stand by 
artificial means. 
Clear cutting in strips. — Under this system the stand is cut in strips 
from 100 to 150 feet wide, while strips of equal width are left to seed 
up those cut over. When this is accomplished, the remainder of the 
timber is removed. Manifestly, enough timber must be left to war- 
rant the expense of a second logging, and the total area or total yield 
of the stand must, therefore, be twice as large as when one cutting is 
made. With average yields a minimum area of 10 or 12 acres might 
warrant logging by this method, provided about half of the timber 
is removed in each of the two cuttings. On level land the strips 
should lie parallel and hi a direction which will insure that the pre- 
vailing winds will blow the seed across the cleared areas. In rough 
country this arrangement will often have to be modified in order to 
facilitate logging. If it becomes necessary to cut the strips parallel 
to the prevailing wind, they should be narrower than otherwise, to 
insure a complete seeding. In making the second cut, if there are no 
adjacent seed-bearing trees to windward, reproduction must be 
secured by the seed tree or the shelterwood method, or artificially. 
Where the area comprises 20 acres or more, with fairly uniform 
conditions, the strip method may be extended to allow 3, 4, or 5 
cuttings at fairly regular intervals during the rotation. Thus, if the 
contemplated rotation was 60 years, one-third of the stand could be 
removed every 20 years, or one-fourth every 15 years, or one-fifth 
