314 
Indian Forest Records. 
[VoL. 1. 
PART I. 
GENERAL REMARKS. 
The factors which point to the application of the selection method 
of treatment to a forest under systematic management may be briefly 
summarised as follows : — 
1. When the forest is stocked with shade-bearing species so 
that the young plants are able to tolerate shade and to 
persist under it for a protracted period of time. 
2. When the complete natural regeneration of any given 
portion of the forest area cannot be brought about 
within a reasonable period of time. 
3. When for any climatic or other reasons, the forest is grow- 
ing under unfavourable or difiicult conditions, so 
that it becomes dangerous or inadvisable to interrupt 
the cover. 
4. When in a mixed forest, consisting of a number of species, 
only one of these is exploitable. 
In the normal selection forest the individuals belonging to the 
different age classes are evenly distributed over the whole area, that 
is to say, in each portion of the forest are to be found individuals of 
all ages from the seedling to the exploitable tree. The question 
then naturally arises : What is the area which should be occupied 
by each of the age classes in the normal selection forest ? And, what 
is the number of individuals which should be found in each of the 
normal age classes? 
The normal condition of a forest under any regular system of 
working necessitates the presence of a series of age gradations corre- 
sponding to the number of years in the rotation, each occupying 
equal, separate areas : a condition which has always been held to be 
applicable to the selection method. It will however be readily ad- 
mitted that this conclusion is in practice incorrect as far as it ap- 
plies to the normal selection forest, since many of the individuals of 
the younger age classes are seen to be growing immediately beneath 
the older trees and are not therefore occupying separate areas. 
