•ELEMENTS
OF
SYLVICULTURE-:
A SHORT TREATISE ON THE
SCIENTIFIC CULTIVATION OF THE OAK AND
OTHER HARDWOOD TREES.
BY THE LATE G. BAGNERIS,
INSPECTOR OF FORESTS, PROFESSOR AT THE FOREST SCHOOL OF NANCY.
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH (2nd EDITION).
BY
E. E. FERNANDEZ AND A. SMYTHIES, B.A.,
FOREST SERVICE. > ^ ^
LONDON :
WILLIAM RIDER AND SON,
14, BARTHOLOMEW CLOSE.
SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, & CO., STATIONERS' HALL COUUT, E.C.
1882.
TRANSLATORS' PREFACE.
It may be objected that this book, being written
only with reference to the conditions of soil, climate
and species peculiar to France, possesses no value
for Foresters in other countries where these three
elements may be different. That this objection is
only partially true, is so evident that very few words
are necessary to justify the present publication.
The broad principles of forestry remain the same
everywhere, they are, so to say, mathematical
constants. Heat, oxygen, and moisture are always
essential for germination ; young plants will invari-
ably die if deprived of the amount of sunlight they
require; inferior associated species of more rapid
growth must be kept down by means of cleanings,
&c., &c. These instances may be indefinitely
multiplied. Even the chapters specially devoted
to the treatment of the French forest trees, to
which the above objection, if it has any force at all,
applies in its fullest extent, even those chapters are
not without their interest and use. The oak, the
beech, the silver fir, the Scotch fir, and their peculiar
906865
Vi TKANSLATOES' PEEFACE.
habits, are hard unalterable facts, data supplied by
Nature. What is the best treatment for each of
those trees ? This question has been fully resolved
by close, skilful and practical observers. Is a study
of their answers and the processes by which these
answers have been arrived at quite unprofitable ?
In a word, this work written only for the benefit of
French foresters, contains not only the fundamental
principles of Sylviculture, which remain true at all
times and in all places, but also sound applications
of these principles in special cases, which cannot
fail to possess both interest and utility for their
professional brethren in other climes.
We do not, however, wish our meaning to be mis-
construed, and for this reason it is well to speak out
plainly. The method of natural reproduction by
seed is the backbone of modern French forestry, as
indeed will be gathered to some extent from a
perusal of the present publication, and those who
would see for themselves to what perfection the
method may be brought under a favourable climate
and with enlightened supervision, have only to pay
a visit to the more important State forests in France.
The State forests in that country have now been
worked on some sort of a regular system for nearly
200 years, and during the last fifty years of this
period the special wants and habits of forest trees
have been made the subject of patient and intelligent
TRANSLATORS PREFACE. Vll
study. Thus the results arrived at are the fruit of
inquiry extending over a considerable period, and
embrace a vast array of carefully ascertained facts.
The lessons derived from a study of these facts
are embodied in the present volume. It is a melan-
choly satisfaction to us to record the pleasure
we experienced at hearing these lessons explained
by the author himself, whether in the lecture room
or in the field. The teacher has passed away,
but his work remains, and if we have succeeded in
rendering this clear and intelligible, our object will
have been attained.
A word now with respect to the technical terms
employed. Some of these are already current, and
have been adopted by general consent ; these it
would have been unwise to alter : others though
also expressing ideas of every day necessity, are
entirely new, either because no word existed pre-
viously to denote these ideas, or because those at
present in use are not sufficiently accurate or expres-
sive. It is not necessary to enumerate here the
reasons which in our opinion justify the adoption
of these new terms. We would ask our readers to
think of the importance of the subject-matter, rather
than to dwell upon the imperfections of the
translation.
E. E. FEKNANDEZ.
A. SMYTHIES.
AUTHOE'S PEEFACE.
The creation of superior schools for the training
of forest subordinates has originated the Manual
which I now offer to the public. It has been written
with a view to bringing together in a compact form
the various notions on forestry, restricting that term
to Sylviculture properly so called. Hence I have
abstained from discussing the economical questions
which form the basis of Forest organization. I have
similarly passed over in silence the exploitation or
working of forests, felling excepted, which has so
great an influence on the reproduction of coppice.
It cannot be denied that the treatment of a forest is
intimately connected with its Administration ; still
it is not necessary to master thoroughly the laws of
production and yield in order to learn how to carry
out a regeneration cutting, a thinning, or a coppice
cutting.
. While seeking to convey only elementary notions,
while writing specially for the benefit of Forest
subordinates, I have not overlooked the points which
AUTHOE'S PEE FACE. ix
have appeared to me to constitute a real progress in
Forest knowledge.*
I have followed the order of subjects prescribed by
the programme drawn up in execution of the Minis-
terial Resolution of 8th April, 1870. An extract from
this programme is given lower down in so far as
concerns Sylviculture.! I have above all studied to
be brief, so as to give all the greater prominence to
questions of importance. Have I succeeded at the
same time in being clear ?
Such as it is, I commit this Manual to the judg-
ment of my comrades, whose criticism I shall receive
with gratitude, happy if I have been of any use to
Officers and subordinates, as well as to proprietors
and managers of estates.
* The chief of these is undoubtedly the theory as to the quantity
of reserves to be left in a coppice with standards, which theory the
Author was the first to formulate in a definite manner and to sup-
port on the authority of the Forest code itself, whose provisions on
this head had, previous to this, been entirely misunderstood.
t The programme has been omitted in this translation, as it can
have no interest for the general reader.
CONTENTS.
PART I.
PAGE
DEFINITIONS AND GENERAL IDEAS 1
PAKT II.
HIGH FOREST •• 22
CHAPTER I.
METHOD OF THINNINGS ..» 24
CHAPTER II.
APPLICATION OF THE METHOD TO THE PRINCIPAL FOREST
TREES ••• 44
CHAPTER lit.
IRREGULAR HIGH FOREST ... 92
CHAPTER IV.
COMPARISON OF THE DIFFERENT METHODS OF TREATING
HIGH FOREST 107
PAKT III.
COPPICE 11°
CHAPTER L ,
SIMPLE COPPICE HI
CHAPTER II.
COPPICE WITH STANDARDS 132
CHAPTER III.
APPLICATION OF THE PRINCIPLES OF COPPICE WITH
STANDARDS TO MIXED FORESTS 167
Xll CONTENTS,
PAET IV.
PAGE
CONVERSION OF COPPICE INTO HIGH FOREST 171
CHAPTEK I.
HIGH FOREST AND COPPICE COMPARED 171
CHAPTEK II.
EXAMPLE OF A CONVERSION AND THE CULTURAL OPERA-
TIONS IT NECESSITATES 176
PAET V.
RULES FOR LOCATING CUTTINGS 188
PAET VI.
GENERAL NOTIONS ON ARTIFICIAL RESTOCKING 197
CHAPTER I.
GENERALITIES 197
CHAPTER II.
PLANTING 209
CHAPTER III.
DIRECT SOWINGS 231
CHAPTER IV.
SLIPS AND BAYERS 246
SUPPLEMENT.
NOTES ON THE FIXING OF THE DUNES AND THE TAPPING
OF THE CLUSTER PINE (P. Pinaster) FOR RESIN ... 248
INDEX 270
ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
PART I.
DEFINITIONS AND GENERAL IDEAS.
SYLVICULTUKE is the whole body of observed facts
which relate to forest vegetation, arranged and
combined into a system in so far as they apply to
the treatment of forests. Like everything else that
is based on observation, sylviculture is essentially a
progressive art ; but every rational method of work-
ing forests must necessarily have as its objects : — a
steady yield, natural reproduction, and constant
improvement of the produce.
DEFINITIONS. — Climate is the state of the atmos-
phere at a particular place on the earth, as regards
the temperature, the intensity of light, the amount
of humidity, and the preVailing winds.
The situation of a place is its position relatively
to its height above the sea (eleva.tion), considered in
connection with the configuration of the earth in
that place.
The aspect of any tract is the direction (point of
the compass) in which it slopes,
By topsoil we mean the upper layer of the earth
attainable by the roots of plants, without any
reference to its composition ; differences in its com-
position give rise to the various soils we meet with
B
2 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE.
Vegetable mould is that portion of the topsoil which
is formed by the more or less decomposed debris of
organised matter.
The term species is defined as a group of indivi-
duals which resemble one another and their parents,
and produce new individuals resembling them in all
essential characters.
A tree is a woody plant with a single .stem, leafless
below, and capable of attaining a height of at least
20ft.
The words shrub and bush are used to designate
woody plants that do not attain this height, and
whose stem is branched from the base itself.
A seedling is a plant produced directly from the
germination of a seed ; a shoot springs up on a
stool after the stem has been cut down ; a sucker is
a plant that takes its origin from somewhere along
the course of a root.
Plants or trees standing together, whatever be
their origin, are collectively called a crop ; this term,
however, is generally restricted to a collection of
seedlings, and is not used for a collection of shoots or
suckers, which is more specially termed aftergrowth.
The shoots standing together on the same stool
receive the collective name of clump, and by cutting
back is understood the operation of cutting down
young steins close to the ground in order to make
them shoot up from the stool.
A rotation is the number of years determined upon
for the successive regeneration of an entire forest.
When the rotation is long, it is divided into
parts generally equal, called periods.
DEFINITIONS AND GENERAL IDEAS, 3
The distinction between two systems lies in the
method of reproduction adopted, whether by seed or
by shoots.
In the same system, there are different ways of
working the forest ; hence the various methods of
treatment.
A working circle is a certain extent of forest,
intended to furnish a succession of cuttings during
the whole length of the rotation, and which is
sufficiently homogeneous with regard to soil, climate
and species, to admit of one and the same system,
the same method of treatment and the same rotation.
It is termed regular when fin addition the various
crops composing it are of graduated ages, and each
age is equally represented.
A portion of a working circle intended to be re-
generated in the course of one period is called
a periodic block ; there are as many blocks in a
working circle as there are periods in the rotation,
and they should be constituted so as to yield, as far
as possible, equal quantities of produce.
A high forest is a forest composed of seedlings,
whatever be their age ; its object, generally speaking,
is to yield large timber, and its reproduction is
effected by seed. A coppice or copse is a forest
the reproduction of which is effected chiefly by
means of shoots or suckers.
A forest is said to form leaf-canopy, when the
crowns of the trees touch each other without being
swayed about by the wind.
There are various stages of leaf-canopy depending
upon the age and size of the trees that compose it,
ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
and each stage has its own particular name. Thus,
the forest is in the thicket stage when formed of
young trees which still retain all their branches. It
is in the sapling stage when the bole begins to form
by the fall of the lower branches and while the
diameter of the stem is less than four inches. When
the diameter of the stern at the foot of the young
tree vaiiesfrom four to eight inches, the forest is said
to be in the low pole stage. From this time it is termed
high poles until the trees have almost attained their
full length of bole. And when the trees have almost
attained their full size in diameter, it is called old
high forest. Although these various terms are more
especially applicable to high forests, they are by
usage equally applied to coppice ; only care must
then be taken to add the words on stools.
With regard to its denseness, a homogeneous crop
is said to be complete when it forms a continuous
leaf-canopy ; if it is not homogeneous, it is said to
be complete when the trees which compose it entirely
cover the ground. The crop is dense when the
branches interlace, and open when the crowns only
touch one another here and there. When the
crowns are isolated, the crop is said to be
discontinuous or interrupted.
A regular crop is one which is complete and
composed of trees best suited to the soil and climate
and in which all promising trees are growing up
under favourable conditions.
An open glade is a portion of a forest where the
trees are few and far between and the soil is bare, or
covered with inferior species. A blank is an open
DEFINITIONS AND GENEEAL IDEAS. 5
glade without the trees. If the glades or blanks
occupy extensive areas, they are termed bare wastes.
The designation of white woods or soft woods is
given to those species which have a low density and a
soft texture. Only four genera are included in this
category, viz., alders, limes, poplars, and willows.
In contradistinction, the other broad-leaved species
form the category of hardwoods.
The term brushwood is applied to woody plants
of small size and inferior quality, and includes the
elders, hazel, cornel-trees, privet, viburnums, spindle-
tree, thorns, holly, juniper, besides others.
When part of a forest is cut over, the trees allowed
to remain standing in this portion are called reserves,
and collectively they form the reserve of the area cut.
When no reserves are left in this area, the opera-
tion is termed a clear cutting.
The underwood is the young crop growing up
underneath the reserves.
Windfalls are trees broken off or uprooted by any
cause whatsoever, in the majority of cases by the wind.
By the term cover is to be understood either the
vertical projection of the crown of the tree on the
ground, or the action of the crown on the surface of
projection. Cover acts by intercepting light and
rain, and by preventing the formation of dew.
Cover is injurious, and must not be confounded with
shelter.
The term shade is applied in the same manner
either to the surface of the ground actually shaded,
or to the action of this shade. This action has the
effect of temporarily lessening evaporation from the
G ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTuKE.
leaves, or from the soil, and intercepts the direct rays
of light. Shade, less injurious than cover, is useful
only so far as it affords shelter.
To exploit a forest or crop means to fell it in
accordance with the principles of Sylviculture.
A forest is exploitable when it has attained the
maximum of utility for its proprietor. The state of
a forest in which this condition has been realised is
expressed ty the word exploitability .
By annual yield is meant the quantity of produce
that can be taken out of a forest annually while
maintaining the production at a constant figure.
GENERAL IDEAS.
CLIMATE. — Climate is used in two senses : first)
the geographical climate, which depends on the
latitude, and secondly, the physical or local climate*
which depends chiefly on the situation and aspect of
the place in question. The distribution of the
various species 'over the face of the earth is the
principal result of the first kind of climate ; for the
forester it has only a general, though very important,
interest. The second, while also influencing the
distribution of plants, has a more direct action on
the growth and quality of timber, and requires a
short explanation.
On situation, which involves the idea of the
configuration of the earth, rests the difference
between the climate of plains and that of mountains.
CLIMATE OF PLAINS. — For a given latitude the
climate of plains is generally more uniform than
GENERAL IDEAS. 7
that of mountains. It varies with the elevation of
the plain, the nature of the soil, the proximity or
remoteness of the sea and of mountain chains, as
well as with the direction of the latter ; it is further
modified by the presence or absence of large sheets
of surface water, and of forests.
, Surface water by its evaporation lowers the
temperature in summer. As it cools down slower
than the atmosphere, it may diminish the cold at the
beginning of winter ; but once in a solid state, its
more active radiation adds to the severity of the
cold. Finally, in the spring it absorbs heat slowly,
and thus too it lowers the temperature. Watery
vapour in the shape of fogs intercepts the solar rays,
and is apt to bring on frost. The presence of surface
water renders the atmosphere moist, and lastly it
opposes no obstacle to the wind, which thus retains
all its force.
Although forests prevent the evaporation of water
by the action of their cover, still their foliage diffuses
much watery vapour into the atmosphere, and thus
the temperature is lowered during the season of
vegetation. In winter they impede terrestrial
radiation and in consequence diminish the intensity
of the cold. But a series of experiments not yet
completed, proves that the mean annual temperature
is rather less inside the forest than it is outside, and
tends to show that the effect of forests as regards
heat, is chiefly to prevent and to lessen sudden
changes of temperature. The atmosphere contains
more humidity in wooded countries than in places
which are denuded of forest vegetation ; it rains
8 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE.
there more frequently, and perhaps in greater
abundance. Finally, forests, by presenting a barrier
to the wind, break its force. They certainly act in
other ways on the climate, but this action is not yet
sufficiently understood, and it would be premature
to go into the question here.
The elevation of plains chiefly affects the temper-
ature ; thus, in France, 330 feet of elevation have
the same influence as one additional degree of
latitude ; that is, the effect is to lower the tem-
perature by half a degree centigrade.
The nature of the soil is not without its influence
on the temperature and humidity of the atmosphere.
A free soil, by permitting the infiltration of water,
gives off less watery vapour and thus increases the
temperature; a stiff soil, produces the contrary
effects. The darker the colour of the soil, the
higher will be the temperature.
The proximity of the sea tends to equalize the
annual temperature, increases the amount of
moisture in the air, and allows fall play to the
violence of the winds.
Lastly, mountain chains, according to their
direction, exert an influence on the temperature and
the humidity of the atmosphere, and break the force
of aerial currents.
CLIMATE OF MOUNTAINS.— The climate of moun-
tains varies chiefly with elevation and aspect, result
of the configuration of the surface, while still re-
maining subject to the same modifying causes as the-
climate of plains.
As one gets higher and higher, the air becomes
GENERAL IDEAS. 9
cooler, and drier (generally at least), and winds are
more violent. This is equivalent to saying that
forest vegetation, which was vigorous enough in the
valleys, is less active on hill slopes, and "becomes
sluggish, and even disappears altogether, on high
unsheltered plateaux. The shape of the trees too
becomes deformed. But it is impossible to define
sharp] y the climate of valleys and of slopes, because
it depends entirely on the direction of the valleys,
and thus each case must be examined on its own
merits.
INFLUENCE OF ASPECT. — The influence exercised
by aspect on the climate and the necessity of study-
ing its action on the growth of trees, have already
been foreshadowed in what precedes.
A northern aspect receives no sun ; on this aspect
therefore there is but little heat, and the light is
diffused ; the winds are cold, contain little moisture,
and are seldom strong. But on account of the low
temperature, the soil remains ever moist ; growth is
therefore rapid, the trees are regular in shape, but
the woody tissue is soft and not well lignified.
Timber grown on this aspect is unsuited for building
wood, but on the other hand well adapted for manu-
facturing purposes, especially for planking.
On an eastern aspect the sun shines obliquely and
during the coolest hours of the day ; the temperature
and the light on this aspect are therefore moderate,
the wind is dry, and not violent. Under these
conditions the soil retains its moisture fairly well,
the growth is active, the trees are regular in shape,
and yield timber of average quality, useful for all
10 ELEMENTS OF STLVICULTUEE.
purposes. The eastern is the most favourable
aspect for forest vegetation.
On these two aspects, especially on the northern,
the vegetation being tardy escapes spring frosts, but
the shoots of the year which are not sufficiently
lignified when autumn comes on, are apt to suffer
from early frosts.
On a southern aspect the sun shines almost all
day long, the temperature is high, and the light
intense in its action ; the winds are strong, and are
often accompanied by storms and torrents of rain,
which thoroughly soak the ground, and wash the
soil down the slopes. Under these circumstances
the topsoil, generally superficial, dries up rapidly ;
the trees are slow in growth, misshapen in form ; on
the . other hand the timber is thoroughly lignified,
and though it is unsuited for carpenters' work, it is
in great demand for building purposes when its
shape allows of its being so used.
On a western aspect the sun shines obliquely, but
during the hottest hours of the day ; the temperature
is high, and the light fairly strong; the soil retains
moisture with difficulty. The winds have the same
character as on a southern aspect, and here, too, we
find timber of slow growth, ill-shapen form, possess-
ing the same good qualities and the same defects.
On these two aspects, the vegetation is early, and
the young shoots of the season often fall victims to
spring frosts.
Mountainous countries, especially deep moist
valleys, are always exposed to the danger of frost,
because the atmosphere is laden with watery vapour,
GENEEAL IDEAS. 11
and this is condensed into fog or hoar-frost as soon
as the sun goes down. The trees are not safe
against this danger until they have outgrown the
usual height of the fogs, i.e., six to twelve feet.
The peculiar characters of each aspect may be
modified by local conditions ; in a valley an out-
jutting spur will change the original direction of the
winds ; on the Mediterranean, along the coast of
Eousillon, the strongest winds come from the east,
and bring moisture, &c. Again, elevation diminishes
the effect of aspect, and towards the limit of forest
vegetation, the difference between a northern and
southern aspect is no longer sensible, growth is
very slow, and the density of the wood small.
Lastly, shelter on this or that side further changes
the general effect of aspect.
CLASSIFICATION OF CLIMATES. — In order that we
may have precise terms at our disposal, the general
climate of France has been divided into the follow-
ing :—
Hot climate ; in which the cork, holm, and
kermes oaks, and the stone and Aleppo pines are
indigenous.
Mild climate ; characterized by the cluster pine ;
the two large oaks bear seed in this climate almost
every year.
Temperate climate ; the two large oaks, the horn-
beam and the beech are here very common ; but
acorns and beechnuts fall only every four, six, or
even eight years.
Cold climate ; here the beech with the silver fir and
the Scotch pine constitute the large bulk of the forest.
12 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
Very cold climate ; here among broad-leaved trees
we only meet with the birches, mountain ash, service
tree, &c., and it is the natural home of the spruce fir,
and above all of the larch, and the Cembran and
dwarf pines.
SOILS. — The function of the soil with regard to
plants is twofold ; it affords them a solid base, and
it aids in their nutrition. Forest trees, however,
require very little inorganic matter immediately
assimilable, and what is more important, the greater
bulk of these principles, taken up every year by the
trees, is returned to the soil in their leaves and fruit ;
it may therefore be asserted that as regards forests
the physical properties of a soil are far more im-
portant than its chemical composition.
The chief physical properties of soil are depth,
Jiygroscopicity, compactness, and colour. It is the
first two that chiefly affect forest growth ; in a deep
hygroscopic soil the trees make rapid growth and
attain a considerable height ; the latter feature is
characteristic, and allows us to infer with certainty
the depth or shallowness of a soil. The hygroscopicity
of a soil, which is in direct proportion to its compact-
ness, is the facility with which it absorbs a greater,
or less amount of water, and retains it with more or
less force. On the compactness of a soil depends
the greater or less ease with which it is penetrated
by the roots of plants. The colour of a soil favours
or diminishes its aptitude to absorb heat. The best
forest soil is one which, besides being deep, is
moderately stiff and fairly hygroscopic.
The mineral composition of the topsoil consider-
GENEEAL IDEAS. 13
ably affects its physical properties. All soils are
composed of argillaceous, calcareous or silicious
elements, either pure or mixed in greatly varying
proportions, together with a certain quantity of
substances capable of assimilation by plants. If,
then, we study the physical properties of each of these
three elements separately, it will be easy to ascertain
those of the soil in which any one of them may
happen to preponderate ; similarly we can deduce
the properties of soils intermediate in character.
Clay is exceedingly stiff ; it absorbs water slowly,
but in great quantity, and a very sticky paste is thus
formed ; when a clay soil is saturated, water is no
longer absorbed but has to remain on the surface.
It retains water a long time, and on drying up shrinks
considerably and becomes deeply cracked. A pure
clay soil is unsuited to vegetation, because roots do
not easily penetrate it ; nor, when it is saturated
with water, do they find enough air ; also because
they are torn asunder and wither up when the soil
cracks in dry weather. Moreover, clay contains no
nutritive elements.
Limestone, reduced to an earthy state, yields a
very light soil which rapidly absorbs a large quantity
'of water forming with it a light-coloured mud. It
loses this water with equal facility, and becomes a
fine dust. Though yielding lime salts, it is unsuited
to vegetation, because it is either too wet or too dry,
and does not afford a sufficiently solid base for large
trees. Limestone presents yet another danger; if
caught by frost when in the state of mud, it swells
and lifts up with it the young plants ; when a thaw
14 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
sets in, the earthy particles sink down and leave the
roots bare, which then wither up and die.
Sand is found in a granular state, and forms soils
which vary considerably according to the size of the
grains. When the sand is very fine, an almost im-
palpable powder, it has the same properties as clay,
compactness and hygroscopicity being proportional to
the fineness of the component particles. But usually,
the grains of sand are of sufficient size to form a light
soil that allows water to permeate to a great depth,
and gives it up again with a remarkable facility.
Sandy soils then vary very much as to their
physical properties ; better suited to vegetation,
when fine, even though they be pure, than clay and
limestone, they are nevertheless poor soils, incapable
of furnishing plants with any nourishment.
Although clay, limestone, and sand cannot
individually form a fertile soil, yet when mixed they
yield a rich and excellent soil, because the lime it
contains is a source of nourishment, and its physical
properties are not exaggerated, and therefore injurious,
as is the case with any one of the three soils in its
pure state. .
Whatever be the mineral components of the soil,
vegetable mould is sufficient to make it of good
quality. For it corrects the excessive stiffness of
clay, and the lightness of sand and lime ; it absorbs
and retains as much as twice its weight of water,
without allowing it to filter through ; it gives back
the water more easily than clay, but more slowly
than sand and lime ; lastly, by a gradual deposit of
carbonaceous matter which is not absorbed, it
GENERAL IDEAS. 15
renders the colour of every soil black. Moreover,
mould yields in abundance elements of nutrition that
are immediately assimilable.
CLASSIFICATION OF SOILS. — As regards the quan-
tity of water they contain, soils may be divided as
follows : —
Marshy. Those soils which are permanently
covered by stagnant water ; they are quite unsuitable
for forest vegetation.
Aquatic. Those that are constantly saturated ;
where water appears under the pressure of the foot
but is enabled to drain away. In these soils we find
the pubescent birch, the mountain pine, the elm,
ash, willows, &c.
Damp. Soils in which water no longer appears
under the pressure of the foot, but which never dry
up at the surface in any season. They are the home
of the peduncled oak, the alder, ash, elm, spruce
fir, &c.
Moist. Those which dry up at the surface but not
to a greater depth than six inches ; these soils suit
almost every forest tree.
Dry. These soils dry up to a greater depth ; here
we find the common birch, the Scotch pine, the
cluster pine, the Austrian, and Aleppo pines, &c.
According to their compactness, soils are either
stiff or light, the former being principally composed
of clay or impalpable grains of sand, the latter formed
of limestone, or sand more or less gritty; on
account of the water they contain, the first are
termed cold soils ; the second, for a contrary reason,
are designated warm soils.
1G ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
A farther distinction is made, according to their
composition, between rich soils, which contain a large
proportion of vegetable mould, and poor soils, con-
taining little or none.
Marl is an intimate mixture of lime and clay ;
when exposed to the air it crumbles, and according as
the clay or lime predominates, it is said to be
argillaceous or calcareous, forming in the former case
a stiff soil, in the latter case a light soil. Marl is a
first rate soil, nutritive in itself, and highly suitable
to every kind of cultivation.
Rich sand is a mixture of sand and clay ; when
vegetable mould is added to it, it constitutes the
best soil for the growth of forest trees.
FOREST TREES. — The botanical description of forest
trees belongs to the department of natural history,
and will therefore find no place in this manual.
But before giving the treatment of the more
important among them, we shall mention the climate
and soil that suit them best, their habitat in plains or
in mountainous regions, their manner of growth,
qualities and uses, the requirements of the young
plants, in a word, all that is capable of affecting
cultural operations. It will suffice to give heret he
characteristic features of the two grand divisions,
broad-leaved trees and conifers.
The broad-leaved trees have annual leaves, with
the exception of a few southern species ; the cork,
western holm, and kermes oaks, &c. ; the leaves
have a well-developed blade, and there is a bud at the
axil of each. The result is an irregular ramification.
Their wood is always formed of vessels, fibres and
GENERAL IDEAS. 17
medullary rays ; they all possess, though in different
degrees, the faculty of reproduction by shoots or
suckers.
The conifers have persistent leaves, except the
larch, which sheds them every year ; the leaves are
linear, and resemble needles ; generally, it is at the
axil of those only which surround the growing point
that buds, capable of developing into branches, are
found ; thus the ramification is regular. The wood
of conifers is composed exclusively of fibres and
medullary rays ; vessels are completely absent.
The wood contains resinous juices. The trees, at
least those of Europe, do not throw up shoots from
the stool.
EXPLOITABLE TIMBER. — As we have said before, a
forest is exploitable when it has attained its
maximum of utility for its proprietor. This
maximum of utility may be considered from two
principal points of view : firstly, the greatest
usefulness of the timber itself, and secondly, the
greatest profit that can be derived from the forest
considered as an investment,
Speaking generally, as long as the wood remains
sound, the larger a tree is, the more useful is the
produce that it yields. For in this case, besides
being suited for a greater variety of purposes, there
is less waste in working it up. Hence, the maximum
usefulness of timber coincides with the age of
maturity, that is to say, the age beyond which the
timber, if unfelled, would run the risk of becoming
unsound.
To fell the trees of a forest one by one as they
c
18 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE.
reach, the age of maturity, or else to grow uniform
crops, in order to fell them as soon as the mass
of component trees attains this age, is evidently to
work in the highest interests of the supply of the
public at large ; in other words, in the interests of
the State which is the personification of the general
community. But for this purpose, it is necessary to
let the trees attain a great age, i.e., to apply long
rotations. Hence arises, as a rule, the necessity of
growing high forest, for this is the only means by
which the growth of vigorous and abundant stool-
shoots can be effectually prevented ; at the end of a
long rotation no shoots from the stool would be
produced.
Now high forest worked on a long rotation entails
as a consequence the accumulation of a considerable
amount of capital, the increase of which is out of all
proportion to the increase of revenue which may be
derived from it. In the case we are considering
(that of forests) the ratio between the income and
the capital employed to yield it, i.e., the rate of
investment, goes on steadily diminishing as soon as
the forest has attained a certain age, and that not
very far advanced. It is for this reason that the
State and proprietors who are so to say imperishable,
such as Communes and public institutions, are the
only bodies that are able to produce the most useful
timber.
As for the State, it is in the first place its
imperative duty to grow the most usefrl timber
because, as the representative of society at large, it
is obliged to produce that which the public cannot
GENERAL IDEAS. 19
do without, and which private proprietors are not in
a position to produce. This is indeed the chief
reason why forests should be in the possession of the
State. It is, moreover, to the advantage of the State
that this should be so, for the consequent expansion
of trade and the benefit to the public weal necessarily
contribute to swell the receipts of the treasury. In
the last place, from its being imperishable, the State
is formed of an unbroken series of successive
generations, each of which is an usufructuary of the
State domains, without any one of them having the
right to dispose of the capital which the latter
represent. Now, to place the State forests on such
a footing that they shall yield the scarcest and
most useful products is evidently to make them return
the highest revenue, leaving out of consideration
the ratio between the income and the capital
producing it.
This last consideration equally concerns all other
imperishable proprietors, such as Communes, public
bodies, &c. ; but the general interests of the country
do not affect them to the same extent as the State.
This amounts to saying that it is their duty to
preserve intact all forests they may possess which
already yield the most useful products, but that they
are not obliged to bring them into this state if the
interests of the present generation would suffer too
much thereby.
With respect to private, and therefore perishable,
proprietors, forests stand to them in the same position
as any other property ; they represent so much
capital invested, which they have at their complete
20 ELEMENTS OF ST.LVICULTUKE.
disposal, which they can sell, exchange or employ
for any purpose whatsoever. They have no concern
with the interests of the general public. Their object
is to derive from whatever forests they may possess
the highest returns consistent with the percentage
of profits they expect to obtain. Thus they are
driven to choose short rotations, in order to guard
against the accumulation of a large capital in the
shape of standing timber. Besides, their character
is essentially speculative, and is thus opposed to the
realization of profits at far distant dates. Hence,
when the kind of tree admits of it, private owners
exploit their forests at an age when stool-shoots are
still produced with vigour and in abundance ;- i.e.,
they grow coppice.
The first of these two kinds of exploit ability which
depends on the most useful produce and applies to
imperishable proprietors, is termed economic exploit-
ability ; the second, which depends on the highest
profits, and applies to private proprietors, is termed
commercial exploitability. Besides these, there is
still another, which concerns both classes of proprietor.
This we term physical exploitability. Its object is
to fell trees one by one as they die or enter into full
decay. Here we neglect altogether the quality of
the timber produced, as well as the money returns ;
we take into consideration nothing but the utility
to be derived from the presence of standing timber,
viz., either ornament or protection and shelter.
In order to realize the object of this or that
exploitability, the forester has to adopt long or short
rotations, and to apply the system of high forest or
GENERAL IDEAS. 21
that of coppice, either of which comprises several
methods of treatment.
ANNUAL YIELD. — By the term annual yield we
mean the quantity of produce that can be taken out
of a forest annually on the condition that this quan-
tity can be maintained at a constant figure. In
order to realize it, we may take area as our basis,
and cut over an equal area every year. But
this takes for granted that throughout the whole
extent of the forest, equal areas of the same age will
yield equal quantities of produce. When the forest
is rather large, it seldom happens that this is the
case. Under these circumstances, therefore, we may
divide the forest into a certain number of parts, each
homogeneous in itself as regards productiveness ; we
can then treat these areas as so many working circles,
in each of which we may base our annual yield on
area, and express it in acres.
There are other occasions when the working circles
are sufficiently homogeneous to admit of the above
system, but the nature of the various cuttings carried
on is such that they cannot be effectively performed
by removing equal quantities of produce from equal
areas. This case occurs in the regeneration cuttings
of high forests. The annual yield is then based on
volume, and is expressed in cubic feet. To deter-
mine the amount, all the trees in the block to be
regenerated are counted and measured, and the
cubic content thus obtained is divided by the number
of years in the period. The quotient represents the
number of cubic feet to be cut each year, and this
amount is obtained from areas that vary every
22 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
year according to the cultural requirements on each
occasion.
Again there are cases, as for instance in high forests
worked on the selection system (see infra) when
the exact calculation of the annual yield is of less
importance than the object with which the selection
system is adopted in any particular case. Here it
is considered sufficient to cut over very nearly equal
areas every year, removing a fixed number of trees
per acre. In this method, therefore, our annual
yield is expressed in the number of trees. If the
forest has been divided into a convenient number of
working circles, large fluctuations in the yield from
one year to another need not be feared, and the forest
is gradually brought into the most favourable
condition for the proprietor.
PART II.
HIGH FOREST.
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. — In growing high forest
the object in view is generally to produce large tim-
ber, and to obtain natural reproduction by seed as a
direct consequence of the cultural operations.
We recognise three principal methods of treating
high forest.
1. The selection method, which, more than any
other method, resembles the action of nature, and
consists in cutting over rather extensive areas every
HIGH FOREST. 23
year, and in felling the trees one by one, or in small
groups, here and there, as they become exploitable
or begin to decay. This method was mostly employed
in mountainous country, and especially in coniferous
forests.
2. The method known as " tire et aire" which
became generally adopted in France under the terms
of the Eoyal Statute of 1669. In this method equal
areas of forest were cut over successively in the order
in which they followed each other on the ground,
a fixed number of trees were reserved per acre, and
the young crops that came up were left to themselves
and grew on untouched for the whole length of the
rotation adopted.
3. The method of thinnings, which is intended to
obviate the defects of the two previous methods, and
is founded directly on certain facts in nature. These
facts relate to the conditions under which seeds ger-
minate, to the requirements of the young plants
during the first few years of their existence, and also
to the phenomena which are observed in the growth
and development of homogeneous crops left to them-
selves.
It would perhaps be more logical to study these
three methods of treatment in the order in which
they have been given above, but the importance of
the method of thinnings claims for it the first place
in this manual.
24 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
CHAPTEK I.
METHOD OF THINNINGS.
NATURAL PHENOMENA ON WHICH THE METHOD is
FOUNDED. — 1st. In order that a seed may germinate,
air and a certain quantity of heat and moisture must
be present. These three elements acting simultan-
eously are necessary and sufficient. Light is useful,
but it is not absolutely necessary, and the heat that ac-
companies it, if too strong, as is often the case, may
cause the seed to dry up, and thus prevent germination.
Nor again is the presence of soil essential to ger-
mination, though it favours it in so far as it distributes
to the seeds in suitable proportions the elements
of which they stand in need. But for this purpose
the soil must be sufficiently free, and rich enough to
provide nourishment for the plants immediately after
germination.
As long as the soil is not well protected by the
young plants, and their rootlets are small and have
not penetrated deeper than the topsoil, which may
dry up, the young plants require shelter from the
heat. Later on they require complete exposure to
the action of sunlight, and they should be gradually
brought under its influence.
If to these facts, which are a matter of observation,
we add the necessity of obtaining a thorough re-stock-
ing of the forest, we deduce the following conditions,
bearing upon natural reproduction and growth dur-
ing the early years : —
A free and rich soil.
METHOD OF THINNINGS. 25
A complete natural sowing.
Shelter to the young plants for the first few years.
Their gradual exposure to meteorological influences.
2ndly. In proportion as the young trees grow up,
their crowns require more room in the air, their roots
more space in the soil. It follows then that a certain
number amongst them must disappear. This may
be observed in any completely stocked forest, the
weaker plants succumb to the stronger, and die off
one by one, until only a certain number of trees re-
main that are capable of living and doing well on a
given area.
At the outset, this struggle between the various
individuals does not last long enough to diminish
the vigour of the more promising trees, or to injure
the quality of their timber. It has, on the contrary,
a useful effect, viz., that of cleaning the boles of
their lower branches. But later on, when each tree
has acquired a certain size, the weaker take a long
time in dying off, and hinder the regular develop-
ment of their neighbours. From this moment the
struggle is injurious, and it becomes imperative to
step in and shorten its duration.
Though, generally speaking, this struggle for life is
advantageous to young stock, there are circumstances
in which it may become dangerous. Such is the
case when softwoods or brushwood, of more rapid
growth than hard-wood trees, have crept into the
forest, or else when the crop is composed of several
valuable species, which it is important to keep grow-
ing together, and one of them grows up faster than
the rest, and threatens to take possession of the
26 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
ground. If the forester does not step in at this
crisis, the overtopped plants begin to wither away,
and ultimately disappear altogether.
How THE METHOD OF THINNINGS ACCORDS WITH
THESE PHENOMENA. — To meet these two classes of
phenomena, as well as to assist and to turn to account
the action of nature, the method we are now
discussing brings to its aid two kinds of cuttings,
Regeneration cuttings and Improvement cuttings.
The former are three in number, and they are termed
respectively the primary, secondary, and final cut-
tings ; the latter consist si cleanings and thinnings.
KEGENERATION CUTTINGS. — Eeproduction by seed
must only be looked for in those parts of the forest
which have arrived at maturity. Strictly speaking,
no doubt, a high forest may be regenerated as soon
as the trees are fertile. But besides the fact that the
timber at this moment is far from being really useful,
the crop of seedlings produced at that period is
seldom either complete or under favourable conditions
of future growth. Nature does not act thus ; a few
seedlings may perhaps make their appearance under
middle-aged timber ; but it is only under old and
lofty forest, which has already begun to admit a
little sunlight, that young plants with some chance
of living are found in any numbers. Besides, in all
State or communal forests the interest of the
proprietors is to produce the most useful material,
i.e., large timber. From losing sight of this fact
many mistakes have been made; and people have
even gone to the extent of denying the excellence of
the .method of thinnings.
METHOD OF THINNINGS. 27
PRIMARY CUTTINGS. — The primary cutting ought to
realize the first three conditions mentioned above
viz., the maintenance of a free and rich soil, the
certainty of a complete sowing, and shelter to
the young plants during their infancy.
It is under trees forming together a continuous
leaf-canopy that the richest and freest soil is to be
found ; and it is the same kind of crop, when the trees
that compose it are old but not verging into decay,
that produces the best and greatest quantity of seed.
But though the seeds germinate, it may happen, on
the other hand, that the young plants will not live
under this leaf-canopy for want of sufficient light ;
nay, if the parent tree possesses a very dense foliage,
it is quite possible that there will not be enough heat
for even germination to take place, and the seed has
fallen uselessly on the ground. We are thus com-
pelled to open out the leaf-canopy here and there on
making the primary cutting. The extent to which
the leaf-canopy should be thus interrupted must
depend on the state of the soil, climatic conditions,
and the constitution of the young seedlings (hardy or
delicate), and no hard and fast rule can be laid down
on the subject. We may distinguish, however, two
methods of making the-primary cutting, and they are
termed respectively the open and the close cutting.
A primary cutting is said to be close if the side
branches of the reserves touch each other when
swayed about by the wind. This definition is of the
greatest importance, and in practice must be carried
out to the letter whenever the necessity of such a
cutting is clearly indicated by natural facts.
28 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
In the open cutting the intervals between the
crowns may vary from seven to twenty feet.
The close cutting is the one which has most fre-
quently to he employed. It is absolutely required
in each of the following cases : when the seed is
heavy and cannot be carried away far from the foot
of the parent tree ; when the constitution of the
young plant is delicate ; when the soil is liable to
become choked with luxuriant grass, or to be dried
up ; when the operation is performed on the edge of
the forest, or in localities exposed to the wind. For
under these various circumstances we run the risk
of an incomplete sowing of the ground, or the non-
germination of the seed, or the dying off of the young
plants for want of shelter, or the blowing down of
the reserves either before they have sown the ground
or before the young seedlings can do without
shelter.
It is only when all the opposite conditions are
found together, that the primary cutting can be
made more or less open. In other words, the close
cutting is the rule, the open one the exception.
When choosing the reserves, we must evidently
select vigorous trees which have a lofty bole and a
wide-spreading crown. It is far more important to
secure an equal distribution of foliage than a regular
arrangement of stems ; and this should be our chief
object. A close cutting that has been judiciously
made should allow the sunlight to reach the ground
not in large patches, but sifted as it were between
the leaves as through a sieve.
The object in selecting reserves with a lofty bole
METHOD OF THINNINGS. 29
is to mitigate the action of cover, and to allow heat
and rain to reach the ground in sufficient quantity.
This length of bole is so important that it is fre-
quently sufficient in itself to ensure the sowing of the
ground. It is the aspect presented by old high
forest that has grown up in close leaf-canopy. It
is on this account quite lawful to increase the length
of bole artificially by pruning even living branches,
whenever the operation is performed on thick
foliaged trees or on oaks which are to fall, at the
latest, in the final cutting. There is yet another case
in which it is essential to increase the height of cover
artificially, viz., when the leaf-canopy is formed by
a small number of trees which are thickly clothed
with branches from their very base. Under such
trees no seedlings spring up ; but once cut away the
lower branches, and in the next year of seedfall
numbers of young plants put in an appearance and
thrive.
Besides selecting reserves with a lofty bole and
artificially raising the cover by pruning, the soil must
at the same time be carefully cleared of all brush-
wood and small shrubs with which it may happen to
be overgrown. This precaution is of the utmost
necessity, both to prevent the seed rotting in the
winter, and also to ensure at the right moment the
necessary amount of heat for its germination. The
very existence indeed of the young plants also
requires it ; for they would rapidly disappear with
such low cover just over their heads.
SECOND AEY CUTTING. — As soon as the young
plants have reachel a certain age and the crop of
30 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
seedlings is complete, the time will have come to
give them more light. This is effected by the
secondary cutting.
But before proceeding any further, we must be
quite agreed as to what we mean by a complete crop
of seedlings. Strictly speaking, it is one which
entirely covers the ground. But although such
a result would always be desirable, it is seldom
attained in one single year. The only case in which
we may insist on it is where we have to deal with
young plants of delicate constitution which can live
on under cover from one year of seed to another.
But in the case of hardy trees, while we are thus
waiting for another fall of seed, we run the risk of
seeing the young plants die off one by one under the
cover, and having the crop always incomplete. In
this case we must generally be content with a partial
sowing, provided that the young plants are well
distributed, and are in sufficiently strong numbers to
close over the ground by the time they have reached
the thicket stage, say in ten years.
The general procedure is to mark for felling the
trees that overshadow the most completely stocked
and vigorous patches of seedlings, and to leave un-
touched every spot where there are no young plants-
Much judgment is required in this operation ;
while increasing the supply of light we mustgaard
against the drying up of the soil, which the seedlings
cannot as yet protect by themselves.
Thus, in the majority of instances, we are obliged
to extend the secondary cutting over several opera-
tions, a practice that is necessary in the case of
METHOD OF THINNINGS. 31
delicate trees, and always advisable in localities
exposed to frost. Another reason for this measure
is not to encumber the ground with too much
produce at a time, and thus to lessen the damage
done to the young plants by the timber operations.
If the primary cutting was made close and several
years elapse without a fall of seed, the crowns of the
trees may again meet over head and render it neces-
sary to re-establish the original state. We cannot call
this a secondary cutting, but rather a fresh primary
cutting. Similarly if, after an open primary cutting,
the soil becomes covered with brushwood and scrub,
before seed falls, it will be necessary to clear all this
undergrowth away, when one can foretell a year of
seed.
FINAL CUTTING.— At length, when there is no
longer any fear of frost or heat injuring the crop of
seedlings, we may proceed to make the final cutting.
The proper time to do this is when the young plants
cover the soil everywhere, and have reached the
thicket stage.
The final cutting consists in taking down the
reserves left after the secondary cuttings. As far as
regards the regeneration, it ought to be complete ;
and though some spots may not yet be sown, still
the trees stan ding there should be cut down, and the
places artificially filled up. The latter step will be
unnecessary unless these blanks are too large to be
rapidly covered over by the growth of the neighbour-
ing crowns; to undertake to re-stock all the empty
places, however small, would be at once useless and
expensive. In the .same way it would be no good
32 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
waiting for the natural re-stocking of these spots,
because the soil must necessarily have deteriorated
under the exposure, and will be no longer in a fit
state to receive seed.
But although the young plants can henceforth do
without shelter, it may be advantageous to leave a
certain number of reserves standing, either to let
them attain exceptionally large dimensions, or
because they have not yet reached their most useful
size. This is especially the case with the oak, for
large pieces of which there is such a great demand,
while their supply is diminishing every day.
The trees thus preserved must be carefully cleaned
of all their epicormic branches.* It is because this
has not been done that many oaks, left as reserves,
have become stag-headed and have had to be cut
down prematurely. This has led some people to
think it impossible to preserve them, in spite of the
incontestable proof to the contrary offered by old
reserves wThich are scattered about in existing high
forests. They evidently had to pass through the
same ordeal of isolation which will in our case be
lessened in intensity and shortened in duration to a
remarkable degree by seasonable pruning.
We should never be in too much of a hurry to
make the final cutting, because in the first place, the
shelter afforded by reserves left standing here and
there is the only sure means of protecting the young
plants from the effects of late spring frosts in
exposed localities; secondly, because until the
* The side branches which develop on the bole as soon as the
tree is isolated ; from I TH, on, and Kop/utȣ, stem of a tree.
METHOD OF THINNINGS. 33
thicket is thoroughly established the soil is not
sufficiently covered and is apt to deteriorate ; and
lastly, because the amount of timber produced is
increased by the further development of the reserves,
which are too scattered and too high to cause any
material damage to the young plants by the action of
their cover.
It may be safely said that an interval of twenty to
twenty-five years between the primary and final cut-
ting is an average time for the complete regeneration
of a forest ; that there is always much to gain by pro-
ceeding with caution and prudence, and much to lose
by trying to go too fast. In fact, one must take into
account the years of seed over which one has no
control, and remember that germination, as well the
as maintenance of the young seedlings, is exposed to
many accidents which it is often impossible to foresee
or to prevent. It has been often said that by giving
up such a long time to regeneration, a clear loss in
the yield was bound to result, and that it was more
advantageous and more economical to have recourse
to artificial methods of re-stocking. This is an error
against which one cannot speak too strongly ; arti-
ficial re-stocking always involves an outlay that
cannot be put down at less than 30s. an acre, and this
put out at interest would amount to a good sum at
the end of a long rotation. Letting alone the fact
that natural sowing costs nothing, we may say that
there is no loss in the yield, because each reserve
left after the primary cutting grows all the faster
from having more space to develope in, and this
extra production is the more useful, as it is obtained
chiefly by an increase of diameter.
D
34 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE.
YIELD OF THESE CUTTINGS. — The secondary and
final cuttings are made so as to favour the seedlings
already on the ground ; in consequence they are
made at unequal intervals of time, and without any
attempt at obtaining equal quantities of timber from
equal areas ; moreover the regeneration cuttings give
the largest out-turn of the most useful material ;
hence their annual yield should be based on volume,
and this will ensure a steady yield and the proper
carrying out of the cuttings.
IMPROVEMENT CUTTINGS. — Cleanings. Take as
many precautions as we may in carrying out the regen-
eration cuttings, it almost always happens, especially
on rich soils and in temperate climates, that species
with a light seed take possession of the ground,
notably among these are soft-wooded trees, such as
poplars, alders, willows and limes. They are gener-
ally rapid growers, and are not long in catching up
and overtopping trees of more valuable kinds. At
the outset their presence is no doubt useful because
they promote the early formation of the leaf-canopy,
but they become dangerous as soon as they attain
the height of the hard- woods, and when they have
once passed this height, they must be gradually re-
moved, for when their foliage is in close contact with
that of the more valuable trees, and just above it,
the latter would soon begin to languish and
might ultimately disappear altogether. A similar
result often occurs in a mixture of two or more valu-
able kinds, one of which springs up more rapidly
than the others during the first few years.
The operation which thus consists in removing
METHOD OF THINNINGS. 35
the higher trees which threaten the existence
of smaller but more valuable kinds, is termed a
cleaning.
To effect the object we have in view, the cleaning
must evidently be commenced as soon as the evil
shews itself, and sometimes during the process of
regeneration itself. As a rule, however, there is
seldom occasion to do it until after the final cutting,
or at the earliest, simultaneously with it.
In carrying out this operation, great care must be
taken not to destroy the leaf-canopy, firstly, because
the soil can never be too well covered, and secondly,
because if stems that are quite young, are isolated,
they are apt to bend and even to break under the
weight of snow, hoar-frost, or their own leaves. If
then there are too many plants to take away at once,
they must be extracted by degrees. Moreover, the
process which gives the best results is simply to bend
them down instead of cutting them back at the roots,
by this method an injurious cover is done away with,
and at the same time a thick growth is maintained
down below.
It is almost needless to remark that where noth-
ing but soft-woods exist it is far better to preserve
them than to fell them and thus to create a blank.
They protect the soil if they do no more, and later
on seedlings of more valuable trees will put in an
appearance under their shelter, and these may be
uncovered at the right moment.
It is but seldom that one single cleaning suffices to
ensure the maintenance of the hard- wood rees, or
to effect a proper admixture of the best kinds. It
36 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
has thus to be repeated several times until the object
in view is attained.
Along with these rapidly growing and inferior trees
it is indispensable also to get rid of clumps of shoots
which may appear on some of the larger stools.
These shoots, which seldom hold out any promise
in themselves, have at first a rapid growth, spread
out wide, and destroy all the seedlings around them
only to leave gaps in their place later on.
In making cleanings, the mistake has often been
committed of removing at a single operation all soft-
wooded trees, and birches. This procedure is too
sweeping in its action. The birch and aspen are in
great demand for certain purposes ; the cover of soli-
tary trees of these two kinds is too slight to do any
real damage, and their wholesale extraction consider-
ably reduces the money value of young crops.
THINNINGS. — Thinnings now step in and shorten
the duration of the struggle between the individual
trees of the crop. At first they are still in the nature
of cleanings, inasmuch as they complete what the
latter began, i.e., the maintenance of the valuable
kinds ; afterwards their principal object is constantly
to improve the growth of the more promising trees.
We are thus led to distinguish the first thinnings
from thinnings properly so called, which are made
periodically, and for this reason are termed periodical
thinnings.
Since the only way to improve the growth of the
crop is to favour the gradual development of the
crowns by setting them free, we may define a
thinning as an operation in which we open out the
METHOD OF THINNINGS. 37
forest at the height attained by the crowns of the
more promising trees. Advantage will of course be
taken to remove from among the suppressed trees
those which cannot survive until the next thinning,
but this merely constitutes a simple utilization of
produce and has nothing in common with the opera-
tion of thinning as a thinning, because it contributes
nothing towards the improved growth of the forest,
nor ought it to be undertaken at all unless the value
of the wood obtained thereby at least covers the cost
of exploitation.
A thinning is said to be moderate when the crop
is opened out only to a moderate extent : it is severe
when the crop is opened out more widely, without
however going so far as to break the continuity of
the leaf-canopy.
For whatever be the nature of the thinning, the
leaf canopy must always be preserved. The reasons
for this are simple, and depend on the age of the
forest. In the first place, when the crop has reached
the stage of low poles, the struggle for existence is
only just beginning to be injurious ; the full height
of bole is far from being attained, and if the crowns
are now isolated, the lengthening of the bole by
natural pruning is stopped; even when the leaf-
canopy closes up again overhead, the lower branches,
having had time to attain a strong development,
leave behind them on falling off large knots which
depreciate the value of the timber ; the trees having
as yet a small girth in comparison to their height are
liable to bend down and grow crooked ; the ground
is incompletely protected and becomes hard and
38 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE.
caked ; the dead leaves are blown away and this
essential covering to the soil, which must be kept
free and rich, is hence lost.
In the second place when we destroy the leaf-
canopy in a crop which consists of high poles, all the
above disadvantages are incurred and, in addition,
owing to the greater height of the trees, the wind
may commit serious havoc ; in the case of certain
trees, especially the oak, the bole, already of a good
height, will become covered with epicormic branches,
which give rise to knots that depreciate the
value of the timber, as it cannot then be employed in
cooperage and other trades which require split
wood ; but the principal danger of these epicormic
branches lies in the fact that they forcibly entail
the decay of the crown, cause faults in the heart-
wood resulting from dead branches, and sometimes
occasion the death of the tree itself.
Lastly, as the forest grows old, the chief danger
to be feared in isolating the crowns, is the creation
of gaps by the wind, which go on ever getting larger
and larger ; the soil deteriorates more and more,
and becomes unfitted for natural reproduction. If
this fault has been committed, the most fortunate
thing that can happen is for a crop of young seedlings
to come up without delay. This will at least have
the effect of protecting the ground and preserving
its moisture and fertility.
Not only must the leaf-canopy never be inter-
rupted in executing a thinning, but in direct
opposition to what holds good for regeneration
cuttings, the small shrub vegetation must be
METHOD OF THINNINGS. 39
carefully preserved; it prevents the layer of dried
leaves from being blown away, keeps the soil moist,
enriching it at the same time with its organic detritus,
and so far from injuring — as some have maintained
— the future trees of the forest by drawing nutritive
elements from the soil at their expense, it ensures
for them a vigour of growth which they would not
otherwise have attained.
Between the level of this shrubby growth and that
of trees with spare and contracted crowns which
are cut away to set free the more promising trees,
there are overtopped individuals of all heights. It is
always advisable to preserve such trees, if they can
survive till the next thinning operations come round .
Besides the fact that they can in no way injure the
taller trees, their preservation enables the forester
to step in with a bold hand in setting free the crowns
of species that rejoice in plenty of space and light.
In order that thinnings may have their full effect
they must be repeated whenever the stock becomes
too dense to admit of the normal development of the
crown ; in a word, we must follow step by step the
progress of development. Now experience tells us
that during the phase of upward growth they must
be made more frequently than during the phase of
diametral increase ; but that for each period the
requirements of growth are satisfied by their repeti-
tion at equal intervals of time. Generally speaking,
we may say tha,t up to seventy years thinnings should
be made every ten years ; after this age every fifteen
or twenty years, according to species.
It only remains for us to find out at what age we
•10 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
must begin to make the periodical thinnings. Before
the timber has reached the stage of low poles, there
is not enough difference between the various stems
to enable us easily to distinguish those that are to
be the trees of the future ; we run the risk then of
making mistakes if we begin to thin so early.
Besides, up to this point the effect of the struggle
has been distinctly useful, and it has already been
pointed out that while making the last cleanings, a
sort of partial thinning might be carried out if
thought necessary. Under these circumstances it is
more prudent to postpone the first periodical
thinnings, until the forest has attained the stage of
low poles, when the operation can be performed with
a certainty of the result; this stage is generally
attained towards the age of about forty years.
In order that the boles may be drawn up to a good
height as well as to preserve the crop from accidents
resulting from wind, heat, frost, &c., the forest can
never be too full. The first thinnings then should be
at the most, moderate, and at times there should be
no hurry to begin them ; and if the operation is per-
formed on quick growing trees which naturally begin
to crowd each other comparatively early, it will be
sufficient to shorten the interval of time between two
successive thinnings.
To prevent the wind from sweeping through under
the forest and thus scattering the dead leaves, no
trees must be felled for a certain width along the
edges of the forest, except those that are in full
decay ; and to make this screen more effective, the
low branches on the outside must not be lopped off.
METHOD OF THINNINGS. . 41
From the first periodical thinning until the trees
have attained their utmost height, the thinnings
should be moderate for nearly every species, that is
to say, while gradually allowing to each crown the
necessary space for its regular development, the leaf-
canopy must be opened out but slightly every time ;
even after this stage, while the growth is telling on
the diameter, this will still hold good for the beech,
the silver and spruce firs, &c., all of which species
grow by nature thickly together and the timber of
which has nothing to gain, and, in the case of conifers
may even lose, in quality, by a rapid growth.
But in the case of trees whose quality and density
are proportional to the rapidity of growth, especially
the oak, it becomes advisable to open out the leaf-
canopy freely, when the requisite height of bole has
been attained. In this case it is necessary to thin
heavily.
The last thinning, which precedes the regeneration
cuttings, is generally severe, whatever be the kind of
tree operated upon. But then it is no longer a sim-
ple improvement cutting ; it is rather a real primary
cutting. This is technically termed a very close
primary cutting. Its effect is to open out the crop
while still preserving the continuous leaf-canopy,
and it differs from a severe thinning in requiring the
removal of low shrubby growth from the soil. The
advantages of working thus are all the greater, as
regeneration is longer and harder to obtain accord-
ing to local conditions.
In mixed crops, a thinning may always have the
character of a cleaning. In a mixture of oak and
42 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
beech, for example, the latter frequently grows up
faster than the former, and in order to liberate the
crown of the oak without isolating it, it is better to
fell the highest beech in the immediate vicinity, and
to preserve those that are suppressed.
The beech will not be placed at much disadvan
tage by this proceeding ; it is here only the companion
tree, and besides can well bear the light cover of the
oak.
As may be gathered from what precedes, a thinning
is always a delicate operation and difficult of execution.
It requires unflagging attention and real practical
knowledge. Made at the right time and well carried
out, thinnings are in every way advantageous ; by
gradually setting free the more promising trees, a
healthier vegetation is promoted and a more thorough
lignincation of the wood ensured ; although well
stocked high forests do not yield as close-grained and
as tough a timber as that obtained from isolated
standards, nevertheless their timber is of medium
quality suited for almost every purpose. Now it
must not be forgotten that looking at all the timber
worked up in France, manufactures use up a much
larger quantity of wood than that required for
building purposes, and they do not want tough-
grained wood.
Thinnings too allow us to effect a proportionate
distribution of trees in mixed crops according to our
wants. As they are made periodically, we can
always get rid of any one kind when it becomes
dangerous or when it has attained its maximum of
utility. In this manner we shall avoid rooting out
METHOD OF THINNINGS. 43
wholesale any particular species while the forest is
yet young, an operation that is always a mistake, as
each kind of tree is useful in its own special way.
By means of thinnings valuable produce is brought
into the market which would otherwise have been
entirely lost. This produce is generally equal in
quantity to a fifth or a quarter, sometimes to a half
of that yielded by the regeneration cuttings, and
with some species, may equal the latter.
Lastly as thinnings deal principally with suppressed
and sickly trees, they tend to prevent the propaga-
tion of wood-devouring insects, which attack such
trees by choice, and sometimes threaten the
destruction of certain kinds of trees, particularly the
conifers.
But we cannot repeat too often that if these
advantages accrue from a thinning carefully carried
out, an injudicious thinning may compromise the
future of the forest ; much better would it have been
in that case, not to have made one at all.
Now if we compare the relative importance of
cleanings and thinnings, we shall see that the former
are necessary, while the latter are only useful. For,
in point of fact, cleanings ensure the very existence
of the valuable trees, while thinnings merely improve
their growth, and in consequence the quality and the
usefulness of their timber.
44 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
CHAPTER II.
APPLICATION OF THE METHOD TO THE
PRINCIPAL FOREST TREES.
I. TREATMENT OF HIGH OAK FOREST.
HABITAT. — When the oak is mentioned without
further specification it always means either the
British Oak (Q. pedunculata) , or the Sessile-flowered
Oak (Q. sessiliflora). These two trees inhabit
mild and temperate climates, the former advancing
further north, the other more towards the south, but
their habitat is chiefly determined by the amount of
moisture in the soil. Thus the former prefers very
moist and even damp soils, containing a rather strong
proportion of clay, the latter, free soils that are
merely moist. The former is chiefly found in plains ;
the latter, though also found in plains, prefers hilly
or low mountainous ground.
PECULIARITES OF GROWTH. — The seed of these two
oaks is heavy, the cover light, and the young plant
hardy, though it cannot stand spring frosts. Their
roots take a vertical direction downwards and the
taproot is very long in the early life of the plant.
They do not produce suckers, but they throw np
shoots from the stool up to an advanced age. Their
growth, somewhat slow at the beginning, becomes
rapid in good soil and the' more the crown is de-
veloped, the greater density does the timber acquire.
When an individual tree is isolated, or at some
APPLICATION OF THE METHOD. 45
distance from its neighbour, the bole covers itself
with epicormic branches and becomes knotty,
especially in the case of the peduncled oak.
Both are trees of great longevity, of great height,
and capable of attaining immense girth. Their
sapwood, the thickness of which is sometimes con-
siderable, decays rapidly, and it is essential to cut it
out from timber intended for any important use.
USES. — The oak is employed in large works by sea
and by land, is almost the only material used as staves
for wine and brandy casks, and sawn up, yields most
valuable planking. The bark of young trees is in
great demand for tanning purposes. Coppice shoots,
standards, and high forest trees of medium age yield,
when barked, a firewood of fairly good quality ; but
the wood of old oak trees flies to pieces in the fire,
and burns badly in open grates. Oak charcoal is in
demand for smelting mineral ores.
Although the quality of the wood yielded by these
oaks may be as varied as the soils and climates in
which they grow, still it may be said in a general way
that the peduncled oak chiefly furnishes beams and
large pieces for building purposes, while the wood of
the sessile-flowered variety is more in demand for
those industries which use sawn and split — in
other words worked up — timber. The bark of the
latter, too, is the more valuable.
EOTATION. — To meet these various demands, large
trees are much the best, because for a given volume,
the loss in working up is less ; large oak alone can
be profitably worked up into staves or sawn so as to
show the silver grain. Thus wherever the trees can
46 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE.
be grown to seven or eight feet in girth without
decay of the heartwood, they must be allowed to reach
at least these dimensions before they are felled. To
obtain such trees in high forest, it is necessary to
adopt rotations of from 160 to 200 years according
to the fertility of the soil in each case.
KEGENEEATION. — Pure oak is always harder to
deal with than when it is associated with other
species ; the produce of a pure oak forest is of less
general use ; the wood is too soft ; moreover it is
very seldom that pure oak is found naturally over
large tracts of country. Nevertheless as this state
of things does sometimes occur, whether in the
course of nature, or as the result of ill-advised opera-
tions, we must investigate the rules that are
applicable both to the regeneration cuttings and to
the improvement cuttings, only we will take the
opportunity of pointing out the advantages of the
association of oak with other trees, and will at the
same time indicate the rules to follow in the latter
case.
PEIMAEY CUTTING. — Because the acorn is heavy,
but chiefly because the soil must be kept moist and
free from long grass and brushwood, the primary
cutting must be made close. To ensure the preser-
vation of the seed until the following spring, and to
assist its germination, it is especially important to
clear the ground of all brushwood, and to leave as
reserves, trees with a lofty bole. If this latter
condition cannot be realised, because the forest has
been too thinly stocked in past time, it will be a
judicious step to prune away the lower branches,
APPLICATION OF THE METHOD. 47
taking care only to operate thus on mature trees
that would have to fall in any case after a few
years. There will be no harm in doing this as the
decay resulting from the wounds will not have time
to sink deeper than the sap-wood.
SECONDABY CUTTING. — After acorns have fallen and
a few young plants may be found on the square yard,
we may consider the sowing complete, and it be-
comes necessary to give the young oak the light
their hardy constitution requires ; but at the same
time the ground must not be uncovered too hastily.
For this reason it is preferable to make at least two
secondary cuttings ; the first when the seedlings are
two or three years old, the second a few years later.
FINAL CUTTING. — It is only when the young oaks,
either by their own development or with the aid of
associated species, have formed a thicket on the
ground, that the final cutting can be safely made,
It is even advisable to postpone it yet a little longer
in wet and low localities exposed to spring frosts,
which are felt even in mild climates. Hitherto this
is the only effectual remedy that experience has
taught us ; the young crop, under the reserves as
left by the secondary cutting, must have reached the
usual height of the mists that accompany these
frosts.
At the time of this final cutting, it is essential to
preserve all oaks that are in a good state of growth
and not yet mature in the true acceptation of the
term. Their maintenance in a sound condition may
be ensured by pruning the epicormic branches, as
often as necessary, clean along the bole, either with
48 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUKE.
the bill-hook or with the pruning knife, but the use
of climbing irons must be strictly prohibited, because
if the wounds they inflict go as far as the sap-wood,
decayed spots are certain to result. The trees thus
temporarily preserved are intended to be felled as
they mature or show signs of decay. Their reserva-
tion is fully justified by the great and increasing
scarcity of large oak in France, and the enhanced
utility of timber of large dimensions ; and it thus
becomes a matter of supreme necessity in State forests
and one of the highest utility in communal forests.
Whatever be the number of these reserves, and it is
improbable that they will ever be too numerous, a
long time must necessarily elapse before they become
really injurious to the undergrowth. Besides this,
the fact that they will be utilised much sooner than
the underwood should secure them the first consi-
deration, even if the latter does suffer in consequence
here and there.
IMPKOVEMENT CUTTINGS. — Cleanings. — At the
time of the final cutting, sometimes even before, but
in any case not long afterwards, brushwood and other
species that may have crept in among the oak, begin
to outgrow the latter and threaten their very exist-
ence. It now becomes imperative to protect the
oak by means of cleanings. It is principally in rich
and moist soils under a temperate climate, that the
soft-woods spring up rapidly and in great abundance,
and tend to expel the oak ; the lime and the great
sallow are by far the most dangerous. Immediately
they outstrip the oak, no time must be lost in topping
them, a method that is preferable to cutting them
APPLICATION OF THE METHOD. 49
back down to the ground, unless indeed they are only
few and far between ; the leaf-canopy is thus com-
pletely preserved down below, and natural pruning
goes on among the small branches, which then fall
off without leaving any appreciable knots on the bole.
It is often necessary to repeat the cleanings,
especially if the first operation was judiciously and
cautiously performed, but we must not postpone
felling the soft-wood trees until they have attained
a certain commercial value ; it should never be for-
gotten that the operation is urgent, and that the
more the oak stands in need of light, the faster will
it wither away. In short, cleanings must be made
whenever and wherever they are necessary, without
giving a thought to the produce they may yield.
Among the trees of rapid growth which often in-
vade a crop of oak seedlings > the birch claims our
special attention. This tree has a very light cover,
and its leaf-blades hang vertically ; hence it does but
little injury to the oak unless it forms a complete
canopy above. Indeed it is often useful to the oak,
if the final cutting was made too soon, by providing
shelter against spring frosts. We must therefore
remove the birch gradually, felling only a few at a
time, and selling the produce either for faggot bands,
or cask-hoops, or for any other purpose that may
chance to occur. Moreover it should not be forgot-
ten that there is a large demand for birch wood in
certain industries, and that as far as the quality of
the oak is concerned, its association with this tree
is far preferable to pure oak. The preceding remarks
often hold good for the aspen as well.
E
50 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE .
THINNINGS. — When the young crop, after succes-
sive cleanings, has reached the low pole stage, the
time has come to begin periodical thinnings. It is
evident that in the last cleaning operations, one may
have been compelled to cut a few oak in places where
they were too thick, but this is not a true thinning,
and generally speaking, the unassisted action of
nature would have sufficed to liberate in time those
plants that are to form the trees of the future.
But this remark no longer holds good when the
suppressed poles are too long in disappearing of
themselves, since the free development of the crowns
is an object that must constantly be kept in view.
Nevertheless, seeing that the full height of the tree
has yet to be attained, the growth of epicormic
branches to be prevented, and the soil to be pro-
tected as completely as possible, the first periodical
thinnings in a crop of pure oak must be moderate,
that is to say, only those trees which are on the point
of becoming suppressed should be removed, the
operation as a consequence being repeated at shorter
intervals.
It is only when the crop has reached the high pole
stage, and not before, that we can begin to thin more
severely ; but here on the other hand all low shrubby
growth should be carefully preserved, even plants of
quite secondary importance. However we go to
work, we cannot manage without danger to set free
the crowns as much as they require, and the almost
necessary consequence will be that the trees, though
drawn up to a good height, it is true, will be thin
out of all proportion and contain soft-grained wood.
APPLICATION OF THE METHOD. 51
Every endeavour should therefore be made to pro-
tect other kinds of trees that may come up spon-
taneously in the forest and even to introduce them
artificially — the better kinds at least — as soon as the
cover of the oak crop is sufficiently high. The beech
and the hornbeam, according to soil and climate, are
the trees most generally found in company with the
oak, and whose association is most favourable to the
latter ; in very damp situations where they cannot
follow the oak, their place is taken by the ash, alder,
elm, &c.
The treatment of the oak associated with other
trees will be discussed further on.
II. — TEEATMENT OF HIGH BEECH FOEEST.
HABITAT. — The beech is met with in the plains as
well as in mountainous regions. It is found in abun-
dance in localities enjoying a cold or temperate
climate, grows less common as the climate becomes
milder, and disappears altogether in hot climates.
This is tantamount to saying that in the south of
France it is confined to hilly ground above a certain
elevation and on cool aspects ; it is not particular as
to the mineral nature of the soil, provided that it be
free and fairly moist. It attains its finest growth
on lime-stone and sandy soils.
PECULIAEITIES OF GEOWTH. — The seed of the
beech is heavy, its cover exceedingly dense, and its
young plant very delicate, being unable to withstand
either spring frost or great heat. The root, inclined
52 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE.
to become long and deep at first, soon presents lateral
ramifications, and at what is yet an early age, the
roots all run along close to the surface of the ground.
The beech sends up no suckers, and in some locali-
ties shoots up indifferently from the stool.
The rate of growth, rather slow at the start, is
however a little bit quicker than that of the oak, but
it is worthy of remark that under a complete canopy,
though this be lofty, beech seedlings will cease grow-
ing when they are about three feet in height, and in this
state they will live on for an indefinite period, still
retaining the faculty of shooting up when the supply
of light is increased ; later on, oak and beech go
ahead at about the same pace. The beech is a tree
of great height, but is shorter lived than the oak,
and does not attain as large a girth. The quality of
its timber is not proportional to the rapidity of
growth,* and the sapw^ood is similar to and may
serve the same purposes as the heart-wood.
USES. — Beechwood warps easily, and decays
* For broad-leaved trees the general rule on this point is as
follows : — In each annual ring of wood, the pores (vessels) are, first,
either equally distributed ; or, secondly, congregated nearly all
together along the interior edge of each ring, and are wanting, or
very small and scattered, towards the exterior edge.
In the latter case, the inner portion of each ring, which is formed
in spring, and is hence termed " spring-wood," is light and porous,
whereas the outer portion produced in autumn and called "autumn-
wood," is composed of compact woody tissue. Now it is found that
for the same conditions of soil and climate, the thickness of the
porous or spring- wood is uniform, i.e., remains constant, and any
increased rapidity of growth tells only on the autumn wood. Hence
in this case which includes such trees as the oak, ash, &c., the more
rapid the growth, the greater the proportion of compact woody tissue
the tree will contain, and the heavier will be its timber.
APPLICATION OF THE METHOD. 53
rapidly if it is alternately wet and dry. It is thus
ill-adapted for building purposes, except for sub-
aqueous constructions ; but it forms a splendid
manufacturing wood, and is much used in cabinet
work, wheelwrightry, cooperage, and coach-building,
and for packing cases, measures of capacity, and
wooden shoes. It splits readily and evenly, while yet
green, but it should only be used when thoroughly sea-
soned, as it shrinks and contracts in all directions.
Impregnated with sulphate of copper, it has been
used for railway sleepers, but hitherto with an in-
different result, for it does not last any longer than un-
impregnated oak. Benzine is now taking the place
of sulphate of copper in the impregnation of beech.
Its firewood and charcoal are much valued. The
fruit yields an edible oil.
KOTATION. — The different services to which the
beech is put do not require it to be of great size, and
as the sapwood is used, it is generally sufficient to
obtain trees of six to seven feet in girth. So we may
apply to this species, growing in High Forest, rota-
tions of from 120 to 160 years.
KE GENERATION. — The beech forms large forests
by itself, but it is also frequently associated with oak,
silver fir, maple, Scotch pine, &c. We must first of
all then study it in its pure state, and afterwards en-
quire how the treatment should be modified when it
is growing with other species.
PRIMARY CUTTING. — The very delicate nature of
The former case, with uniformly distributed pores, is obviously
unaffected by slowness or rapidity of growth ; it includes the beech,
hornbeam, poplars, willows, &c.
54 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE.
the young plant is in itself valid reason enough to
make this cutting close. The rules to follow are the
same as those already indicated for the oak, only,
since the cover of the beech is very thick, the boles of
the reserve should be still higher; as before, the lower
branches may be pruned off if necessary, the opera-
tion in this case entailing no risk of damage to the
timber of the trunk.
In case a few years pass by, and no fall of beech-
nut takes- place, the leaf-canopy, which was but
slightly interrupted by the close cutting, may fill up
again, because in the case of the beech the side
branches of the crown grow somewhat rapidly. If
this should happen, it will be necessary to re-estab-
lish the conditions of the primary cutting.
SECONDAKY CUTTING. — Young beech are capable
of remaining a considerable time under a high cover
before dying off ; for this reason we may safely wait
until the crop of seedlings is completed by successive
years of seed, before proceeding to make the secon-
dary cutting ; indeed this course is necessary to keep
the soil constantly protected. We know that the
young plants require more light when, side branches
having made their appearance, the stem begins to
make decided upward growth, this happening to-
wards the age of .three or four years. In view of the
delicate constitution of beech seedlings, we must act
prudently, and make the secondary cutting by
degrees, not in one single operation.
FINAL CUTTING. — At length, when the young
thicket is thoroughly established, forms a perfect
protection to the ground, and thus ensures the
APPLICATION OF THE METHOD. 55
maintenance of the soil in a moist state, the final
cutting may be undertaken ; this will remove all the
reserves still left standing. There is indeed no
object in leaving the beech to attain an exceptional
size, and the superficial character of its roots would
seldom allow it to withstand isolation.
The more the soil is liable to dry up, and the
more the wind is to be feared owing to elevation or
aspect, with so much the greater prudence must the
regeneration of the beech be effected. In the
vicinity of mountain ridges and passes and at the
higher limit of vegetation, it ma.y even become
necessary to keep the forest constantly full, and to
apply what is known as the selection method ; but
this will be treated of later on.
IMPROVEMENT CUTTINGS. — Gleanings. — Cleanings
are much less urgent for the beech than for the oak,
because it is better adapted to withstand the action
of cover. Still they are always useful, and may even
become necessary wherever maple and elder are
numerous. The latter indeed is useless, and the
beech might disappear if subjected for too long a
period to the cover of the maple. Nevertheless,
taking into consideration the various purposes for
which the maple is used, it would be an error to get
rid of it wholesale ; on the contrary, a certain
number must be preserved here and there to be
removed later on in the thinnings when they have
reached a useful size.
THINNINGS. — Like almost all trees possessing a
thick cover, the beech grows well in a dense canopy.
This circumstance, added to the fact that it is fre-
56 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
quently found in mountainous country, where it has
to bear the weight of superincumbent snow and hoar
frost, compels us to postpone the moment for
thinning out the stock. The first periodical thinning
then is not to be made until the crop has distinctly
attained the size of low poles. At this stage the well
marked difference in size of the suppressed trees will
point them out as having to fall, and there will not
be much risk of making any gross mistake. Until
the trees have attained their full height, the thinnings
should remain moderate. From this time forwards
it will prove expedient to open out the stock rather
more without ever going so far as to thin severely.
III. — TEEATMENT OF HIGH FOEEST OF OAK AND
BEECH MIXED.
ADVANTAGES OF THE MIXTUEE. — From the nature
of the soil suitable to the beech, it is chiefly with
the sessile-flowered oak that we find it naturally as-
sociated. Many are the advantages of this mixture.
(i.) The two trees require the same climatic
conditions, and though the beech is not so long lived
as the oak, it suffers no harm from having to wait
until the latter is old enough to be exploitable.
(ii.) Their roots penetrate the soil in different direc-
tions, and this allows a greater number of trees tc
flourish on a given area without injury to each
other.
(iii.) The cover of the beech is dense, and comes in
as a corrective to the baneful influence exercised on
the soil by the light cover of pure oak.
APPLICATION OF THE METHOD. 57
(iv.) The bole of the oak, protected by the shade of
the beech, is not liable to become covered with
epicormic branches.
(v.) The timber of the two trees serves different
purposes and thus the wants of the market are more
fully supplied.
(vi.) The yield of the first periodical thinnings
becomes more valuable if the beech is numerous
enough to allow the thinnings to tell on it more than
on the oak.
(vii.) Lastly, a complete crop of seedlings is sooner
obtained, because the years of seed do not always
coincide for the two trees, and the proportion of oak
need not be large in the young crop.
But, on the other hand, there are disadvantages
arising from the fact that the beech is frequently a
faster grower than the oak during the first few years,
and that later on, when the two go ahead at about
the same pace, the thinnings require great nicety of
judgment for their execution. So the forester
cannot be invited too earnestly to give his best
attention to the treatment of these two trees
associated, and carry out, whenever he can, connected
series of observations relating thereto.
Our present knowledge on the subject appears to
be summed up in the following rules.
ROTATION. — Whenever the proportion of oak in the
mixture is appreciably large, one-tenth, for example,
the rotation must be fixed so as to allow this tree to
attain a girth of seven to eight feet, that is to say, at
from one hundred and sixty to two hundred years ;
but if the oaks are simply scattered here and there,
58 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE.
and the conditions of soil and climate will not admit
of a greater number in the future, a rotation may be
chosen more nearly coinciding with that suitable to
the beech, only care must be taken to leave the oak
standing after the final cutting.
PRIMARY CUTTING. — As for either tree separately,
so in the mixture of oak and beech, the primary cut-
ting must be made close. The same precautions of
cleaning the soil and artificially raising the cover
must also be taken here. But it may be asked, in
what relative proportions should the two species
compose the reserve ? Clearly no definite rule can
be laid down on this head ; however, it may be
remarked that if it is advisable to have more seed-
lings of beech than of oak at the beginning, it is not
necessary, on that account, to reserve more beech
trees than oak ; for this reason, that the beechnut
falls further away from the parent tree than the acorn,
and the young beech plants thrive well under the
shelter of the oak, whereas oak seedlings die off
under the thick cover of the beech. Now, it must
not be forgotten that at first the oak grows slower
than the beech, and that the state of matters is bad
enough for the former, without making it still
worse.
SECONDARY CUTTING. — The secondary cutting
must not be undertaken before a crop of beech
seedlings exists on the ground. The constitution of
these seedlings is such that none will be obtained
under a crop that has been much opened out ; and
provided that a few oak plants are found evenly
distributed over the whole area, the proportion of
APPLICATION OF THE METHOD. 59
these must be considered sufficient. From this time
forwards the growth of the oak is to be favoured as
much as possible, taking care at the same time not
to compromise the beech; to attain this object, a
first secondary cutting must be made slightly more
open than would be necessary for pure beech, and it
should remove chiefly the beech reserves. Another
secondary cutting must be made a few years later.
In case a fall of beechnut occurred before a fall of
acorns, it would be advisable to plant out young oak
under the stock as left by the primary cutting,
putting them twelve to fifteen feet apart in
each direction, and in regular lines. Otherwise,
there would be the risk of seeing the beech
push ahead rapidly after the secondary cutting,
and remain in sole possession of the ground.
If, on the other hand, a complete seeding of oak is
obtained first, it must not be allowed to disappear ;
but care must be taken in the secondary cutting,
which will then be made rather light, so as to ensure
the maintenance of the oak, to leave standing a
sufficient number of beech. We shall presently see
how a well proportioned mixture may be secured.
FINAL CUTTING. — As soon as the seedlings have
closed overhead and reached the thicket stage the
final cutting is to be made. Every thriving oak, that
is capable of flourishing in good condition for the
next thirty years at least, must be left standing.
All the precautions in the way of pruning off
epicormic branches, previously mentioned, must be
adopted in the case of these oak reserves.
IMPROVEMENT OPERATIONS. — Cleanings. — At the
60 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUKE.
time of the final cutting, or shortly afterwards,
cleanings become necessary to set free the oak,
whether these are self-sown or planted. These
cleanings will get rid of the soft woods, inferior
species which may have crept in, and especially those
beech which threaten to overtop the oak. It may
even happen that a few partial cleanings have to be
made before the final cutting itself.
When there is a large majority of oak seedlings in
the young -crop, there must be no hesitation in
sacrificing a few of them here and there, so as to
secure a proportionate mixture in the future.
Cleanings may thus commence what thinnings will
complete, viz., the attainment of a satisfactory propor-
tion between the two principal trees, and the
assurance of their healthy vegetation.
THINNINGS. — We must never lose sight of the fact
that the oak should always have its crown free if we
want to obtain large sized and well lignified timber.
This is often a source of serious difficulty in the
treatment of mixed oak and beech, because the latter,
even when its upward growth slackens, still pushes
ahead at least as fast as the oak, whose bole has to
be guaranteed against the formation of epicormic
branches. Nevertheless if from the very beginning
the thinnings are always carried out with a view to
favouring the oak, excellent results maybe obtained.
To this end during the first thinnings, the forester
will make it a point to fell the tallest and most
vigorous beech among those which are in the
immediate vicinity of oak, leaving untouched by
preference those that are slightly overtopped. The
APPLICATION OF THE METHOD. 61
same object is to be aimed at in succeeding thinnings,
and in the end we shall have high-boled oaks, with
an amply developed crown and a trunk of consider-
able girth. Naturally the beech thus preserved will
suffer to some extent, in spite of the light cover of
the oak ; but, thanks to its constitution, they will still
manage to exist, and the future seed bearers will be
found among those trees that have normally
developed in the intervals between the oak.
It is perhaps as well to remark that in crops,
which have already entered at least the high pole
stage, the greater part of the evil has been already
effected, and it becomes almost impossible to bring
back the oak into favourable conditions of growth.
As regards the nature of the thinnings the general
prescriptions laid down must be followed, that is to
say, the first thinning must be made moderate except
in the immediate neighbourhood of the oaks, whose
crowns will be set quite free after the manner of a
cleaning, and the succeeding thinnings, when the
crop consists of high poles, will, while opening out
the crop rather more freely, never be severe. For
with these precautions the thinnings, which will be
of a medium character over the whole crop generally,
will have all the effect of a severe thinning for the
oak. At the same time the soil will remain
thoroughly protected and will constantly improve
in quality.
IV. — TEEATMENT OF HIGH FOEEST OF OAK AND
HOENBEAM MIXED.
ADVANTAGES OF THE MIXTUEE. — The hornbeam
is not of sufficient importance to be grown in high
62 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
forest for its own sake, but it becomes most useful
when associated with the oak. It was formerly
destroyed, as being no better than the soft woods,
and this mistake was perpetuated for centuries, so
now it is being protected or reintroduced in the
very same localities where war to the knife was
once waged against it. Like all the large trees, it
should be utilised wherever it grows naturally, and
not unfrequently indeed it has to play rather an
important part.
Except as regards the market, the hornbeam
considered as a companion for oak, offers the same
advantages as the beech ; it flourishes even in very
moist soils, where the beech ceases to grow, and
thus becomes the natural ally of the peduncled oak.
From a purely cultural point of view the hornbeam
is superior to the beech, inasmuch as it always
grows slower, and remains smaller than the oak, but
its longevity barely exceeds a century and a half.
Still that is no reason for excluding it from oak
forests, and although it is chiefly a question of a far
distant future we shall see further on that this
difficulty is more apparent than real.
In a good many localities the oak is mixed some-
times either with the beech or hornbeam, at other
times with both together. This latter condition is
most advantageous as it guarantees a quicker and
more complete regeneration, and facilitates the
operation of thinning in the interests of the oak ; it
would thus be a great mistake to get rid of the
hornbeam on the plea of its being less useful.
The hornbeam is not one of our loftiest trees, it is
APPLICATION OF THE METHOD. 63
found somewhat widely distributed in temperate
regions, chiefly prefers clayey soils, but still does
well in free soils that retain their moisture at a
slight depth below the surface ; it is met with in the
plains as well as on hilly ground. While avoiding
great heat, the hornbeam appears to require rather
a strong light ; it is capable of withstanding frost to
a remarkable degree.
The hornbeam is a species that becomes fertile
while still young and bears fruit nearly every year.
Its seed, furnished with a leafy bract, is borne to a
considerable distance by the wind, but it does not
germinate until the second spring after its fall. The
tree has a thick cover, and the young seedling though
not injured by frost, is exceedingly sensitive of the
drying up of the soil, owing to its roots being very
short at that age ; as the plant grows up, the roots
are more apt to spread out laterally than to descend
vertically, and do not go deeper than twenty inches.
The hornbeam shoots up very freely from the stool
up to an advanced age, and also throws up suckers.
This tree is always a slow grower, and, as we have
already said, attains only a medium size. Its stem
being more or less fluted, the wood cannot be used as
timber, and all the more so, that it cannot with-
stand the alternations of the weather; but it is valued
for wheelwrightry, and all parts of machinery exposed
to friction ; it is one of our best fuel woods, and it
yields most excellent charcoal.
KOTATION. — This should always be chosen so as
to obtain the most useful produce from the oak.
PEIMARY CUTTING. — To keep the soil in good con-
64 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
dition, the primary cutting must be made close, and
it will be unnecessary to reserve a large proportion
of hornbeam as its seed is borne away by the wind
to long distances.
Under this close, or even very close cutting, if the
soil is liable to be overgrown with tall grass, the oak
alone will reproduce itself ; or if hornbeam seedlings
do come up it will generally be to disappear during
the course of the same year.
SECOND AEY CUTTING. — As soon then as there is a
little oak everywhere, the secondary cutting must be
undertaken ; this will be the real primary cutting
for the hornbeam. At this point it must be remem-
bered that if the hornbeam requires a certain amount
of light, it cannot withstand the drying up of the
soil, and the invasion of grass ; hence it is essential
to make this cutting light, and to secure reserves
with a high cover. Until the hornbeam seedlings
have got well hold of the ground, i.e., towards the
age of six or seven years, it is necessary to be very
cautious, indeed, it is often advisable to withhold
one's hand altogether. This condition once realized,
a second secondary cutting must be made, which will
get rid of all the hornbeam reserves, and in case
of need, a certain number of oak also.
FINAL CUTTING. — The final cutting will take place
as before, when the young crop forms a complete
thicket, promising oak trees being reserved to attain
finer dimensions.
IMPEOVEMENT CUTTINGS. — Cleanings. — Inferior
species that may have crept in during the regenera-
tion, must be got rid of by cleanings ; but there is
APPLICATION OF THE METHOD. 65
no fear of seeing the oak overtopped by the hornbeam,
except perhaps by stool shoots. On the other hand,
we sometimes come across spots where the hornbeam
is very rare, in the midst of a complete crop of oak
seedlings. In such a case, we must save the horn-
beam by removing a few oak.
THINNINGS. — The thinnings must follow the gene-
ral rules, and must be of moderate strength. We
have already seen that the hornbeam does not live
so long as the oak ; trees of the former species must
be removed as they begin to die off. The leaf-canopy
being thus gradually opened out, new hornbeam
seedlings will make their appearance ; they will go
on growing as more and more light reaches them,
and will form a constant protection to the boles of
the oak. This is what occurs in nature, and it is a
valuable hint with which to refute the systematic
idea of a regular double regeneration of the hornbeam
during one rotation of oak. For besides the difficulty
of obtaining a new general seeding, there would
always be a risk of the oak covering itself with epi-
cormic branches, and going to decay during the whole
time that must elapse before the new generation of
hornbeam can rise up high enough to protect the boles
of the oak. Besides this, a certain number of horn-
beam will always survive for a whole rotation of oak,
and will suffice to yield seed enough to keep up the
mixture when the crop is fit for felling.
V. — TEEATMENT OF HIGH FOEEST OF BEOAD-
LEAVED SPECIES MIXED.
Forests are frequently met with in which ash,
66 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
elm, maple, birch, aspen, alder, and fruit trees are
more or less abundantly scattered about amidst a
crop of oak, hornbeam and beech. Although gene-
rally speaking, these species are of different degrees
of longevity, this is no obstacle against their main-
tenance in the forest ; on the contrary, there is an
advantage in retaining a certain proportion of them
on account of their special uses. However the
Ulmus diffusa must be excluded ; its wood is of very
inferior quality, and its presence can only be justified
where its extraction would leave a gap in the leaf-
canopy.
BOTATION. — Whenever these forests contain a suffi-
cient proportion of oak, the rotation must always be
chosen to suit this species, keeping in mind its re-
quirements and the uses to which it is put.
BEGENERATION CUTTINGS. — The rules laid down
for the trees mentioned in the preceding sections are
entirely applicable here. When the young oak is
sufficiently numerous and equally distributed over
the ground, the complement of the seed crop must
be made up with other kinds, always givingpreference
to those which are longest lived, notably the beech
and the hornbeam ; but it will suffice if there are a few
everywhere, the chief thing being to have the thicket
formed as early as possible. Of course the procedure
must be such that the final cutting may find a reserve
almost entirely composed of oak.
IMPROVEMENT CUTTINGS. — If the young crop con-
tains all these species of different peculiarities of
growth and degrees of longevity, it is very evident
that cleanings must begin early, in order to ensure
APPLICATION OF THE METHOD. 67
the maintenance of the oak and to allow each of the
associated species to assume its relative proportion
in the mixture. For this purpose, it must be re-
membered that in old crops the elms, the ash and
the maples never form leaf-canopy, but occur merely
scattered about here and there. On this account too
many are not to be reserved on the same spot. The
sycamore maple especially has a rapid growth and
a thick cover, while it does not attain a great age.
In the thinnings, the proportioning between the
various species must be continued, never losing sight
of the oak, and the shorter lived trees must be felled
as they acquire respectively a marketable size. It
might be feared that in so doing none of the latter
would be left at the moment of the ensuing regenera-
tion, but these species generally have a light seed,
which we know by experience is wafted to great
distances. If there be only a few of them in the
neighbouring pole crops, we are sure to obtain a
sufficient number of seedlings during the whole
period of regeneration.
VI. — SUMMAEY OF THE TEEATMENT OF HIGH OAK
FOEEST.
In recapitulation, the rules relating to the treat-
ment of high oak forest may be summed up as
follows : —
The oak should never be grown by itself, if we
wish to obtain the most useful produce it can furnish.
Its regeneration should be obtained by self-sown
seedlings and introducing it artificially should only
be a complementary measure.
68 ELEMENTS OP SYLVICULTURE.
Whatever be the conditions of growth, the pro-
duction of natural seedlings is only a question of
time and of judicious caution.
With self-sown seedlings, there is neither loss of
time nor loss in growth, because, while waiting for
a seed crop to appear on the ground, the yield is
sustained by the reserves, which are thinned out
only after the appearance of the seedlings, and until
that time form of themselves almost a complete
crop.
Artificial re-stocking, never possible except at a
high cost, frequently produces crops that have no
promise of a future ; even in those that succeed best,
the individual trees are much too equal in vigour ;
thinnings in such crops are extremely difficult opera-
tions, and shake the confidence of those forest officers
who feel most sure of their own powers.
The three successive regeneration cuttings must
invariably be made.
The primary cutting should be made close on soils
that are merely moist, where there is not much fear
of a rank grassy vegetation springing up (this will be
generally in the habitat of the sessile-flowered oak) ;
it should be made very close on damp, wet soils,
containing a large quantity of clay and vegetable
mould, where we may expect long grass (generally
in the habitat of the peduncled oak).
If the crop of oak seedlings pre-exists on the ground,
the primary cutting must still be made rather close,
in order to ensure the production and maintenance
of seedlings of beech and hornbeam, the natural
companions of the oak ; for the young beech is delicate,
APPLICATION OF THE METHOD. 69
while the young hornbeam succumbs under grass
and the superficial drying up of the soil.
In case the oak seed-bearers of the reserve are
not sufficiently numerous, it is at the time of making
the primary cutting that it answers best to put out
about 400 small plants, not cut back, per acre ;
plants cut back would not be so effective, since stool
shoots do not come up readily under cover ; similarly,
to put them out among a self-sown crop of other
seedlings would be attended with the risk of seeing
them choked.
When making the close cutting, the ground must
be cleared of all shrubs and brush wood with which it
may be overgrown ; so, too, the cover must be raised
by cutting away the lower branches of the reserves,
without, however, lopping oaks which are not yet
mature, and are destined to outlive the regeneration
cuttings.
When a large seed crop of beech pre-exists on the
ground, and the oak seedlings are either wanting or
are completely overtopped by the beech, the latter
must be cut back under the cover of the close cutting,
in order that the oak may get ahead, as it has a less
rapid growth at the start.
If while waiting for a year of seed, the crowns of
the reserves were to close up, forming again a con-
tinuous leaf-canopy, the state of things as left by the
close cutting must be re-established.
The secondary cutting should often be made in two
distinct operations, and can never be suppressed with
impunity ; it is likewise the safest method of dimi-
nishing the effects of spring frosts, and of keeping up
the mixture of associated trees.
70 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUKE.
The object of this cutting is to give the young
plants more light, while at the same time it protects
the soil from being dried up, — which the seedlings
alone would be powerless to prevent, — and it hinders
the growth of long grass, which must still be con-
sidered as a source of danger to the young crop.
Before undertaking this operation it is a requisite
condition that the seedlings be sufficiently numerous
to form a thicket at the end of a short time (ten years,
for instance),, and that they be at least three years
old ; in a forest of oak and hornbeam, however, it
may be necessary to make a light secondary cutting,
when the crop of oak seedlings alone exists, in which
case it will answer the purpose of a primary cutting
for the hornbeam, a species that does not easily put
in an appearance under a very close cutting.
It is frequently advisable to prune off the epicormic
branches of oak and hornbeam ; on the former, to
prevent the deterioration of the bole ; on the latter,
because by lowering the cover they injure the seed-
lings beneath.
The final cutting must not be made until the seed-
lings have clearly reached the thicket stage, suffice
by themselves to keep the ground moist, and have
nothing more to fear from spring frosts.
Considered solely from the point of view of regene-
ration of the forest, the final cutting should remove
all the reserves ; every oak, however, that is capable
of prospering another thirty years at least, must be
preserved ; the damage they may cause to the seedling
crop is more than compensated for by their enhanced
usefulness, due to their increased girth. Moreover,
APPLICATION OF THE METHOD. 71
oak seedlings are abundant enough, and they possess
only a slight value as compared to these reserves, for
while the realization of the former is a question of a
far distant future, the latter will be fit to fell in
thirty, forty, or fifty years, by which time the want
of large oak timber is sure to be generally felt.
It is a mistake to suppose that these reserves are
bound to decay. Is it not a fact that many reserves
resulting from the method known as " tire et aire "
(see infra) have survived and prospered, though
no care whatever was taken of them? A much
stronger reason have we then for expecting a similar
result with the reserves in question, if we only pre-
pare them for isolation from the commencement and
prune off the epicormic branches once or twice,
as may be necessary, before they grow too large ;
besides, those that show signs of decay can always
be felled.
Simultaneously with the final cutting a clean-
ing may become necessary, to get rid of the
shoots from old stools, soft woods in case they are
too numerous, and any beeches that may chance to
overtop healthy and well situated oaks ; if birch does
not form a complete upper story, it is useful rather
than injurious, and in any case it must only be got
rid of by degrees, after a previous isolation.
Eegeneration obtained within an interval of twenty
to twenty-five years between the primary and final
cuttings must be considered very satisfactory indeed;
this space of time is long only when compared to the '
shortness of human life.
The regeneration once completed, it only remains
72 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE.
to ensure the maintenance of the oak and constantly
to improve its growth. This role belongs to clean-
ings and thinnings.
Until the crop has reached the low pole stage,
cleanings alone have to be made. Their urgency is
in proportion to the richness of the soil and the mild-
ness of the climate. Unless the hornbeam occurs
as stool-shoots, it must not be removed in the clean-
ings, because its growth is slower than that of
the oak ; but we may remove beech, trees of less
importance, soft-wooded trees and brushwood. For
instance, on sandy soils it will be the beech that must
be specially guarded against ; on sandy clays the
beech, soft-woods and other inferior kinds ; on lime-
stones and calcareous clays, the beech and brush-
wood. The chief points to attend to are never to
create gaps in the leaf-canopy, to top off in prefer-
ence to cutting back, to make no wholesale extrac-
tion of any species that may be got rid of by degrees
and with more profit in the thinnings later on, and
to set free only as many oaks as are necessary (two
hundred to two hundred and fifty, well distributed,
per acre). These cleanings are to be repeated as the
circumstances require, without striving to make their
yield more remunerative by postponing them to a
later period.
Thinnings acquire a capital importance whenever
the beech is associated with the oak, because they
are then merely a continuation of cleanings at every
stage. In making them, the end to be attained
should be clearly and steadily kept in view, and that
is to set free the crown of the oak, without isolating
its bole.
APPLICATION OF THE METHOD. 73
To effect this, contrary to the rules that hold good
for thinning a crop composed of a single species, all
beech trees that immediately overtop the oak must
be got rid of, while they that are themselves over-
topped by the oak must be preserved. They must
therefore be commenced early, because if any length
of time is allowed to elapse after a crop has once
entered the pole stage, every overtopped beech will
have died a natural death.
The same course must be pursued in all subsequent
thinnings, and beech seedlings that spring up under
an already high canopy must be looked after and
preserved. These seedlings will constitute an
under story, most favourable to the growth of the
oak.
But this advantage must not tempt us to endeavour
to obtain them in a uniform and absolute manner at
a given moment, for that would cause gaps in the
oak. The thinnings must be severe round the
oak, and of a medium strength over the rest of the
crop.
When the associated trees are oak and hornbeam,
or oak, hornbeam and beech, the operation of thinning
is rendered much more easy. The tree to preserve
round the oak is the hornbeam. The only thing to
remember is that the hornbeam requires a moderate
thinning sooner than the beech. The difference in
longevity between the oak and the hornbeam need
not trouble us. The gradual extraction of the horn-
beam, as it arrives at maturity, will allow seedlings
of this tree to establish themselves, as a consequence
of the leaf-canopy becoming more and more open.
74 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE.
Only the work must be carried on in such a manner
that the seedlings are produced gradually, so as
never to isolate the oak. As it is the peduncled
oak that is generally accompanied by the hornbeam,
it would be a mistake, still more fatal here than in
the case of the beech, to endeavour to obtain a
regular double regeneration of the companion tree
during the life of the oak. Besides a certain number
of hornbeam will always live long enough to reach
the term of rotation adopted for the oak, and these
will serve as seed-bearers in the reserve.
Lastly, if the oak forms only a small proportion of
the crop, so much the more reason is there to give
them all the room they require. Indeed one of the
objects of thinnings is to proportion the number of
trees of each kind, and we must not lose sight of the
fact, that if in good soils it is expedient to have a
large proportion of oak at the end of the rotation, it
is the companion tree that should preponderate at
the beginning. It is in the operation of thinning, too,
that the oaks left standing at the time of the final
cutting may be removed as the necessity arises.
It may be of some advantage perhaps, as a sequel
to the treatment of the oak, to call attention to
drainage works which one may be tempted to carry
out. It has sometimes been forgotten that the
peduncled oak finds its natural home in very moist
and even damp soils ; it is the denizen of low
lying plains exposed to more or less frequent inunda-
tions. Whenever then the water is not stagnant and
the soil does not become marshy, it would be a
mistake to do any draining. There is no doubt that
APPLICATION OF THE METHOD. 75
^mature decay in many places, and the disappear-
ance of the peduncled oak in others, are due to
excessive draining. Without altogether proscribing
works of this nature, it is allowable to recommend an
attentive and previous study of the soil and
vegetation. Here, too, we must be cautious,
and simply content ourselves with aiding nature
in a fair measure. In the majority of cases it
will be quite enough to open out a few small
channels falling into a well- planned ditch in order to
carry off the excess of surface water. It is in localities
that remain submerged during winter that the best
oak seedlings are often found, the reason being that
under water the acorn is preserved.
VII. — TREATMENT OF THE SILVER FIR.
HABITAT. — The silver fir is a widely-distributed
species in France, and it covers large areas in
Europe. It grows sometimes pure, sometimes
accompanied by the beech, the Scotch pine, or the
spruce fir. It is principally met with in cold
climates, but it inhabits very cold, as well as
temperate climates, where, however, it deteriorates.
The silver fir requires above all hilly ground of
an elevation varying from 1,600 to 6,000 feet ; it
is there that it attains its largest size, and yields
the finest timber ; but it is not found indigenous
in the plains even in the north of Europe, and
the rare instances that are quoted in opposition to
this fact are places where it has been introduced
by man, or hilly ground in the neighbourhood of
mountains, which possesses the same climate.
76 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUBE.
PECULIAKITIES OF GBOWTH. — The seedof the silver
fir is rather light and its wings enable it to be scat-
tered far and wide ; its cover is very thick, and the
young plant is very delicate. It remains unharmed
under cover up to thirty or forty years of age, and
even beyond that. In its true habitat it is not
much exposed to spring frosts, but it dreads heat, and
is easily killed before it has developed side branches,
that is, up to the age of three or four years. The
tree throws out a long tap root where the ground
is sufficiently deep ; but it soon produces strong lateral
roots, which allow it to establish itself and thrive
in superficial soils and even on rocky ground.
A free, moist soil, of a sandy or calcareous nature
is best adapted to the silver fir. It avoids clayey
and damp soils, where rot speedily attacks its roots.
The growth of the silver fir is very slow at first,
while it is not fairly verticillated, i.e., until about ten
years old ; from this moment it shoots up rapidly ;
its growth in diameter is never rapid, remains
uniform for a considerable time, and becomes slow
again at the age of eighty to a hundred years. At
low elevations, and in temperate climates, it shoots
up rapidly in height as soon as the first verticel
appears, but it dies early.
The silver fir lives for several centuries, and is one
of our tallest trees, sometimes attaining the height
of 150 feet ; its diameter at six feet from the ground
seldom exceeds four feet.
USES.— The wood of the silver fir serves a variety
of purposes. It is largely used for beams and rafters
of houses ; its transverse strength is considerable,
APPLICATION OF THE METHOD. 77
and it will bend a long while before breaking ; masts
for the mercantile marine are obtained from it ; and
sawn up into planking, it is one of the woods most
used by cabinet makers ; when split up it is made
into household utensils ; small slabs of this wood
are used for roofing purposes (shingles). It yields
a poor firewood, if we except the branches, which
contain a few resin cells, and the bark, which
contains the numerous resin-ducts. The small
amount of resin contained in the stem is doubtless
one of the reasons why fir- wood cannot stand alter-
nate states of moisture and dryness.
ROTATION. — For the various purposes above de-
tailed, no distinction is made between the exterior
and interior annual rings of growth. The whole
thickness of the trunk is used ; hence there is but
little wastage, and trees of an average girth of seven
feet are sufficiently large for all purposes. At eleva-
tions below 1,600 feet, or in rich soils and under
temperate climates, a rotation of 120 years will
produce these dimensions, but in the true home of
the silver fir from 150 to 180 years is necessary.
REGENERATION CUTTINGS. — The regeneration cut-
tings should be conducted as for the beech, remem-
bering that the silver fir, from the localities it
inhabits, is still more exposed to damage by the
wind ; that since the young plant is not out of
danger until three or four years old, the first
secoudary cutting must not be undertaken before
that age; that great caution must be observed as
long as the young fir is not fairly verticillated ;
lastly, that it is better to allow the crop to remain in
78 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
a state of secondary cutting, rather crowded, than
to run the risk of seeing the wind make a final
cutting before the proper time. No one will have
the least doubt about this if they will but give
themselves the trouble to ascertain for themselves
how seedlings grow up under an old forest so dense
as to allow scarcely any light to reach the ground.
There is no object in leaving any reserves after
the final cutting, and moreover it would be almost
always impossible to maintain them thus isolated.
It has occasionally been urged that the primary
cutting should be made rather open in forests of
silver fir, and cases where the operation resulted in
success have been cited. 'If the actual facts are
attentively observed and verified, it will be at once
evident that, after an open cutting, the young plants
that pre-existed on the ground may indeed develop
themselves, but that no new seedlings are produced;
that the condition of the soil becomes worse and
worse, and the seed bearers are blown down by the
wind, or wither away standing. It will then be
necessary to restock artificially with the Scotch pine
or the spruce fir, and the silver fir is lost for the
whole of one rotation. These so-called instances of
success simply show that there was occasion to
make a secondary, not a primary cutting.
IMPROVEMENT CUTTINGS. — With the exception of
the beech when it is associated with the silver fir,
the sycamore maple is the only species likely to
prove dangerous, if it occurs in great numbers ; a
few willows and elders are also found. In such
cases it will be advisable to make a few light clean-
APPLICATION OF THE METHOD. 79
ings, but they will seldom be absolutely necessary,
and omitting them altogether has for the most part
no further result than that of simply throwing back
the silver fir for a time.
Still more for this tree than for any other is it
necessary to thin carefully at first. As we have -seen,
it endures cover for a very long while, and we may
add that it becomes vigorous again as soon as light
is admitted. Now it is a very common thing for
trees to have their leading shoot broken off by snow,
hoar-frost, &c., and it is not without some difficulty
that such plants reform their crown ; which, how-
ever, always remains defective. If then care has been
taken to preserve all plants that are simply over-
topped by others, they will be able to replace those
that become damaged. Later on, thinnings of a
medium strength must be made so as to interrupt
the leaf-canopy in the least possible degree ; but with
the same end always in view, all suppressed trees,
not actually dead in the crown, must be preserved ;
moreover, their extraction could not possibly improve
the growth of the forest. The first to fall should be
stag-headed trees. A heavy thinning must never be
made, for this reason, that the growth of conifers is
seldom accelerated except at the expense of the
quality of the timber.
REMAKKS. — Wherever I have studied the silver fir,
I have come to the conclusion that it is in no way
urgent to begin thinnings early. It is a tree that
naturally grows in a state of dense canopy, which is
favourable to it at all ages. At the same time I have
assured myself of the lamentable effects of thinnings
80 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUKE.
made out of season, or out of reason. So I cannot
lay too much stress on this advice, viz., after having
conducted the regeneration with great caution, to
wait until the stock has reached the higher limit of
the low pole stage before beginning the periodical
thinnings ; up to that point, to take out nothing but
completely decaying trees, if their value is likely to
exceed the cost of exploitation ; and always to pre-
serve, as most invaluable, poles that are simply
suppressed.
My own private opinion is that it is even frequently
advisable to work the silver fir forests on what is
known as the selection method ; struck with its dis-
advantages, people have more or less lost sight of
the real advantages obtained by this method of
working high forests when it is applied in a spirit of
moderation, and they have not sufficiently remem-
bered the difficulty of applying the method of thin-
nings in a mountainous country. This is, however,
a question that will be treated of further on.
VIII. — TREATMENT OF BEECH AND SILVER FIR
MIXED.
The beech is found naturally associated with
the silver fir, and a study of their mixed growth
shows the great advantages that always attend it,
and proves the necessity of re-establishing it wher-
ever it has disappeared.
The two trees are found in the same soils ; their
habitats coincide in a certain zone, though the
beech extends down into the plains, while in the
APPLICATION OF THE METHOD. 81
hills it is sometimes the one tree, sometimes the
other, that ascends highest. Both have a delicate
constitution, require to be treated with the same
care, and are capable of withstanding the action of
cover for a long time, without losing vitality ; there
is but little difference in their longevity, and they
attain their maximum of utility at almost the same
age. The produce obtained from the mixed growth
is suited for a larger number of uses than what
either tree would furnish by itself: the silver fir
yields first rate timber for building and manufac-
turing purposes ; the beech yields excellent manufac-
during wood and fuel.
Only, in forests treated by the method of thinnings,
where we try to regenerate rather large areas going
over them in a regular manner, block by block, care
must be taken that the beech does not encroach too
much upon the fir ; for during the first few years the
beech grows rather rapidly in height, whereas the
silver fir does not begin to shoot upwards until the
twelfth or fifteenth year. Later on when the two
trees go ahead at about the same pace, the advantages
of their association begin to appear ; for the side
branches of the beech, developing vigorously at all
ages, tend to fill up the gaps caused by accidents or
by thinnings, and the crop is always more complete
than when the silver fir is alone.
ROTATION. — The length of rotation ought to be
fixed with reference to the silver fir ; for it is this
tree that yields the greatest quantity of planking,
and planking requires the largest logs procurable if
we wish to avoid wastage.
G
82 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE.
KEGENEKATION CUTTINGS. — The peculiarities of
either of these two trees require the primary cutting
to be made close. It is expedient to leave more
silver fir than beech in the reserve, whenever the
state of the crop allows of this being done ; but it
frequently happens, in spite of all precautions, that
the crop of beech seedlings already exists on the
ground, or is produced before that of the fir, and
remains living. To remedy this, it is advisable when
making the secondary cutting, which should always
be effected in more than one operation, to cut back
the beech plants under cover of the reserve, or again
to postpone the secondary cuttings until these plants
have ceased growing, in height and are overtaken by
the silver fir seedlings ; for, in opposition to what is
true for the beech, the silver fir under cover always
keeps on growing, though it may be slowly.
IMPROVEMENT CUTTINGS. — The moment having
arrived for making the final cutting, in case the
young beech plants still overtop the fir, it will
be necessary to set free a certain number of the
latter well distributed over the forest, not by cutting
back the beech to the ground, but by taking off the
upper part on a level with the lowest verticel of the
fir. This operation will generally suffice to keep the
two trees at the same height. Simultaneously, if
necessary, the cleaning must get rid of the maples
and the elder.
Thinnings in a mixture of silver fir and beech must
be conducted as for pure beech. Their object will
be to improve the growth of the forest and to effect
a proper distribution of the two kinds. But it will
APPLICATION OF THE METHOD. 83
no longer be so imperative to preserve firs that are
overtopped, for beech will fill up the gaps fast
enough. Nevertheless the reservation of such trees,
which are not dead in the crown, can never interfere
with the development of the crowns above them, and
the soil will only be the better covered for it.
IX. — TREATMENT OF THE SCOTCH PINE.
HABITAT. — The Scotch pine is found all over
Europe, in the plains, as well as on mountains, but
ever preferring cold climates, and yielding wood of a
poor quality in a temperate climate. In France it
ceases to grow naturally in the plain at the latitude
of Strasburg ; more to the south it is abundantly
spread over high mountains, especially in the Alps and
Pyrenees ; but it is by artificial means to re-stock
denuded ground that it has been introduced into
the plains and lower mountainous regions.
PECULIARITIES OF GROWTH. — The Scotch pine is
a most hardy tree, growing even in the most barren
soils, and only avoiding such as are too argillaceous
or peaty. It acquires its finest qualities in dry,
sandy soils. Strongly calcareous soils are less
favorable to it, and here it could apparently be
replaced with advantage by the Austrian pine, at
least when nurses are required.
The Scotch pine has a light seed and an exceed-
ingly hardy constitution ; the cover of the tree while
young is rather dense, but it becomes very light
after the age of thirty or forty years. It is a tree
that requires a great quantity of light; in consequence
we never see its branches interlacing, and in rather
84 ELEMENTS OF S YLVICULTUKE .
dense canopy, its crown becomes contracted and the
tree withers away quickly and dies.
In France the Scotch pine grows rather fast, and
even very fast while young, no matter as a rule what
be the soil or climate ; towards the age of sixty the
annual rings diminish greatly in thickness and the
growth becomes slow. In its natural home it lives
for many centuries, and is a lofty tree, although the
diameter seldom exceeds three feet. In a temperate
climate and in too moist a soil, the centre of the bole
decays after 120 or 140 years, especially if the tree
have grown up in a homogeneous crop.
USES. — Scotch pine of good quality, containing a
fair proportion of solid resin, yields first class timber
for building, whether on shore or on sea. It is in
great demand for masts in the French navy, but for
this purpose it must have grown slowly and regularly,
which conditions alone can ensure great elasticity.
In France its growth is too irregular, and its shape
generally too faulty for the above purpose ; thus it
is only used for carpenters' work. Its great durability
makes it useful in the construction of bridges. For
these various uses, it is essential to remove the
sapwood, which often forms a large proportion of the
log. It has been tried for railway sleepers ; but its
sapwood requires to be impregnated, and it is said to
have the disadvantage of being easily crushed under
a heavyweight. Boat builders on the Rhine work
it up into long scantlings for the sides of boats, in
which the sapwood is retained in spite of its bad
quality. Ordinary planking is also obtained from it.
Lastly, of all the conifers, its fuel is the most valu-
APPLICATION OF THE METHOD. 85
able, and is in great demand with bakers, tile-makers,
potters, &c.
BOTATION. — To obtain the maximum of usefulness
from the Scotch pine it must be allowed to attain a
girth of seven to eight feet since the sapwood has to
be rejected ; this will occur, according to conditions
of growth, at the age of 180 or 200 years. But
whenever decay is to be feared it will be more pru-
dent to fell it younger, at about 120 or 140 years.
REGENERATION. — In lofty mountainous regions it is
often impossible to treat the Scotch pine on a regular
system, but in the plains, at a low elevation and on
sheltered ground, it adapts itself well enough to the
application of the method of thinnings. The
greatest difficulty in its treatment arises from the
fact that the soil is not well protected, owing to the
light cover, and gets hard and cakey, or, if sandy,
becomes covered with broom, bilberry bushes and
ling. But this is easily remedied.
Whenever, then, the regeneration of a forest of
Scotch pine is taken in hand, the primary cutting
must be made open, since the seed is light, and the
constitution of the tree hardy ; that is to say, the
intervals between the crowns of the reserve must be
three or four yards. In selecting the reserve prefer-
ence should be given to those trees that have a well-
developed head; their roots are more vigorous in
proportion, and they are then not so easily blown
down by the wind. But, at the same time, it is
essential to prepare the ground for the reception of
seed. To this end all bilberry and ling bushes must
be removed ; wherever the slope of the ground is not
86 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE.
too great the stumps of felled trees should be dug
out, and if necessary the soil may be lightly cultivated.
If the ground is quite bare, it will generally be suffi-
cient to rake it over. In a word, loosening the soil
on the surface is the necessary condition for success.
As soon as one or two plants are found on the
square yard the sowing may be considered complete ;
and when they are three years old, and are fairly
verticillated, the secondary cutting will be made.
About one half the reserve must now be taken out,
the other half being allowed to stand until the
young thicket is fairly established. In the present
case it is not the species that requires the secondary
cutting to be made, for the young plant is exceedingly
hardy, and fears neither frost nor heat, but the
operation is necessitated by the danger that invari-
ably attends too great an accumulation of produce
on the surface of the ground. As in the case of the
cak, and especially in order that additional age may
reduce the large proportion of sapwood, it may prove
advantageous to leave a few reserves in sheltered
spots at the time of the final cutting.
IMPKOVEMENT CUTTINGS. — It is seldom necessary
to make cleanings in forests of Scotch pine on sandy
and dry soils ; very few other species are found with
it there, and their growth is moreover slower. The
birch alone can compete with it in speed, but it is
rarely dangerous.
The Scotch pine requires so much light that its
branches never interlace, and on that account the
periodical thinnings may be made sooner than for
other species ; but they should be moderate at first,
APPLICATION OF THE METHOD. 87
and should in consequence be repeated more fre-
quently.
They may be commenced then after the crop has
reached the sapling stage, and the denser the seed-
ling-crop is at the beginning, the sooner will it become
necessary to undertake this operation. When the
forest has grown up into low poles the stock must
be opened out still further, and a severe thinning
must be made when the bole has almost attained its
full height. Although one of the conifers, a group
of trees whose wood gains in quality by slow growth,*
the Scotch pine requires these heavy thinnings, for
they alone will enable it to form an ample crown,
and thus allow its tissue to become better lignified.
In all these thinnings, it is obvious that as far as
possible those trees should be removed which are
deformed from some cause or another, or which ex-
hibit black spots on the upper part of the bole, a sure
indication of an unhealthy accumulation of resin
in the woody tissue, and hence of approaching decay.
* This is just the reverse of what occurs among those broad-leaved
species alluded to above (vide note p. 52) in which the larger and
more numerous vessels are grouped together in the " spring-wood."
Vessels are entirely absent in the wood of conifers, which is com-
posed of a peculiar kind of tissue (pitted areolar tissue) and short
fine medullary rays, and also, in some species of resin-ducts. The
wood-cells in the exterior of each annual ring, i.e., in the " autumn
wood," are much smaller, thicker-walled and better lignified, than
those of the inner portion or " spring- wood." Moreover, here it is
the latter that increases with rapidity of growth, the width of the
autumn wood being almost constant. A fast grown conifer will
therefore show a larger proportion of spring-wood than a slow grown
tree under the same conditions of vegetation, while the amount of
the autumn wood will be about the same in each. Hence for all
conifers the slower the growth, the denser will be the wood.
88 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE.
Vigorous trees are recognized by a thin, bright
russet-coloured bark which easily exfoliates and
begins rather low down upon the stem.
EEMABKS. — During the last forty years many
forest officers have abandoned natural regeneration
of 'the Scotch pine, substituting in its place artificial
reproduction. They maintain that self-sown crops
are not readily obtained, and are a very long time in
becoming complete. This idea is the result of in-
sufficient observation, for the truth is this : the old
method of cutting down high forest consecutively
belt by belt, and leaving no reserves, has neverthe-
less produced most complete crops ; but care was
taken to loosen the soil ; in Alsace, at any rate, this
was so. Since the method of thinnings has been
applied this preparation of the ground was discon-
tinued, and unsatisfactory seed crops were the result.
Good seed crops are only found in those parts where,
for the last few years, cultivation of the soil has
begun again. Moreover, exaggerating the method,
they endeavoured to obtain dense crops of seed-
lings,— a circumstance which is not only rarely
produced, but is undesirable, as we shall presently
see.
Without in the least denying the facility with
which artificial crops of Scotch pine may be raised,
it is easy to show the superiority of natural seedlings.
From the economical point of view, there can be no
two opinions on the subject ; from the cultural point
of view, it is no less true. Owing to ignorance of the
quality of the seed, and uncertainty as to the number
of plants that will succeed, sowing is always done
APPLICATION OF THE METHOD. 89
too thickly, and numerous seedlings are generally
the result. All of the same age, and of the same
height, they crowd one another from the start, and
are generally reduced to their terminal shoot with
one or two verticels at the most.
Under these conditions, they are never vigorous,
and often fall victims to defoliation, — a disease that
shows itself towards the age of three to six years. If
they escape this danger they are the more liable to the
attacks of the Bostrichus and other insects, which
devastate vast areas at once. When passing through
these numerous dangers, they have grown up into
saplings, we only find trees with narrowed crown and
slender roots, and thinnings become almost impos-
sible. If they are made light, the trees continue to
wither away and never come to anything in the
future ; if heavier thinnings are made, the least
pressure on the trees suffices to uproot them.
For this there is only one remedy, viz., to thin
out the crop while it is in the thicket stage ; but when
we consider that this operation would have to be
done on a large scale and would be absolutely unre-
munerative, we shall be convinced of its impossi-
bility. Thus the finest artificial crops have fallen
off after the age of thirty years, without the faintest
hope of "future improvement.
Natural seedlings, on the other hand, less numerous
at the outset, are generally completed by fresh falls
of seed. The plants being of different heights, do
not crowd one another, develop a vigorous crown,
and are better capable of resisting defoliation and
the ravages of insects. While in the thicket and
90 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE .
sapling stages the future trees are clearly distinguish-
able ; the smaller plants serve to fill up, and assist
in cleaning the boles of the taller trees, without any
danger of future injury ; lastly, not only are thin-
nings carried out with a more certain hand, but they
need not be begun until they pay.
It will now be understood why at the beginning
it is not essential to have a very complete stock of
seedlings.
The lightness of the seed and the exceedingly
hardy constitution of the young plant allow repro-
duction to be obtained by yet another method, viz.,
making long and narrow clear cuttings, working
gradually in a direction opposite to that of the pre-
vailing winds, and at the same time loosening the
soil in some way or another. The only danger will
be in the intermit tence of years of seed.
Hitherto we have regarded the Scotch pine as
growing in a pure state. On this supposition, it is
evident that from forty years old and upwards, when
the cover has become very light, the soil will dete-
rioate, and the approaching regeneration will find
the same unfavourable conditions that we have
already noticed. Most frequently this disadvantage
may be overcome by the introduction of indigenous
trees as companions for the pine, by which means
the growth of the latter is unquestionably unproved.
The natural associates of the Scotch pine, whether
forming a canopy with it, or growing as underwood,
are, according to the climate, the oak, the beech, the
hornbeam, and the silver fir. The most important
for the improvement of the soil are the beech and
APPLICATION OF THE METHOD. 91
silver fir in sandy soils. Occurring scattered through-
out the forest, and towering above a complete under
story of the other trees, the pines like oak in broad-
leaved forests find a soil that is always moist with-
out being damp ; their crowns overtop those of the
auxiliary species, and spread out on every side ; they
are well furnished with leaves, and the woody tissue
is well nourished. It is a matter of fact, too, that
there is not so much danger of insects as in crops
of pure pine.
When the Scotch pine is growing absolutely pure,
it will be best to commence the introduction of beech
or silver fir, according to local conditions, under
crops that have attained the age of forty or fifty
years ; but we must not overreach the object in
view, and the proportion of the tree we introduce
must be regulated accordingly.
The Scotch fir is a species that may be termed an
invader, and notably in the forest of Haguenau, it
has supplanted the broad-leaved trees, thanks to
clear cuttings. In these soils, which are too rich
for it, its regeneration is made more difficult, owing
to an abundant growth of grass. It should there be
made gradually to give way to the oak, which in that
forest yields the most valuable produce, while the
pine, being at its extreme southern limit in the
plains, yields an indifferent quality of timber.
Hitherto but few cases have occurred where re-
generation of this pine associated with other trees
has had to be undertaken, but where such a case has
occurred, the regeneration cuttings were conducted
(and rightly so, as it would seem, since the results
92 ELEMENTS OF SYLYICULTUEE.
have been successful) as though the companions of
the pine alone were present. The only difference
was that the secondary cuttings were made before a
complete crop of seedlings of those species was pro-
duced, thus enabling the pine to come up in the
blanks.
X. — TEEATMENT OF OTHER CONIFERS.
The spruce fir and the larch, the mountain or
dwarf pine, the Corsican, Aleppo, Cembran, and
cluster pines, growing either pure or mixed, cover
large areas in France. But among these the spruce
fir, the larch, and the Cembran and mountain pines
almost always occupy such high regions, that it is
impossible to treat them by the method of thinnings.
In their case, the selection method, which will form
the subject of the next chapter, should generally be
employed.
The Corsican pine is chiefly met with in Corsica,
where hitherto its exploitation has been carried on
only in places, and without any definite rules. But
what we know of it leads us to conclude that the
treatment adopted for the Scotch pine will suit this
species also.
The Aleppo, and notably the cluster pine, are often
cultivated for the sake of the resin they yield. Thus
their exploitation is governed by certain rules, which
may be found in special works on the subject.*
The Austrian pine is not indigenous in France,
and its introduction amongst us is too recent to
permit us to lay down any rules for its treatment.
* The tapping of the cluster pine for the sake of its resin is fully
described in the Supplement.
APPLICATION OF THE METHOD. 93
CHAPTEK III.
IRREGULAR HIGH FOREST.
OUR irregular high forests are the consequence of
two principal methods of treatment, — " Tire etAire,"
and the selection method.
" Tire et Aire."
The method known as " Tire et Aire" has not
been applied to high forest in France for about the
last fifty years. It will be enough for us then to say
in what it consisted and to appreciate its results. In
this method of treatment, high forest was so worked,
that equal areas were cut over every year successively
in the order in which they follow each other on the
ground ; the forester never returned to make improve-
ment or any other cuttings, and ten trees were left as
reserves on a forest " arpent" or eight trees per acre.
The rotations adopted were generally long.
Thus, then, nothing was done either to obtain
natural reproduction or to ensure the maintenance
and improve the growth of the valuable species.
But owing to the length of the rotation, seedlings
appeared under the old crops, as soon as these began
to admit a little light, and maintained themselves,
thanks to the high cover which resulted from the
forest growing up in a state of leaf-canopy during a
long period of time. Nevertheless, in climates and
soils favourable to the beech, this tree frequently
took possession of the ground to the detriment of the
oak, which, in addition, had to struggle against the
soft-woods that are so numerous and vigorous in
94 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
temperate climates and in moist or damp soils.
Hence, because no cleanings were made, the oak dis-
appeared to make way for secondary or inferior
species, and the absence of thinnings did not allow
the few individuals that chanced to remain living
either to develop a good crown or to attain the most
useful size.
Even in a mild climate, where soft-woods are rare
and the beech and hornbeam less at home than the
oak, this tree, while remaining in possession of the
ground, only yielded soft timber well adapted for
planking, and for all purposes in which split-wood is
required, but unsuited for large constructions.
A mere statement of these facts is enough to show
that the method of <{ Tire et Aire" was defective in
its procedure, and was bound to result in irregular
crops. In the application want of skill frequently
rendered matters still worse. Thus it was that a
committee charged with the revision of forest matters,
not being able to explain the disappearance of the
oak, attributed it to the rotation being too long.
They then ordered it to be reduced to sixty or seventy
years, in the hope that shoots from the stool might
complete a crop of natural seedlings.
Moreover, the exploitations were often confined to
the vicinity of roads, in localities where the produce
found a ready sale. The remainder was left intact,
and as the area cut over every year was constant,
being equal to the whole area of the forest divided by
the number of years in the rotation, crops were cut
before their term of exploit ability was reached.
Another defect which may be alleged against the
APPLICATION OF THE METHOD. 95
method of " Tire et Aire " is, that it neglected all
consideration of the requirements of different species,
as well as of their various uses. An entire forest was
treated as a single working circle, and the cuttings
followed each other on the ground rigidly in suc-
cessive order ; so that all trees, without distinction,
were felled at the same age, frequently to the detri-
ment of the usefulness and quality of the timber
produced. Moreover as thinnings were unknown,
the yield was relatively small.
Lastly, no matter how precise were the regulations
of the Statute of 1669, the forest officers did not
always obey them. According to individual caprice,
the reserve was more or less numerous than the
quantity prescribed ; and even if no disadvantages
followed when the reserve consisted of oak, the same
cannot be said when the tree which they reserved
had a thick cover.
I must say I cannot see that the mere existence
of these reserves above the underwood was a cause
of irregularity. The crop that resulted was not
homogeneous, but it was not irregular ; if this were
true, coppice with standards would be an irregular
forest. Their preservation was even perfectly
justifiable ; their object was not to effect natural
reproduction, but to produce timber of exceptional
size, necessary for certain uses. Their utility is so
great that rules are laid down to do as much when
making final cuttings in the method of thinnings.
Only in this latter case care is taken that these re-
serves shall consist exclusively of oak, which may be
cut down when they begin to decay, or as soon as
96 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUKE.
they have reached the maximum of utility, without
waiting until the end of the new rotation.
By the side of these signal disadvantages, we
must, however, acknowledge that the method of
"Tire et Aire" admitted from its very nature a grand
order in the exploitations, and that this order is to
a certain extent indispensable to the success of all
exploitations. Thanks to the long rotations, it has
often bequeathed to us forests rich in standing
timber, and if cleanings and thinnings had been
made in oak forests, there would not have been
much fault to find with it.
At the present day, all the high forests to which
this method was formerly applied have been
regularised as far as that was possible, and it only
remains to carry out in them the operations of the
natural method.
SELECTION METHOD. — The selection method has
chiefly been applied to forests in mountain tracts
stocked with beech or the conifers (silver and spruce
firs, Scotch pine, larch, &c.). These species are not
all alike in their requirements, and naturally the
method of treatment must vary with each of them.
It may be stated, however, in a general manner,
that the selection method consists in felling here
and there, wherever they may chance to be found,
trees that are dead, decaying, unsound, or past
maturity, and a few others that are still healthy to
meet the demands of the market. In this method
of treatment the point to be aimed at is only to fell
very few trees on any one spot, and to spread the
operations every year over a large area, if not over
the whole forest.
THE SELECTION METHOD. 97
According to the special requirements of each
species, its constitution, and its facility of with-
standing the action of cover for a longer or shorter
period, the trees are to be felled singly or in
small groups of three, four, up to seven or eight.
The result is that high forests, worked on the
selection method, present a confused collection
of trees of all ages and sizes, or a patchwork of
small, almost uniform clumps scattered about in
no definite order. This condition of things occurs
only when the annual yield is fairly equal to
the annual sum of production. If the former is
less, then the forest gets gradually filled up with
old trees, and the younger stages of growth almost
cease to exist, while if the annual yield exceeds the
sum of production, the stock again tends to become
uniform, but this time with the younger stages
of growth. Occasionally, too, the exploitations
restricted to the wants of local markets by the diffi-
culty of exporting the produce to any distance, have
given rise to forests in which old trees are exceed-
ingly numerous, presenting an appearance of old
quasi-regular high forest. But this condition of
things is now seldom to be met with ; as a rule,
improved lines of export have enabled this accu-
mulated wealth to be realised ; at times the annual
production of the forest has even been exceeded,
and exploitable timber is no longer found in suffi-
cient quantity. Strong winds have in some cases
regularised the appearance of the forest, by blowing
down all the tall trees.
VALUE OF THE SELECTION METHOD. — From what
U8 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTTJEE.
precedes, it is easy to show the inferiority of this
method to the method of thinnings.
The quality of the timber produced is inferior.
For the young trees are overtopped by the higher
ones, and do not emerge into the top-story until
they have passed through alternate periods of sup-
pression and unimpeded growth ; the result is, that
the annual rings are of unequal size, and this leads to
a want of homogeneousness and elasticity. Trees of
the same height do not grow side by side so as to
form a leaf-canopy, and their branches remain a
long time on the bole, producing many large knots in
the wood. The felling of trees, scattered about in a
crop that is always complete, must of a necessity
injure the trunks of their neighbours by tearing off
branches or bruising their bark ; now in the case of
conifers, these wounds heal up with difficulty, and,
cause internal decay. The removal of the produce
injures in the same manner the lower part of the
bole.
The quantity of the produce, too, is less : for this
method is incompatible with the execution of thin-
nings, and by that fact alone there is a clear loss in
material.
Lastly, as far as regards the management of the
forest, it is evident that as the exploitations are
carried on every year over a large area, supervision
becomes a matter of extreme difficulty, and is often
ineffective.
Nevertheless, side by side with these defects that
we have just pointed out, the selection method
presents some important advantages ; it ensure
THE SELECTION METHOD. 99
reproduction and the association of different kinds
of trees better than any other method of treatment.
These advantages are so great that it must often be
adopted for reasons, not numerous in themselves, it
is true, but the necessity of conforming to which
frequently arises.
TRANSFORMATION OF FORESTS WORKED BY SELEC-
TION.— Whenever atmospheric influences are no
obstacle to regeneration, and the soil is placed under
favourable conditions, such forests should always be
transformed into regular high forest and worked by
the method of thinnings. But the disadvantages
attached to the selection method have been recog-
nised for many years, and transformation has ever
since been undertaken wherever it was possible.
Indeed people have in this respect gone so far that in
many places where experience has proved the danger
of endeavouring to obtain a regular regeneration
by successive areas annually it will be necessary
to bring back the forest into its former state.
Whatever be the particular method adopted, the
transformation of forests treated by this method
comprises two cultural operations, which must be
carried on simultaneously : the regeneration of a
certain portion of the forest, and the continuance of
selection over the remainder. But thinnings cannot
be allowed, except in such parts as are already trans-
formed, or in those that already present a certain
degree of uniformity and which, when the time fixed
for their regeneration arrives, we may expect to find
in a flourishing condition.
The regeneration cuttings that must be carried
100 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
out in the first periodic block will differ from the
ordinary cuttings, in that the chief aim should be
rather to take advantage of already existing seedlings
and to blend them together, than to obtain new
ones. From this point of view, it is evident that
crops in the various stages of thicket, saplings, and
even young poles can grow up side by side without
inconvenience to each other ; the differences in
height will disappear in course of time. The only
places where we may endeavour to obtain new seed-
lings are in spots that are blank or covered with
dwarfed plants ; but it must not be forgotten that
the silver fir and the beech are endowed with the
property of shooting up vigorously as soon as they
are uncovered. Each annual cutting may thus vary
in its nature from point to point, resembling here a
primary cutting, there a secondary or final cutting,
according to the condition of the underwood. In a
word, it is not nearly so important to look for im-
mediate regularity, as to obtain a crop in a promis-
ing state of growth which may be regularised during
the subsequent regeneration.
The selection fellings over the remainder of the
forest must be confined solely to taking away all
trees that are dead, unsound, or completely decaying,
while preserving any trees that are only just mature,
or are still flourishing, no matter what be their size.
The wants of the market will be abundantly sup-
plied by the operations in the first block. As the
selection fellings will pass through the forest every
year, or at any rate at short intervals, opportunities
of removing old trees, as soon as they are thoroughly
THE SELECTION METHOD. 101
mature, will always occur. By this method, the
number of the old trees will constantly go on increas-
ing, and the transformation will more and more
resemble a regular regeneration.
We have stated that no thinnings are to be made,
and this for the following reasons : it must be re-
membered that we are operating on crops where
the ages are mixed together in the most confused
manner. The stock can be kept complete only on
the condition of preserving suppressed trees, as well
as those that overtop others, and the former are
necessary in order to replace the latter, in case these
succumb to some accident. Moreover, thinnings
cannot be justified, except to establish a certain uni-
formity of age, and frequently this could not be done
except by sacrificing trees in full growth, which are
the birthright of generations yet to come. To give
up to the present generation the sum total of pro-
duction, would be to allow it to abuse its right of
usufruct. Lastly, while compromising the future of
the forest, we should be acting directly contrary to
one of the three objects that a rational method of
working forests should always have in view, viz., a
steady yield.
It is worth while to remark that the rotation, in
the course of which the transformation is to be
effected, should be equal to the normal or regular
rotation. For, at its expiration, we should be in a
position to find timber that will be exploitable, not
only at the commencement, but during the entire
length of the second rotation.
MAINTENANCE OF THE SELECTION METHOD. — We
102 ELEMENTS OF STLVICULTUEE.
have already said that the selection method, should
be kept up for exceptional reasons. It ought to be
maintained in all forests where protection of, or shel-
ter to, other parts is the chief object, and wherever
regeneration is uncertain, difficult, or too slow to
enable us to obtain it with certainty, in a regular
and complete manner in a given space of time. The
same rule holds good for forests of very small
extent.
As far as protection is concerned, this method should
be employed whenever there is reason to fear land-
slips, avalanches, and the formation of torrents, or
where the wind is violent and always blowing, as at
the higher limit of vegetation, on mountain ridges,
&c.
Regeneration becomes difficult and uncertain when
the climate is extreme, or the soil unfertile. The
climate may be extreme in itself (higher limit of
vegetation), or from the absence of shelter (mountain
passes, ridges, edges of the forest). The soil is
unfertile from its nature (rock, scattered blocks,
stones), or owing to a steep gradient (wherever one
cannot walk with a sure step). These circumstances
may co-exist, and result in a stock that is seldom
complete and generally more or less broken up by
gaps. They are found in about half the hill forests
of conifers under the administration of the Forest
Department.
In all these circumstances, the existence of con-
stant leaf-canopy is imperatively demanded, and to
maintain this, the action of nature, which gets rid of
the trees one by one, has to be imitated. In a word,
APPLICATION OF THE SELECTION METHOD. 103
the selection method must be employed, only the
trees must be removed when they are still capable of
furnishing useful material.
APPLICATION TO THE VARIOUS SPECIES. — The
forests which require to be treated by this method
are stocked with silver fir, beech, spruce fir, larch,
and with various species of pine. The young plants
of all these trees require different degrees of light,
and thus the treatment must necessarily be modified
for each special case.
SILVER FIR AND BEECH. — The silver fir and the
beech are capable of withstanding the action of
cover for a very long while, and for many years
preserve the property of shooting up again with
vigour when they are uncovered ; an underwood is
always found under old trees, that may be utilised by
removing the latter one by one. In a forest of these
trees, the stock can remain throughout as full as
possible ; hence it must be so kept, for this result is
the chief object in view in forests subjected to this
system. Besides it has been constantly observed
that there is great danger in cutting out too much
from crops of silver fir : the wind is always rocking
the trees on the edges of the gaps made to and fro ;
if not blown down, they dry up standing, and
the blank gets ever larger and larger. Perhaps,
too, this may be the effect of an insolation which
trees that have hitherto lived in full leaf-canopy
are unable to resist. The selection method must
frequently be applied to silver fir forests above an
elevation of 2,000 feet if they are unsheltered on the
side from which dangerous winds blow.
104 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
SPRUCE FIR. — Although the young spruce fir
generally avoids heat, it only comes up well on the
edge of the forest, and in rather open spots where
the light is sufficiently abundant. Crops of this tree
form an exceedingly dense canopy and the removal
of trees one by one would not produce sufficiently
large gaps to ensure the maintenance of seedlings.
Hence three or four trees must be removed from the
same point ; only care must be taken that these
small gaps are not situated too near to each other,
because when the spruce fir grows in leaf-canopy, its
roots are short as well as superficial, and it would be
extremely dangerous to allow access to the wind.
Attempts have at times been made to apply the
method of thinnings to the spruce fir. "Without
denying that this may be possible in well sheltered
localities, I am of opinion that it is always very rash
to do so, at least in France. For this tree exclusively
inhabits mountains and even high mountains (it is
seldom found naturally in the Vosges, becomes more
abundant on the higher plateaux of the Jura, and
is only common in the Alps). In all these situations
it is exposed to violent winds, which it cannot resist
when it has grown up in dense canopy, and is then
isolated. Now the regular regeneration cuttings
always imply the idea of interrupting the stock over
rather wide areas at a time.
In Switzerland, where the spruce fir is very abun-
dant and is found rather low down towards the
plains, a special method has been sometimes adopted.
The forest is divided into several working circles, or
divisions, and a very narrow clear cutting is made in
APPLICATION OF THE SELECTION METHOD. 105
one of them. Next year the same is done in another
circle, and a rotation of the various circles is so
arranged that the same point is revisited every
four or five years. The neighbouring portions of the
forest are relied upon to refill the area cut with seed.
This method may answer when the cutting coincides
with a year of seed. But under the climates and in
the damp soils that suit the spruce fir, the ground
becomes rapidly overgrown with numerous weeds,
and it is often a long time before a seedling crop
appears, unless recourse is had to artificial re-
stocking.
HARDY CONIFERS. — When the forest is stocked
with larch, the Scotch or the Corsican pines, seed-
lings will not be produced, and above all will not
prosper, unless they receive plenty of light. The
gaps made for the spruce fir will be no longer
sufficiently large. Hence the selection fellings must
be still further concentrated, and eight to ten trees
must be removed from the sa-me spot, so as to create
small blanks of about 400 square yards ; it will be
advisable to slightly loosen the soil over these small
blanks, in order that reproduction may be better
ensured. Only they must not be made too near to-
gether, otherwise the forest would become a
complete chess-board, and the wind might get in and
prove mischievous. Whenever it is possible, it
would be an advantage to split up the forest into
several groups, to operate in each successively, and
as its turn comes round, so to locate the fellings that
they may succeed each other in the order of their
respective dates.
106 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
In the valley of the Adour, some forests of pure
oak are worked on the selection method. But these
are forests which are open to grazing throughout
their whole area from one year's end to another, and
in which therefore it would be useless to look for
self-sown seedlings. Hence after the old mature oaks
are felled, tall saplings as high as thirteen to twenty
feet are planted out in the gaps. By this method
they obtain trees with well-developed crowns and
tough-grained wood, but of no length of bole.
GENERAL RULES. — It is obviously very difficult
to lay down precise rules for working forests on the
selection method ; they depend entirely on local
conditions. Still some that will be found generally
applicable may be formulated.
Selections are to be continued as heretofore, that is
to say they should extend every year over rather a
large area. Only to avoid returning too often to the
same spot, a proceeding that always injures the crop,
and becomes a very difficult task for the forest
officer, it is advisable to divide the forest into a
certain number of compartments, five to ten, each
of which is taken in its turn successively.
In order to render the yield of each year as nearly
equal as possible, these compartments should be
made either equal in area or equal in fertility. Too
much importance, however, is not to be attached to
this point, and a certain approximation will be
quite sufficient.
From each of these compartments, timber that is
deemed exploitable will be removed, that is to say,
in the case of imperishable proprietors (the State,
APPLICATION OF THE SELECTION METHOD. 107
bodies corporate, &c.), trees that have reached
maturity ; in private forests all sound trees above
a fixed minimum girth, including those that are
dead or completely decaying or unsound. The
number of trees removed will vary with the special
requirements of each kind, for each of which it will
be a constant figure. This is the rule laid down in
the old instructions for working the silver fir forests
of the Jura and Vosges ; it is besides no more
than the intelligent application of Article 72 of the
Statute of 1827, in which the word " age " stands
for " condition of growth." This method of fixing
the annual yield possesses moreover the great advan-
tage that it enables one constantly to aim at
bringing the forest into any condition desired, and
it would be unreasonable to expect to obtain by the
selection method a more vigorously steady yield than
we get from coppice with standards, in which the
annual yield is based on area with all its chances of
error.
As it is the selection method that has to be kept
up, no thinnings must be made. For in thinnings,
the suppressed trees are removed, and thus the stock
must necessarily become regular. But short trees
may be slightly pruned when their lower branches
overtop a well formed underwood.
In the case of the silver fir, and more especially in
that of the spruce fir, it will be advisable to cut
away the dead branches which remain a long while
on the bole before falling off. They form a sort of
bolt in the wood that has no connection with the
adjoining parts, and, when the timber is sawn up,
108 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
considerably reduce the value of the planks. But
care must be taken not to cut into the bark, for this
would cause the resin to ooze out, and would result
in the formation of decaying spots at least as
injurious as the dead branches.
CHAPTEK IV.
COMPARISON OF THE DIFFERENT
METHODS OF TREATING HIGH FOREST.
IT may be said that the selection method is a
method of working high forest which most resembles
the action of nature. Its advantages are, that it
ensures the constant maintenance of the leaf-canopy,
and makes reproduction absolutely certain ; it
ensures too, better than any other method, a proper
admixture of different kinds of trees. Local condi-
tions frequently render it a matter of necessity. But
because thinnings are never made, the quantity of
the yield is less, and its quality is often inferior.
An exaggeration of the method may lead to the ruin
of the forest, for the yield is not fixed, and no order
whatever is observed in the exploitations.
An absolute order in the exploitations was the
principal aim in the method known as " Tire etAire."
The length of the rotation preserved the existence
of the forest, but it only succeeded for certain trees,
and in mild or temperate climates. Here also the
produce obtained was inferior in quantity and in
quality, and the new crop after the regeneration cut-
COMPAKISON OF THE DIFFEEENT METHODS. 1C9
ting, was composed of all and any kinds of trees at
haphazard, and was sometimes incomplete.
The method of thinnings is adapted to all species,
and directs the action of natural forces to suit the
wants of mankind. It allows us to obtain the most
useful produce in the largest possible proportion ; it
permits us also to dispose of it conveniently as soon
as occasion occurs, and as soon as it can be realized.
Its essential objects are speedy and regular natural
regeneration, the best proportion between the asso-
ciated species, and constant improvement of the pro-
duce. As much order as is expedient and possible
may be obtained by this method.
It is thus a considerable step in advance, but it re-
quires much nicety in its application, and demands
constant attention and savoir-faire. Clumsily applied,
it may compromise the reproduction and the yield
in the highest degree. For example, in mixed silver
fir and beech, when a moderate operation on the
selection method would have ensured reproduction
and kept up the association, a primary cutting made
too open, cleanings neglected, or thinnings exagger-
ated, compromise the existence of the silver fir, some-
times even that of the forest itself, or in any case
diminish the usefulness and the quantity of the pro-
duce. So too, ill-conducted regeneration cuttings
may compel us to re-stock large areas artificially,
with a considerable loss of time and money. Thin-
nings exaggerated or carried out under fixed ideas
may hinder, under pretext of assisting, a regular
growth, or bring about a faulty distribution of asso-
ciated species, cause an indigenous tree entirely to
110 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE.
disappear, and reduce the forest to pure oak. Lastly,
to speak generally, it is not easy to obtain natural
reproduction except in canopied forest of mature age,
and it is always extremely dangerous to try and
obtain it prematurely.
These dangers are not inherent in the method, for
the method is not defective, but they arise from
mistakes in its application. The fact is that this
method makes the action of the forester only too
easy ; and if he is not imbued with sound ideas of
forest culture, or if he is wanting in activity and,
above all, prudence, he may commit faults that a
century will scarce suffice to repair.
The true forester will studiously avoid all whole-
sale operations, unless they are clearly called for by
the circumstances of the case. Thus, when under-
taking regeneration he will get rid of all undergrowth,
but he will preserve it in every other case ; so again
when making a cleaning or a thinning, he will avoid
the wholesale extraction of birch or other indigenous
and useful trees ; in a thinning he will preserve over-
topped plants that can survive a while longer ; lastly,
in a primary cutting, unless there are distinct reasons
for making it open, he will make it close. He must
never act at haphazard. If he is at all doubtful of
the result, he will hold his hand and leave nature to
herself. He must remember that if he can some-
times guide her course, he ought never to substitute
for it systems based on foregone conclusions.
SIMPLE COPPICE. Ill
PART III.
COPPICE.
WE have already seen that a coppice is a forest
which is reproduced principally by means of stool
shoots or suckers. This is equivalent to saying that
the broad-leaved species alone are adapted to this
system of working.* The system of coppice includes
two methods of treatment : (i) Simple coppice in
which no reserves at all are left, or, if any are
preserved, they are not intended to stand for more
than two 'rotations of the underwood ; (ii) coppice
with standards or stored coppice, termed also "high
forest over coppice" or " coppice under high forest,"
in which the standards are preserved for not less
than three rotations of the underwood.
CHAPTER I.
SIMPLE COPPICE.
IN France simple coppice is grown on rather a
large scale, but it is for the most part in the hands
of private proprietors. The communes, however,
possess about 750,000 acres of it ; but it is only under
exceptional circumstances that the State adopts this
treatment. Article 70 of the Statute of 1827, which
applies to all woodlands under the control of the
* See ante, p. 16.
112 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
Forest Department, interdicts it so long as a special
statute in the shape of a working-plan does not
expressly direct otherwise. The importance of
simple coppice has declined to a remarkable extent
within the last thirty years, especially since foun-
dries have used coal for smelting purposes. Generally
speaking, the price of fire-wood, far from following
the rise in price of timber, has at the most remained
stationary, and in many cases has even fallen.
Private proprietors themselves obviously find it to
their interest to grow coppice with standards,
wherever the materials for a reserve of valuable
trees exist, and it is only considerations of the kind
of tree that is grown, of the soil, or of the growth
of special kinds of produce that can justify the
adoption of simple coppice.
For instance, the holm oak does not in France
attain the dimensions of timber ; on the other hand,
its young bark is excessively rich in tannin, and is
of the very highest quality for the manufacture of
leather. The sweet chestnut is not indigenous in
our country ; at an age when it might yield large
timber, its heart wood is nearly always unsound.
Grown in simple coppice with short rotations it is
in great demand for cooperage and for making props
in vine-growing districts. Here any reserves that
may be left would be regarded as fruit trees.
Similarly in agricultural districts and in the neigh-
bourhood of mines, it is also possible that it would
pay to grow the two oaks (the peduncled and sessile-
flowered varieties) as simple coppice, whether it be
for training poles, or for pit-props, or for their bark.
SIMPLE COPPICE. 113
But it very rarely happens that the demand for
timber is not large enough for coppice with stan-
dards not to be here also the preferable method of
treatment. The exception will occur only when
there is too little soil to produce a bole of sufficient
length, twenty feet at least. In this case as well as
on warm aspects it is obviously! better, in the
interests of the community at large, to grow high
forest with trees adapted to the soil and the climate.
But conversion is an operation which the State and
perhaps a few communes alone can undertake, and
simple coppice has thus its complete justification.
The essential points to study in the treatment of
coppice all aim at ensuring the production of shoots
and the maintenance of the tree which is being
grown. They relate to the manner in which each
species coppices or throws up suckers, to the
length of the rotations, to the most favourable
season for exploitation, and to the manner of felling,
cutting up, and removing produce.
ORIGIN OF THE SHOOTS. — The shoots may ori-
ginate in two different ways : they may be derived
(i) from adventitious buds, or (ii) from dormant buds.
Adventitious buds are formed after the tree has
been cut down, on a little swelling or excrescence
between the bark and the wood. Dormant buds are
old buds that have not hitherto sprouted from
want of sufficient light, but which, without develop-
ing leaves, have continued to live on, traversing
at the same time each successive annual ring of
growth. Their extremity even passes through the
bark as far as the thin outer layer. The point
314 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE.
whence they proceed is the medullary canal itself;
they are therefore of the same age as the part of
the trunk on which they are found.
Hence, the shoots which are derived from adventi-
tious buds present themselves on the cut surface of
the stool, between the bark and the wood ; the other
class of shoots spring up below this section and
make their appearance after piercing through the
bark. These latter are by far the most numerous.
On their number, as well as their less or greater
vitality, depends for the most part the aptitude of a
tree to reproduce itself from the stool. The thick-
ness and hardness of the bark have nothing to do
with it.
Besides these stool-shoots, a certain number of
trees also throw up suckers or shoots from the roots.
It is even remarkable that some of them, though
they coppice badly, produce suckers in abundance,
and are thus invaluable for keeping up the under-
wood. The fact is that suckers are rooted directly
in the soil, and are hence independent of the parent
stool from the very beginning, a circumstance which,
in the case of stool shoots, occurs only when they
are in contact with the soil.
The trees which reproduce themselves most freely
from the stool are the oaks, the hornbeam, the elms,
the maples, the sweet chestnut, the common alder,
the ash, the willow, &c.
The trees most apt to furnish suckers are the
holm, the Pyrenean and the cork oaks, the aspen,
the white alder, the lime, the willows, the birch, &c.
A certain number throw up both shoots and
SIMPLE COPPICE. 115
suckers, as the sweet chestnut, the elms, most of
the fruit trees, the ash, the evergreen oaks, the
Pyrenean oak, the lime, the willows, &c.
The beech very rarely produces suckers, and most
of its stool-shoots are derived from adventitious
buds ; moreover it ceases to coppice at an early age.
ROTATION. — The length of the rotation has a
marked influence on the number and vigour of the
shoots. As far as reproduction alone is concerned, it
may be said that there is no minimum length for
the rotation, for the younger the coppice is cut the
greater are the chances of finding the dormant buds
still alive and vigorous.* But actually there exists
an inferior limit lower than which no one ought to
go : this is the age at which the standing crop attains
a marketable value and offers an advantageous
investment. It is easy to understand that this
inferior limit varies with different trees, and that if
a willow bed may 'be cut every year or every second
year, the same does not hold good for a plantation
of sweet chestnut, which cannot be cut with profit
before the tenth or fifteenth year. A simple coppice
of alder or of the two oaks, ought not to be cut
before the age of twenty-five or thirty years.
Article 69 of the Statute of 1827 fixes, for State
forests, a minimum rotation of twenty- five years,
* This remark requires a slight qualification. Very young and
small stools throw up not only fewer but weaker shoots than older
stools in the full vigour of their vegetation. Who in India has not
observed the repeated efforts of a young stool till at length it
throws up shoots strong enough to resist the forest fires ? Many
of our so-called seedling trees of the broad-leaved species have
originated thus.
116 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
those forests being excepted in which the dominant
kinds are the sweet chestnut and the soft-woods, or
which are situated on the worst kinds of soil. Article
134 of the same Statute renders these provisions
applicable to Communal forests. This is an excel-
lent measure, which private proprietors themselves
would, almost always, find it their interest to adopt.
But though there may be different views regard-
ing the inferior limit of age at which a coppice ought
to be cut; experience has clearly laid down a
superior limit generally for all lands of trees. It is
obvious that reproduction from the stool ought to
be completely guaranteed, and for no kind is it ever
safe to exceed the age of forty years.*
ANNUAL YIELD. — If the working-circles have been
properly laid out, the crop on the ground will be
sufficiently homogeneous to enable us to base the
annual yield on area, and the determination of the
number of acres to cut every year becomes a very
simple matter. Moreover, this is the only certain
method by which we can work the forest on a given
rotation.
SEASON FOR CUTTING. — Under this head we must
examine the two cases of felling during the winter
and felling while the sap is in circulation.
The first condition for the production of shoots
* This remark, true for France and Europe generally, must be
accepted with some slight modifications for India. The teak is a
remarkable case in point. Stools on which more than 120 rings
were counted (and there is nothing to prove that each ring is not
one year's growth) produced in many instances, although cut down
to the ground, more numerous and larger shoots than the sur-
rounding younger stools.
SIMPLE COPPICE. 117
is that the bark should thoroughly adhere to the
wood. If this union is destroyed, the little
excrescence, on which adventitious buds appear,
cannot be formed. In the same manner, if the
dormant buds, the extremities of which are con-
tained in the whole thickness of the bark, have been
broken, the chances of shoots coming up are consider-
ably diminished.
In order to preserve this union no cutting should
take place before the winter sets in, as the autumn
showers may cause water to permeate between the
bark and the wood ; and if frosts then follow, a
disruption is the consequence. Similarly no cutting
should be made during severe frosts, because at such
times the adherence between the bark and the wood
is slighter than at other seasons of the year, and the
former is liable to split under the blows of the axe.
On the other hand, cutting while the sap is active
is considered to possess the defect of producing
fewer and less vigorous shoots, which moreover
are exposed to early frosts before they are properly
lignified, and above all of causing the loss of one
year's growth.
Arguing thus, felling operations would have to bo
restricted to a very limited period, viz., from the
beginning of February to the end of March. It is
easy to conceive that this time is too short, and
would suddenly require a number of hands im-
possible to procure all at once. More than this, it
would possess the very serious defect of throwing
out of employ all the labourers who take to wood
cutting during the winter.
118 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
But though it must be acknowledged that the
shoots are most numerous and vigorous when fell-
ing operations have taken place in February and
March, especially if the spring is sunny, still we
must not exaggerate the disadvantages of cutting at
any other time of the year.
The fact is that the general climate of France is
temperate ; it is only in exceptional situations that
severe cold need be feared, and even this only at
rather long, intervals. There is hence no serious
drawback in beginning felling operations in autumn>
as soon as the sap has become inert ; they may be
continued throughout the winter, except during
severe frosts, when, however, all out-door work is
impossible.
Cutting while the sap is in circulation is always
to be deprecated, but it seems to us that its effects
have been inordinately exaggerated. It is true that
the shoots make their appearance only at the next
rising of the sap (i.e. about August), and in coppice
where the practice of surface firing* prevails, even
as late as the ensuing spring. But it is exceedingly
difficult, when the rotation consists of twenty or
twenty-five years, to appreciate the difference of
volume resulting from one year's growth more or
less. Nor is it proved by observation that coppices
grown for their bark, which are cut over while the
sap is in circulation,Fproduce less ample or shorter
lived clumps of shoots, except as the result of an
exceptionally hot summer and of long continued
drought. The worst effect of cutting while the sap
* See infra, "p. 124.
SIMPLE COPPICE. 119
is in movement appears to be the inferior quality of
the wood obtained.
MANNER OF CUTTING. — The way in which the stools
are cut, exercises, beyond all contradiction, more
influence than anything else on the production of
shoots and the well-being of the coppice. We must
take into consideration the kind of implements to
use, as well as the shape to give to the surface of
section and the height at which the stool should
be cut. In every case, care must be taken not to
split the stool or disunite the bark from the wood,
so as to prevent water from permeating through
between the two.
Instruments with a cutting edge are to be pre-
ferred to the saw, unless it be for stools which are
too old to give any promise of shoots. The truth is
that the saw does not cut but tears, and is hence
liable to separate the bark from the wood. More-
over it produces a gnawed surface, which, acting
like a sponge, retains moisture and thus favours its
infiltration into the wood. The water, which collects
on the stool, hastens its decay ; it may cause rot at
the foot of the shoots which grow over and englobe
the stool, and prevent the production of shoots at
the next felling, or, to say the least, affect their
vitality. This danger ceases to exist for small stools;
the growth in diameter of the shoots shields them
from the action of the atmosphere before decompo-
sition sets in. But there is seldom any advantage
in using the saw, as it requires more time for poles
of the thickness met with in a coppice. It is only
in the case of trees capable of furnishing large tim-
120 ELEMENTS OF STLVICULTUEE.
her that the saw is advantageously used, as it then
saves all the wood which would otherwise fall in
chips under the axe. But in that case the pro-
duction of shoots is no longer the ohject proposed.
The axe or hatchet and the billhook are the cut-
ting implements most frequently employed. The
billhook is used with one hand only and hence
requires less clear space. The shock it produces is
slighter than that caused by the axe. For this rea-
son it ought to be employed for all poles under two
inches in diameter, in order to avoid shaking the
roots. Otherwise the fibrous roots would run the
risk of being broken, and the vitality of the stool
endangered. The axe is suited for trees of a larger
diameter.
Whether the billhook or the axe is used, it is
always necessary to take the precaution of cutting
the bark right through up to the wood on the side
opposite to that on which the woodman finishes
cutting. The object of this is to avoid the risk of
having the bark torn off and to preserve the roots
entire.
The surface of section ought always to be clean
and slightly inclined, so as to allow rain-water to
run off easily. For this purpose it ought to slope
only in one direction : it should not be hollowed out
in the centre. If the tree has been cut to the right
and to the left, so as to leave a sort of gutter in the
middle, the stool ought to be levelled down.
The stool should always be cut down to the
ground. The only exception to this rule is when
the locality is fiat and low and subject to frequent
SIMPLE COPPICE. 121
inundations. In that case the stools ought to be cut
just a little higher than the level usually reached by
the water, so as to prevent their being covered.
The advantages of cutting down to the ground are
very great. As the most numerous shoots are
derived from dormant buds, by cutting the stool in
the manner indicated, they spring up from under the
ground, or at least in contact with it. This serves
them as a point d'appui, without which they could
not resist the force of the wind and the weight of
superincumbent snow or hoar-frost. But the chief
advantage lies in the fact that they will develop their
own roots and thus become entirely independent of
the parent stool.
In this way may be explained the, so-to-say,
indefinite duration of simple coppice containing no
reserves, unable therefore to renew themselves by
seed, and in which, from time immemorial, planting
up has never been resorted to. Moreover, this fact
may be directly observed in all coppices. Frequently
clurqps of shoots may be seen entirely independent of
each other, but arranged in the form of a circle of
variable diameter. These clumps are derived from
a single original stool, the centre of which has dis-
appeared. This phenomenon may go on from the
formation of the clump, in the middle of which the
old stool is still to be seen, till the shoots become
quite separate owing to its gradual decay. This
circle, which is sometimes called a fairy ring, goes on
increasing until there is room enough in the middle
for shoots and fresh stools. The arrangement then
becomes indistinct, and is not easily recognised.
122 ELEMENTS OF STLVICULTUEE.
Sometimes when the trees belong to those kinds
which throw up suckers, they are cut below, i.e., in
the ground. Some forests are actually worked in
this manner, and in consequence the clumps consist
of stems which spring up directly out of the ground.
But this method ought not to be generalized before
there is perfect certainty that the result will be the
same as in those localities where it has been hitherto
practised.
CUTTING UP PEODUCE. — In order not to obstruct
the development of shoots, and above all not to
injure them at a time when they are easily broken
off, it is important that the produce exploited should
be cut up at once. Moreover, the small branches
should not be left scattered about everywhere over
the ground. It is often difficult, from want of
sufficient hands, to cut up all the produce before the
appearance of the shoots ; but it is at least possible
to collect the small branches on blanks or in badly
stocked places. By this means the damage done is
localized, and it is repaired whenever required with
the aid of a little planting. It is also advantageous
to extract dead stools, and put in a few transplants
in their place.
The removal or carrying out of produce can only
influence coppice growth by the damage which
results from the passing through of carts and from
the browsing of cattle. The extent of such damage
may be considerable in the absence of proper super-
vision. But it can be lessened by having the
produce collected along clearance routes fixed before-
hand, or better still, when that is possible, by having
SIMPLE COPPICE. 123
it carried out as it is cut up, and collected along
some permanent road or at a depot.
In spite of the damage which results from the
cutting up and carrying out of produce, it must
always be borne in mind that every limiting condition
imposed on the purchaser of standing timber results
in a depreciation of value. This depreciation is
often made much of by intending purchasers, and
hence only such precautions ought to be taken as are
indispensable to secure the well-being of the coppice.
The printed conditions of agreement for the purchase
of standing timber* lay down the general rules
carried out in the forests administered by the Forest
Department, and provide for any departure therefrom
by means of special clauses, whenever the circum-
stances of the case require them.
BESEKVATION OF STAND AKDS. — We have seen
that standards in simple coppice are intended to be
reserved for not more than two rotations of the
underwood. Their principal object is to shed a few
seeds, so as to keep the underwood fully stocked and
at the same time to furnish a few scantlings suited
for building purposes. From this latter point of
view, whenever the soil is moist and rich, it is not
unimportant to associate with the oaks a certain
quantity of aspen and birch trees, which grow
rapidly and yield wood which is in fair demand for
various purposes. As to the number of standards to
reserve, it ought not to be large, though it is im-
possible to lay down any precise rule on the subject.
The reason for this is evident, since the moment it
* This is the well-known " Cahier des charges."
124 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
is determined to grow simple coppice, the most im-
portant produce sought is the underwood. Hence
this latter ought to be overtopped as little as possible,
and the role of the standards should be restricted
to that of seed-bearers ; otherwise it would be far
better — and this is often true for all proprietors —
not to mince matters, but to go in boldly for coppice
with standards.
MAINTENANCE OPEEATIONS. — In simple coppice
these operations may consist in a little planting to
fill up the blanks, which invariably occur here and
there when there are no seed-bearers ; and in clean-
ings, the object of which is to prevent the encroach-
ment of the inferior trees. These cleanings have
also for special object the liberation of saplings and
transplants, which grow slowly at first, and cannot
cope with the rapidly growing coppice shoots.
These operations are included in those which have
to be performed in coppice with standards, and will
be described in the next chapter.
APPLICATION OF SIMPLE COPPKJE TREATMENT.
COPPICE OF A SINGLE SPECIES.
THE OAKS. — The holm oak in Provence and
Dauphine, the Pyrenean oak in the country round
Bayonne, the sessile-flowered and peduncled oaks in
the centre of France and in the Ardennes, frequently
form of themselves pure simple coppice. The first
two are grown almost solely with a view to the
production of bark, and the rotations are very short,
ten to fifteen years. They scarcely yield 4s. 6d. per
APPLICATION OF SIMPLE COPPICE. 125
acre per annum. It appears to us that something
better could be done, especially for the Pyrenean
oak.
In Sologne, and in the centre of France, the
rotation is usually longer, from twenty to twenty-
five years. The result is that besides good bark the
two principal oaks also furnish wood of some value,
and even poles that are used as small timber. When
the peduncled oak is pure, the soil is much exposed ,
and coppice is kept up with comparative difficulty.
Here also it is desirable to associate it with the
hornbeam.
" SAETAGE " OB SURFACE FIRING. — In the Ardennes,
the simple coppices of the sessile and peduncled oaks
sometimes pure, sometimes associated, or growing
with beech, hornbeam and hazel, are subjected to a
peculiar process termed " Sartage "; that is to say,
after the exploitation, the small branches and other
refuse are burnt, and cereals are cultivated for one
year. Such coppices are generally worked on a
rotation of twenty- four years. The produce obtained
consists of the cereal crop, bark, pit-props, charcoal,
and fuel that is highly esteemed. All these various
products yield together an average net annual revenue
of about 9s. 7d. an acre. " Sartage " appears to have
originated in the want of means of communication
and in the poverty of the soil, which could not yield
a regular succession of agricultural crops. With the
present facilities for carriage, it has lost all its im-
portance, and its continuance is only a matter of
traditional custom doomed to die out in time and
with the progress of industrial development in the
126 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE.
valley of the Meuse. " Sartage " is practised by
firing either in the open air or in small heaps.
OPEN-AIR FIRING. — The first method is the better
of the two, but it cannot be employed where the
ground is covered with long grass. After the pro-
duce, which is exploited during the circulation of
the sap, in order that the oak may be barked, has
been cut up and removed, that is to say, towards
August, the twigs and other refuse obtained from
the exploitation are scattered as uniformly as possible
over the surface of the ground. These are fired
during calm weather. In order to prevent the fire
from spreading into the adjacent portions, the pre-
caution is taken of digging up the ground over a
width of a few yards all round the area cut over, and
the fire is controlled by men armed with long poles.
Sometimes the ground is parcelled out into several
small portions, which are burnt one by one. Some
days after the firing, when it is possible to go to the
spot, rye is sown broad-cast and covered by light
hoeing.
This kind of firing can be employed on slopes as
well as on plateaux. It offers many advantages :
by means of the ashes it returns at once to those
schistose slate soils, which are consequently cold and
poor, a notable proportion of the inorganic elements
that had been taken up by the forest during a whole
rotation ; it thus renders an agricultural crop pos-
sible, and the quality of these elements in excess of
what is used up by the cereals, benefits the young
forest growth for several years. The passage of the
fire results in the destruction of the seeds of the
APPLICATION OF SIMPLE COPPICE. 127
hurtful grasses ; but it destroys at the same time
the vegetable mould, as also the few acorns and
young seedlings, which the coppice poles were able to
produce. From the forester's point of view, the
greatest advantage is to be found in the working up
of the soil, by which it is loosened and earth collected
round the stools. As these latter were cut down to
the very ground, they now find themselves below the
surface of the soil, and the shoots which spring up
have thus a solid base, and at the same time strike
root directly.
After the cereal crop is gathered in, a remarkable
phenomenon takes place. A vast quantity of broom
makes its appearance, the seeds of which, from
having been preserved underground, escaped the
action of the fire. They grow rapidly, and are not
long in forming with the oak shoots a dense thicket.
If they are not extracted the very first year of their
growth, it is a mistake to get rid of them wholesale
all at once, because the oaks, being drawn up and
still only of small girth, could not stand alone.
The presence of this broom is often more useful
than injurious. It protects the shoots from the cold
north wind, which has nothing to check it on the
exposed plateaux of the Ardennes. Formerly a
curtain of big trees used to be left around each
cutting as a protection against the wind ; but these
curtains have been cut down, and have not been
renewed. The result is that the coppice is in
danger of disappearing altogether on the higher
points. Some of these places have been planted up
with the Scotch pine and the spruce fir. Their
128 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
beneficial influence is felt at a great distance, owing
to the plateaux being almost perfectly level. So far
they have both done as well as possible, and it
would perhaps be advisable to raise a continuous
curtain of these trees along the line of water-shed.
FIRING IN HEAPS.— When the ground is covered
with long grass, the open-air method loses all its
advantages, for the fire burns only the stalks, with-
out reaching the root. The cultivation of the soil
hence becomes impossible, and a crop of rye would
moreover be choked up by the grass which the ashes
would cause to grow up with increased vigour. In
this case the grassy surface ought to be cut up into
sods and the adhering earth shaken off. The sods,
together with the twigs and everything unsuited for
charcoal making, are collected in heaps and fired,
and the ashes scattered over the ground. Eye is
then sown broad-cast and covered over as described
above.
This method offers the advantage of rendering
possible the reservation of a few standards, but it
is greatly inferior to the other. Thus the upper
portion of the soil, viz., that which is richest in
mould, is removed ; if the ground has a pronounced
slope, the washing down of the soil is favoured ;
when scattering the ashes, there are always sods of
turf, the combustion of which has been incomplete,
and experience has shown that every stool, on which
such sods fall, dies without producing a single shoot ;
lastly the stools are for the most part left slightly
higher than the ground.
On the whole it is questionable whether surface
APPLICATION OF SIMPLE COPPICE. 129
firing is really beneficial to forest growth. The
advantage, about which there is least doubt, re-
sults from the working up of the soil. But though
vegetation is favoured during the first few years by
the action of the ashes, it is probable that it would
gain at least as much by the slow but gradual decay
of the dead leaves. Besides this, the practice of
firing necessitates the continuance of simple coppice,
though it appears evident that coppice with stan-
dards, rightly carried out, would compensate, and
even more than compensate, for the loss which
would result from the suppression of the rye crop.
The fact is that in the system of coppice with
standards the rotation of the underwood would
admit of being lengthened, the yield would hence
be smaller in firewood but larger in pit-props, and
the reserve would furnish useful timber for build-
ing and other purposes, and it is well known that
the price of such timber is daily on the increase.
BEECH : " FUKETAGE." — We have seen that the
beech is perhaps of all trees, the one least adapted
for simple coppice. Still there are about 100,000
acres of simple beech coppice, belonging for the
most part to private proprietors. These coppices
are situated chiefly in that part of France formerly
known as Morvan, on the Swiss side of the Jura,
and at the foot of the Pyrenees. There they are
frequently subjected to a peculiar treatment called
"furetage" (In some countries coppices of oak,
or of several kinds of trees growing together, are
similarly worked on this plan.)
"Furetage" consists in cutting the strongest
K
130 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE.
shoots out of a clump and in leaving the weaker
ones. The wood-cutter returns to the same place
every eight or ten years, and if the poles are cut at
the age of twenty-four or thirty years (i.e. if the
rotation is of twenty-four or thirty years), the
clumps are composed of shoots of three different
ages. Here we have the selection method applied
to coppice. The coppices treated thus are usually
simple without any reserves. They are little known,
and have perhaps not been sufficiently studied.
Nevertheless it does not appear to us that "furetage"
should be generally adopted, because in the first
place, it seems preferable to grow the beech as high
forest, and, for private proprietors who possess
forests of this tree, as coppice with standards. If
the standards are cut early enough they will not
injure the underwood they overtop, especially if the
rotation is sufficiently long, and they will be able
to shed seed, by which the growing stock will be
kept full. Moreover, although "furetage " has
hitherto preserved beech coppices in a more or less
satisfactory condition, it presents many disadvan-
tages. Thus it is exceedingly difficult to cut a
certain number of the shoots in a clump without
injuring the rest ; in any case the labour required
is more costly. Besides this, cutting up the wood
is not so easy when the shoots left standing are to
be preserved from injury, and it is necessary either
to remove the former on men's backs or allow carts
to come in among the standing crop, — a circum-
stance which is necessarily productive of damage.
THE SWEET CHESTNUT. — The sweet chestnut is
APPLICATION OF SIMPLE COPPICE. 131
not indigenous to France. When allowed to grow
to an advanced age, it becomes rotten in the centre
and produces a scanty outturn owing to waste.
When it is cut young, on the contrary, its wood is
sound and durable ; it is in great demand for vine
props, and returns large profits to the grower. It is
therefore important to study how to raise and work
a plantation of this species.
It is first of all necessary to bear in mind that the
sweet chestnut absolutely refuses to grow on cal-
careous soils. The soil which suits it best is one
that is gravelly and silicious, like that which results
from the decomposition of granite. It succumbs to
late frosts on southern and western slopes, and
strongly objects to the presence of grass. Its growth
is very rapid ; and it coppices and throws up suckers
freely.
In making a plantation of sweet chestnut, it is
advisable to begin by putting the ground under
agricultural crops for two or three years, giving the
preference to crops which require weeding, such as
the potato for instance. The soil is thus completely
freed of injurious herbage, and is now fit to receive
the transplants which have been previously raised in
a nursery. These are put out six feet apart in every
direction, and in the intervening space the potato
may be cultivated for another year or two. At the
end of six or eight years a preliminary cutting is
made, the yield of which just covers all expenses.
After this the plantation is worked as simple coppice
without reserves on a rotation of ten, twelve, or
fifteen years. A sufficiently good indication of the
132 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
age at which the shoots should be cut is furnished
by the appearance of suckers near their base. A
chestnut plantation lasts in this manner for about
a century and a half, after which it is time to renew
it. When situated near vineyards in favourable con-
ditions as to soil and aspect, a chestnut plantation
returns very large profits, and is appropriately placed
in the hands of private owners.
THE ALDER. — The alder also is well suited for
simple coppice. It is a tree that coppices very
freely and for a long time. It is invaluable for
rendering wet lands productive. It is rarely found
associated with other kinds, both on account of the
soils it affects and of its very rapid growth. The
rotation to apply is longer or shorter, according to
the nature of the produce demanded, and varies from
twenty to twenty-five years. There may be advan-
tage in leaving a few reserves in order to obtain
larger poles, which are in demand as conduit pipes
for fountains.
SIMPLE COPPICE OF MORE THAN ONE SPECIES.
— The species which are most frequently associated
together are the two chief oaks, the hornbeam, birch,
aspen, ash and beech. When the mixture exists in
due proportions, it is highly advantageous on
account of the variety of the produce obtained, and
the improvement which results from the soil being
more completely covered and richer in vegetable
mould. But supervision is necessary, and cleanings
must be made with the object of setting free the few
seedlings which may come up and of preventing the
shoots of the hard woods from being over-topped by
COPPICE WITH STANDARDS. 133
those of the soft woods. The rotation to apply will
depend on what is the most valuable species in the
coppice and on the kind of produce required. But
it is right to remark that the shorter the rotations
are, the more favourable will be the conditions
for trees of rapid growth, which are frequently of
inferior quality.
CHAPTEE II.
COPPICE WITH STANDARDS.
GENERALITIES. — In growing coppice with stand-
ards, the end in view is to combine at once the
advantages of simple coppice and some of those of
high forest. In other words, to a ready and certain
reproduction, since it is obtained principally by
means of stool shoots, is joined the production of a
special quality of timber. This mode of treatment
therefore contains two elements, the underwood
and the reserve, which are incompatible to a
certain extent with each other, but can, notwith-
standing, be sufficiently reconciled together. The
repeated cutting of the underwood periodically
isolates the standards, which gives room for the
production of epicormic branches. The standards
are low, because, being selected from among the
coppice poles, they do not gain in length of bole
after they are isolated. Lastly the soil, exposed
134 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
regularly at rather short intervals, is not in a
position to improve. On the other hand the
standards always act more or less injuriously on the
underwood which they overtop.
ROTATION. — Choice of length of rotation gives us
an opportunity of lessening the evil effects of the
frequent cutting of the underwood. It is evident
that the more we approach the superior limit of
forty years, the more will the soil be covered, the
higher will be the underwood, and consequently the
standard boles, and the less we shall have to fear
the development of epicormic branches. Indeed it
is obvious that the rotation ought to be longer than
what would suit simple coppice placed in the same
condition of soil, climate, and species. For in cop-
pice with standards, the underwood possesses, for
the most part, only a secondary importance in
comparison with the reserve. It is the latter,
therefore, which ought to be encouraged, and the
best means to that end consists in lengthening the
rotation.
The rotation for the underwood being determined*
the age at which the standards must be cut is a
multiple of it ; but this multiple is not the same
for all proprietors or for all trees. Thus the State
and Communes are interested in letting their
standards, grow to an old age, whereas the private
proprietor will always seek the most advantageous
investment for his money (and therefore cut his
standards younger). Similarly the oak ought to be
cut later than the beech, &c.
The reserve is divided into as many classes as
COPPICE WITH STANDARDS. 135
there are different ages of standards. They may be
thus termed : — Standards of the
1st class, or 1st class reserves, those of one rotation.
2nd „ 2nd „ „ two
3rd „ 3rd „ „ three „
4th „ 4th „ „ four
Old reserves or standards (veterans), those which
count five or more rotations.
With respect to the action of cover exercised by
the reserve, it is provided against, as far as possible,
by the choice and the number of the standards.
Lastly it is necessary to pay attention to the
distribution of the standards in the interest of the
good vegetation of the reserve itself.
CHOICE OF STANDARDS. — In the selection of
standards, account must be taken of their origin,
the species to which they belong, and their shape.
By origin is to be understood whether they are
derived from seedlings (tellers) or from shoots and
suckers. Theoretically seedlings alone ought to
form the reserve : they are longer lived. Although
at the beginning they grow much less rapidly than
shoots, they are not long in overtaking them, and,
after fifty or sixty years, they go ahead and reach
the largest dimensions that the species to which
they belong can attain. Their foot is always sound.
On the other hand, the shoot which has sprung up
on a thick stool has a misshapen foot, rotten to a
greater or less height, sometimes as much as six
feet. This arises from the fact that, as the shoot
increases in girth, it gradually grows round the
stool which has already begun to rot. This decay
136 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUKE .
spreads from below upwards, slowly it is true, but
surely. If such a pole is selected as a standard and
is allowed to live to a great age, the most useful
portion of the tree is thus lost, viz., that with the
largest girth and volume.
But this is not always the case. When the shoot
stands on a little stool, like that which is derived
from a seedling copsed down at an age not greater
than that of the underwood, it englobes the stool
while the latter is still sound. The stool, protected
from weather influences, is no longer liable to rot,
and the shoot has all the value of a seedling.*
It is these shoots on young stools which form the
finest and the most numerous standards. For it is
seldom that trees derived directly from seed can be
preserved ; owing to their slower growth they always
remain under cover and are hence defective in form
and too weak to be isolated with advantage. It is
only when they have been copsed down that they
can hold their own with the surrounding coppice
and shoot up vigorously.
Since it is necessary to exclude coppice shoots
from the reserve, it is also necessary to be able to
distinguish them. This is no difficult matter when
they form a clump on the same stool. But individual
shoots also are found. When they have not sprung
from small stools, and it is only in this case that
there is advantage in recognising them, they always
exhibit, on the side of their insertion, the trace of the
bend which they describe in gradually taking a
vertical growth after having burst through the bark.
* For convenience we will term these also tellers.
COPPICE WITH STANDARDS. 137
On the other side there is a flattening out of the
foot, which contains the whole or a portion of the
englohed stool.
As for suckers, they have a "better future before
them than stool shoots, inasmuch as they have their
own roots and are therefore independent. But the
species which throw up suckers are not generally
those which it is expedient to reserve.
The choice of standards is regulated by species,
insomuch as only those ought to be reserved from
which we can expect useful timber. This is tanta-
mount to saying that the oak is the most valuable
of all species, and what is more, its very light cover
causes little injury to the underwood. After the
oak, for the same reasons, preference is to be given
to the ash, the common elm and the two large
maples (A. platanoides and A.pseudoplatanus). The
beech and hornbeam only come in the second place
especially on account of the facility with which they
reproduce themselves by seed in the underwood.
But it is necessary to preserve a few trees of these
species, because the beech does not copse as well as
other kinds, and the hornbeam, though it throws up
abundant shoots and that to an advanced age, has a
light seed which ripens nearly every year, and there-
fore makes it useful for filling up blanks. But only
a few are wanted, and these ought not generally to
be preserved for more than a few rotations. These
two species possess a very thick cover, which destroys
everything underneath, when the trees are old.
They do not gain perceptibly in quality by growing
isolated ; and sufficient timber is obtained from them
138 ELEMENTS OF STLYICULTUEE .
in high forests. Lastly, just as in simple coppice,
private proprietors may find it to their interest to
reserve a certain number of aspen and birch when
of good growth.
Only well-shaped standards must be selected, i. e.,
those which combine with a sufficient length of
bole a proportionate diameter and a well- developed
crown. This latter quality, in the case of first class
standards chosen from a complete canopy, can always
be ascertained by an examination of the foot. A tree
whose foot spreads out freely in every direction at
the point where it enters the ground, is a vigorous
tree.
First class standards ought to be selected ex-
clusively from among straight trees. There is
always a sufficiently large number which bend down
after isolation to meet the demands of the dockyard
in "knees;" this point requires attention only in
the case of second and third class standards. It is
also from among the latter that trees must be re-
served possessing thick branches which will furnish
curved timber for ship-building. But for this pur-
pose the trunk and the branch must be in one and
the same plane.
With respect to trees of which the trunk separates
at no great height into two or three branches very
nearly parallel, their reservation as standards is
undesirable. They cannot as a rule resist violent
winds, and in working them up, much wood is
wasted, and there is no special use to which they
can be put.
NUMBEE OF STANDAEDS. — On account of their
COPPICE WITH STANDAEDS. 139
spare crowns and the fact that the action of cover
is not felt equally over the whole horizontal surface
of projection, it is admitted that the cover of first
class reserves is not injurious. For this reason the
question as to number of trees to be reserved can
concern only the other classes, and especially those
which have lived more than three rotations, the
crowns of which are not only broader but a great
deal deeper. Before calculating the extent of surface
which ought to be covered by the reserve, even before
inquiring into the circumstances which, in a general
way, permit of the reservation of a greater or smaller
number of standards, it is useful to have clear
notions on the action of cover.
As we have seen in the definitions, the word cover
expresses sometimes the horizontal projection of the
crown of the tree, sometimes the action itself exerted
by the crown on that area. This action is always
injurious, because the direct rays of light are inter-
cepted, the formation of dew prevented, and the
equal distribution of rain rendered impossible. But
in the first place cover does not always act with the
same intensity, and in the second place its effect is
not felt equally on the whole surface of projection of
the crown. With equal areas, the intensity varies
with the species, and for one and the same species
with the thickness of the foliage and length of bole.
When the bole is of sufficient length, the effect of
cover may be rendered insignificant. We have a
proof of this in the seedlings which come up and
grow under a complete canopy of lofty trees.
It is therefore clear that the lighter the cover of
140 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
the standard is, the greater will be the number we
may reserve without sensibly increasing the injurious
effects. Similarly, if the underwood is of a kind to
withstand the action of cover well, we can reserve
more trees. The same may be done in rich soils
and on moist aspects, because the vegetation being
more active, there is greater length of bole.
A few years ago it was admitted, as a principle,
that the standards ought not to occupy at the outside
more than one-third of the wooded area at the time
of cutting. This idea was conceived in Germany,
where forests worked on the coppice system form
the exception, and it was introduced into France
about half-a-century ago. The great renown of
German foresters caused their opinions to be accepted
in France, unfortunately without a sufficient exam-
ination of the grounds on which they were founded.
Yet, when rules for the treatment of coppice were
being formulated in France, this examination ought
to have been made, on account of the large extent
of country in which the coppice system had been
employed from time immemorial, and of the excel-
lent results which it yielded. It will be interesting
to inquire as to what could have led to such a belief,
and to shew all the wisdom of the provisions of
the Act, which — itself only the reproduction of the
Statute of 1669 — is bound to result in a numerous
reserve.
Scarcely a century ago, means of communication
did not exist in forest districts. Heavy timber
especially could not be carried out. Besides this
there still existed a large extent of forest ; and build-
COPPICE WITH STANDAKDS. 141
ing and other timber, for which the demand was far
less than at the present day, possessed a relatively
low value. On the other hand fire-wood was con-
verted into charcoal, and found a steady market for
metallurgic purposes. In any case in the state of
charcoal, its transport cost little. Hence fire-wood
formed the principal produce of coppice with stand-
ards, and it was necessary to impede as little as
possible the growth of the underwood. We can
now understand why only one-third of the wooded
area was to be reserved for large trees, and the
remaining two-thirds given up to coppice.
Circumstances have greatly changed in the last
thirty years. At the present day, thanks to good
roads, there is scarcely a single forest from which
large timber may not be brought. Railways,
development of manufactures, and general pros-
perity have increased the consumption of timber to
an enormous extent, while its production has
decreased. Moreover prices have more than doubled
since then. On the other hand, the substitution of
coke in metallurgy, has thrown out of the market a
considerable portion of the wood which used to be
made into charcoal. Leaving out the great centres
of consumption the prices of firewood have in many
instances fallen. The money value of a cutting in a
coppice with standards now depends solely on the
quantity of timber it contains, and -even private
proprietors are led by their own interests to pay
more and more attention to the reserve. Thus the
principle of limiting the reserve to a third of the
wooded area has now become entirely inadmissible.
142 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE .
Besides in coppice forests under the management
of the Forest Department, that principle could not
be applied without infringing the provisions laid
down in Article 70, of which it now remains to
examine the great advantages and the few disadvan-
tages.
Article 70 contains two paragraphs, of which
the first relates to the number of first class stand-
ards to be reserved per hectare. This is not so
important as the other paragraph, which runs
thus : — " Standards of the second, third, and fourth
classes shall not be felled unless they are decaying or
are not in a condition to gain by being allowed to
stand till the beginning of the next rotation." Thus,
as long as they are still sound, or are not yet really
mature, existing standards, to whatever species they
belong, must be preserved ; and as this rule can
concern only long-lived species, the reserve must
necessarily be very numerous and ultimately occupy
the greater portion of the ground, with this condition,
however, that their crowns remain free. The main
object in growing coppice with standards is, in point
of fact, to produce dense tough wood, especially oak,
which full canopied high forest will never yield.
Thus it is easily comprehended that whenever the
reserve is composed of oak, its number will be no
real danger to the underwood, especially if the
latter, while* containing a little oak, consists princi-
pally of beech and hornbeam. The consequence may
be that the coppice will be composed of scattered
and weak stools, but then, under these numerous
standards forming apparently a canopy of high
COPPICE WITH STANDAEDS. 143
trees with long boles, seedlings will come up and
maintain themselves till the next exploitation.
These seedlings will then be cut back with the
coppice, and wherever a standard has been felled
will throw up vigorous shoots, which later on will
furnish the best and finest standards.
Facts prove the truth of what precedes ; in other
words the theory is what it ought always to be,
practical deductions drawn from phenomena observed
in nature. As long as the Statute of 1669 was
rigorously obeyed (up to the beginning of this
century), the oak maintained itself most success-
fully in our coppices. The same may be said of
those forests where, subsequently to that period, the
spirit of the Statute was followed. It is only when
few standards were preserved, that the oak has been
observed to disappear, the natural sequence of cause
and effect. If the underwood is but slightly covered
by the reserve, it grows vigorously and never fails to
choke up seedlings, of which not a single one will be
found at the next felling.
In the case of Communal forests, Article 70, under
the action of which they are placed by Article
134, has perhaps still greater importance, as it is
the only legal restriction in the hands of forest
officers to check the abusive enjoyment of usufruct
by the present generation. But the second clause
alone is applicable ; the first is replaced by the terms
of Article 137. This latter Article also contains
two clauses, of which the second, respecting the
allotment of one-fourth of the area to reserve, has
given rise to claims (on the part of communes) the
144 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
groundlessness of which it is expedient to show.
The Article runs thus : — "In cuttings made in
forests belonging to communes and other public
bodies, the number of standards laid down by
Article 70 of the present Statute shall not be
less than forty or greater than fifty per hectare,
(fifteen or twenty per acre). When marking for
reserves, in those portions of forest which are
included in the reserved fourth of the whole area,
the number of trees to be preserved per hectare,
shall be not less than sixty and not greater than
100 " (twenty four or forty per acre).
It has been argued from the word " tree," in
the second paragraph, that the number fixed in-
cludes standards of all classes. Now in the first
place Article 137 does not say so. It overrules
only the first paragraph of Article 70, the only
one which lays down the number of standards
to be preserved. In the second place, by the
expression "first class standards" is generally
understood individuals of the same age as under-
wood that is worked on a rotation of the length
usual in coppices. Now Article 140 provides
that the portions which comprise the reserved,
fourth of the total area, ought not, as a general
rule, to be cut except when in a decaying state,
that is to say, when every individual has become
a tree in the ordinary acceptation of the word.
Being necessarily unable to foresee at what age
cuttings would be made in each case, the word
" tree " was employed, by which must be understood
individuals of the same age as the underwood,
COPPICE WITH STAND AEDS. 145
without any reference whatever to the reserve of
the other classes fixed by the second paragraph of
Article 70. It would besides be absurd to maintain
that less solicitude has been shown for the reserved
fourth of the total area than for the ordinary cuttings;
and it would be just as reasonable to assert that
because the first paragraph of Article 137 does not
specify that first class standards alone are meant,
therefore the number "not less than forty and
not more than fifty " includes equally well all
classes of standards. This contention has never
been raised.
But Article 70 itself is not quite perfect, as it
makes no distinction between the various species.
If it is excellent, so far as the oak is concerned, it is
not always so in the case of the beech, the horn-
beam, &c., old trees of which possess a cover that
is too thick for seedlings to maintain themselves
underneath and which leave large gaps when cut,
especially if the rotation is short. Nevertheless,
while remaining within the strict letter of the
law, these drawbacks can be overcome by means
of the Special Provisions of a Working Plan, for
Article 15 of the Forest Code lays down that
" All woods and forests belonging to the State are
to be worked according to working plans sanc-
tioned by a special Act of the legislature." Article
90 contains provisions to the same effect for
Communal forests. A working plan has hence
the same force as the statute, and may overrule
it.
From what precedes, the following conclusions
146 ELEMENTS OF STLVICULTUEE.
relative to the number of standards are legitimately
drawn : —
1st. — The reserve ought to be numerous and
composed chiefly of oak ; it is the best means of
securing a good future reserve and the maintenance
of the oak.
2nd. — No thought need be given to the space
occupied by the reserve, as long as the crowns of the
trees are free.
3rd. — It is desirable to preserve as first class
standards all healthy saplings and tellers of oak,
ash, elm, &c., and to a certain extent of beech
and hornbeam.
4th.— Oak, ash, elm, &c. ought not to be cut
before they are really mature, unless they are too
close together, or are in fall decay.
5th. — Trees which are reserved with the sole
object of keeping the underwood as full as pos-
sible, should be cut only after they are completely
fertile, beech generally at the end of the third
or fourth rotation, hornbeam at the end of the
second.
If it were objected that such a forest is no longer
" coppice under high forest " (taillis sous futaie), it
would be easy to reply that it is at least " high forest
over coppice " (futaie sur taillis), and that if this
latter meets better the actual requirements of the
country, and is more in consonance with the wants
of the future, it ought to be preferred. Besides this
there is unfortunately no danger, as long as the
reserve consists chiefly of oak, of its being numerous
enough to become hurtful.
COPPICE WITH STANDARDS. 147
DISTRIBUTION OF THE STANDARDS. — There are
few remarks to make on this subject, because in the
majority of cases we must be guided by circum-
stances. If it is necessary to reserve all seedlings
and vigorous oak shoots on young stools, reserve
them by all means, and once they become second
class standards, their condition of growth alone will
decide whether they ought to be felled immediately
or spared for another rotation. Only it must be ob-
served that there is no advantage in preserving a
young oak standard under another which is capable
of living through several rotations ; in this case it is
better to cut it down and ensure the existence of a
young clump. When the different classes of stand-
ards are of mixed species, it would be an error to
preserve a second or third class standard of beech,
if it is perceived that before the next felling it must
damage a fine oak standard of the first class ; such
procedure would be justified only if oak was very
abundant and beech very rare, both in the reserve
and in the coppice.
It has frequently been considered advisable not to
preserve standards of the same class situated near to
each other, especially when they belong to the third
and fourth classes. Unless the standards are of
beech, which, moreover, it is useless to allow to grow
to a very old age, it is, on the contrary, advantageous
to have several third and fourth class standards
growing together in a clump. The reason is that
these trees draw each other up and acquire a greater
length of bole than if they were isolated. They
therefore contain more useful timber, and under the
148 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
light cover of the oak, we are perfectly certain of
finding seedlings, which will ensure a large supply
of good material for the reserve, and the main-
tenance of the underwood without having recourse
to artificial means.
But if there is no danger in preserving a clump of
oaks, on the other hand it is decidedly wrong to re-
serve, under the pretext of avoiding large gaps in
the forest and effecting an equal distribution of
shade, a large number of first class standards of
hornbeam, or of any other species, useless as timber.
It is undoubtedly unfortunate to have portions
without oak; but it is not the hornbeam standard
that will bring back the oak. Such a standard will
be fit only for fuel when it reaches the second class.
Its preservation would prevent the formation of a
stool of shoots which would yield at least as much
produce as the standard, and would better promote
the denseness of the underwood. As to the utility
of distributing shade equally, it is very questionable
when we have to deal with indigenous species
adapted to the soil and reproducing themselves from
the stool. Moreover it must not be forgotten that
first class standards will at the end of the current
rotation have become second class standards, and
their cover will therefore have become injurious in
proportion to the denseness of their foliage. In
going through a forest of coppice "ftith standards, it
will be vain to look for oak under second class re-
serves of hornbeam, beech, &c., whereas that species
will frequently be found growing under aspen and
birch. Hence these latter ought not to be excluded
COPPICE WITH STANDARDS. 149
from the reserve where they are well grown ; and
this all the more on account of their being in great
demand for certain purposes.
We have said enough to show that the operation
of marking for reserves is a difficult one to do well,
whether it be the selection of trees to be felled or
those to be preserved as standards. Thus, while
aiming at the formation of a numerous reserve, it
must above all be remembered that it should be
composed solely of really useful material. Except
when converting coppice into high forest, it is a
mistake to seek number for the sake of number.
Besides the risk of creating dangerous cover, and
of raising an obstacle to the maintenance of oak
seedlings, bodily and mental fatigue is to be
feared.
In marking a number of saplings for first class
standards, one is apt to deceive himself into the
belief that he has created a very extensive reserve,
whereas it often turns out that only a few standards
of the second class and two or three of the third class
have been left per acre, and yet it is these last that
constitute the main value of a coppice with standards.
It is therefore necessary to give most attention to the
existing reserve and to the intelligent execution of
the second clause of Article 70. Without setting
aside the first clause, it would be quite as puerile to
lay claims to having reserved the prescribed number
of trees when no attention whatever has been paid
to the species to which they belong, as to stop short
on the plea that the required number has been
.attained, relatively to the total area over which the
150 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
felling is to be made, when a quarter or a half
of the whole surface still remains to be examined.
For the sake of despatch there is often a tendency
to mark the trees to be reserved and to measure
those to be felled, simultaneously one with the
other.
This is a vicious practice, as it exposes the forester
both to make a bad selection of reserves and an
erroneous estimate of the quantity of produce to be
cut. This last fault might, strictly speaking, be-
come insignificant if there is an active competition
among purchasers ; but the effects of an injudicious
selection of reserves are felt for several rotations.
It is therefore necessary to execute this latter
operation with the greatest possible care. When
the estimation of the material to be cut is taken in
hand separately, after the reserves have been marked,
the forest officer is obliged to pass all the trees in
review a second time, at least the oaks. He is thus
often led to preserve standards of more than one
rotation, which were either overlooked owing to an
imperfect examination or forgotten in the pre-occupa-
tion of keeping the register correctly. No doubt
this method requires a little more time, but it is only
a question of a few minutes, and time spent in
examining the forest is never time lost. It is thus
that the execution of these operations becomes a
labour of love, and the public no less than the
proprietors cannot but gain by it.
ANNUAL YIELD. — As for simple coppice, so also for
coppice with standards, and for the same reasons,
the annual yield should be based on area. To the
COPPICE WITH STAND AEDS. 151
objection that in this case the reserve furnishes im-
portant produce the yield of which should be steadily
maintained and accurately determined, it may be
answered that the same fluctuations would exist if
the annual yield were based on volume, and more-
over the length of the rotation would in that case be
uncertain.
MAINTENANCE OPERATIONS. — As in high forest
so in coppice, certain improvement operations are
necessary, if it is to be kept at its highest pitch of
production. These operations relate as well to the
reserve as to the coppice. The latter ought to be
cleaned and thinned, and may need a little planting ;
the former require to be pruned, using the term here
in its general sense.
CLEANINGS. — Gleanings in coppice are intended
to set free the tellers, and generally to encourage the
more valuable species. Only let the rotation for the
coppice be long enough (say thirty years), and it will
be the exception not to find seedlings on the ground
at the moment of cutting. Nay the number is fre-
quently quite large enough not only to keep up the
underwood, but also to ensure a plentiful supply of
material for the future reserve. But although the
seedlings have maintained themselves until the time
for cutting arrives, they are not yet out of danger
for all that. On the contrary, now is the most critical
moment for them. The reason is clear. Coppice
shoots grow much more rapidly at first ; and, if
during the first two or three years, the seedlings are
not immediately overtopped, the cause is to be traced
to the wide space between two successive stools.
152 ELEMENTS OF STLVICULTUEE .
But very soon the stool-clumps spread out and unite
their crowns, forming a leaf-canopy, and the seedlings
are inevitably destroyed under their low cover. It
is therefore necessary to come to their aid, at the
latest four or five years after the last cutting.
The time when cleanings should begin is easily
determined, since reproduction is obtained at once
by means of shoots. It is sufficient to find out how
long oak seedlings can remain mixed up with the
rest of the coppice without disappearing entirely or
at least without beginning to wither. It is obvious
that one single cleaning will even less fulfil its
object here than in a high forest ; it should there-
fore be repeated every four or five years until the
fifteenth or twentieth year of the coppice.
In these cleaning operations, while aiming at
setting seedlings free, the saving of every one of
them is not for a moment to be thought of, when
their number is very large. It will be quite enough
to uncover a few everywhere, where there is any
chance of their preservation. The first cleaning
must consist in cutting the overhanging plants down
to the ground; in subsequent operations of this
nature, it is better only to cut them just below the
level of the seedlings. By keeping up a continuous
mass of foliage below, the disengaged seedlings are
drawn up and natural pruning is favoured.
The first cleanings will yield no marketable pro-
duce. That is a strong reason for getting them
executed by the forest guards, among whose duties
this will be one of the most important. More than
this, the guards alone are in a position to do them
COPPICE WITH STANDARDS. 153
well, and they must be compelled to give their closest
attention to the work. Besides there is a way to
make them take an interest in the work. The
operations performed by these men, and notably the
filling up of blanks, ought to be rewarded pecuniarily:
why not regard cleaning as coming under the latter
head, since it does away with the necessity of resort-
ing to that operation ? No one has an adequate
conception of the good that a guard may effect
within his beat. Supposing that only one day in
the week, while inspecting his beat, he visits the
young crops, bill-hook or pruning-knife in hand, and
that he sets free only 100 seedlings ; at the end of
the year, that represents 5,000 plants, that is to say
the equivalent of three to five acres of blanks suc-
cessfully re-stocked. But it is not only once a week
that the guard can do this work, he can do it nearly
every day ; and the total number of young oaks
which an intelligent, hardworking man can set free
and save, cannot be put down at less than 10,000 a
year. Supposing only one tenth of these oaks is
utilised for the reserve, what a mine of wealth have
we not there for the. future !
The yield of these cleanings should be based on
area because their date is absolutely known ; in
other words they should be made in the same order
as the coppice cuttings, and each operation should
embrace one or more entire coppice areas. The
same remarks hold good for the thinnings, of which
we will now treat.
THINNINGS. — The good work that cleanings have
begun for the seedlings, thinnings ought to continue,
154 ELEMENTS OF STL VICULTUEE .
if not always with a view to turning them into first
class standards (for there are sure to be many below
the level of the stool shoots), at least with the object
of keeping them alive and sufficiently vigorous until
the next cutting of the underwood. They will then
furnish those shoots on young stools already alluded
to above, when treating of the selection of standards.
But the usefulness of thinnings does not end here.
That there may be seedlings to set free in the clean-
ing operations, it is essential that they should be
there before the coppice is cut, and it is their appear-
ance on the ground that thinnings should endeavour
to effect. These two operations are therefore com-
plementary one of the other. Logically we ought
to have treated first of thinnings, but it appeared
preferable to take the several operations in the order
in which they follow each other, starting from the
principal cutting.
When the rotation of the coppice does not exceed
thirty years, only one thinning is made ; two may be
made when it is as long as forty years. But before
the age of twenty-five years, leaving out exceptionally
fertile soils where the pole-stage is soon reached,
thinnings are very difficult in execution and conse-
quently attended with risks.
To facilitate the appearance of seedlings and to
ensure their maintenance afterwards, the thinnings,
or the last thinning when two are made, ought to
remove all completely suppressed trees which
immediately overspread the ground, and to raise the
cover as much as possible without destroying the
leaf-canopy. Breaking up this canopy would be still
COPPICE WITH STANDARDS. 155
more fatal here than in high forests, since the rota-
tions are shorter, and independently of that, the soil
remains only too long exposed after each exploitation.
For this reason, the thinning must consist solely in
pruning some of the poles and in extracting a few
shoots. In a clump of shoots, only the strongest
grow up vertically, as there is nothing to keep them
down. The weaker shoots are more or less sup-
pressed ; they grow only in the direction whence
light can reach them, and thus become more and
more inclined, until they trail along the ground
(trailers). It is these trailers which injure seedlings
most, since they more immediately overhang them,
and they must be got rid of by the thinning.
There may be some advantage in giving wider
space to the strong shoots to allow them to gain
in diameter ; but it must not be forgotten that in
a well-grown coppice with standards, containing
therefore a numerous reserve, the underwood has
quite a secondary importance, so far as forest
produce is concerned. The thinning ought not
therefore to overreach the object in view, viz., the
production of seedlings and the setting free of sap-
lings. It is only in simple coppice that it might more
particularly aim at favouring the growth of the finer
poles in order to obtain something better than mere
firewood.
We are often recommended to preserve trailers
in the hope that, being in contact with the soil,
they may take root and form new stools. Without
denying that such a result is possible, it may be
observed that it is exceedingly difficult to cut any-
156 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
thing out of the straight portion of the clump with-
out hurting the trailers ; and in order to avoid this,
it would he necessary to cut at some height from
the ground. Moreover, they are seldom produced,
except on stools of hornbeam, which copses freely,
retains this power till an advanced age, and whose
maintenance in the underwood is still further assured
by frequent and abundant seedings. There is there-
fore very little advantage to be gained by their
reservation.
PLANTING OPERATIONS. — If the cleanings and
thinnings, which we have just discussed, have been
carefully made, there is little occasion for planting.
Still in the actual state of our forests, the generally
small number of standards left in our coppices has
gradually resulted in a decrease in the number of
oaks. Nay, sometimes the proportion of this species
in the reserve is entirely insufficient, and the under-
wood is too low and close to permit one to expect
an adequate number of oak seedlings. Hence arises
the necessity of introducing the oak artificially.
To this end many methods have been suggested.
Although we have not yet taken in hand the subject
of artificial restocking, it is easily seen that we are
here concerned only with planting. Sowing is im-
practicable except when the area to be restocked is
large ; otherwise the seedlings, which germinate,
would inevitably be suppressed.
Hartig directs that after the coppice is cut, twenty
large seedlings per acre should be planted, so as to
give them a start over the coppice. This method is
defective from many points of view. As will be seen
COPPICE WITH STANDARDS. 157
later on, the success of transplants is the less certain
the older they are ; for a certain number of roots
are always broken off in extracting them from the
nursery lines, in transporting them to the place to
be planted, and in putting them into the ground.
To take the case in question, even admitting the
success of the operation, some time must elapse before
equilibrium between the crown and roots is re-estab-
lished. By that time the transplants will be caught
up and outstripped by the coppice, and the advan-
tage of using odd plants will be lost. On the other
hand, old transplants are costly, and they often
require nurses, which swell the expenditure still
more.
Another method, which has yielded excellent
results, consists in loosening the soil, after the
coppice is cut, along straight lines which intersect
each other. By this disposition of the lines, the
discovery of a single line leads to the discovery of
the rest, and the transplants therefore receive all
the care necessary. The transplants used are of
medium size, they are put in at intervals of three to
six feet, and are immediately cut back, an operation
by which equilibrium between the roots and crown
is established the very first year. By frequent
thinnings, which are facilitated by the regular
disposition of the lines, the coppice is prevented
from crowding against the transplants. In spite of
the excellent results obtained, this method is to be
recommended just as little as the first : the number
of plants used, the cultivation of the soil along the
lines, and repeated thinnings, render it costly, and
158 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE .
it overreaches the end in view of preparing good and
sufficient material for the reserve.
Another suggestion is to select blanks or poorly
stocked places, loosen the soil in spots nine to twelve
feet wide in every direction, and put a certain num-
ber of young transplants in each. These spots are
difficult to find afterwards, and therefore to look
after; moreover, of all the transplants crowded
together in each spot, only one is likely to prove
useful.
The defect common to these several methods results
from their being practicable only after the coppice is
cut, that is to say, when the new stool crop has
already made its appearance. This is a circumstance
eminently unfavourable to transplants, whose growth
is already forcibly retarded by the mere removal
from the nursery bed. We must therefore seek to
carry out the planting before the coppice is cut.
For several years past the planting out of young
seedlings at the time the crop is thinned has been
attended with marked success. The transplants are
put out as regularly as possible, but especially on
blanks, under high cover or under reserves which
will be removed at the next felling. As coppice
grows with difficulty under cover, the transplants
are not cut back at once. During the few years
which still remains before the rotation closes, they
scarcely make any growth ; but they establish them-
selves in the soil, and are only cut back along with
the coppice. They are then quite strong enough to
throw off one or two shoots, which make their
appearance simultaneously with the young coppice
COPPICE WITH STANDARDS. 159
and grow more rapidly than a true seedling, and are
easy to recognize and set free in the cleaning opera-
tions. Moreover, to facilitate their recognition,
a stake, or simply the portions cut back, could be
fixed in the ground near them. The cost of planting
can be made as small as one could wish, and the
results obtained are very satisfactory. This method
is the one to be employed also in high forests to re-
introduce the oak at the moment the close primary
cutting is made ; only, in this case, the transplants
will, or will not, be cut back according to the amount
of cover overhead, and the quality of the plants.
PRUNING OF THE STANDARDS. Under this general
heading, it is necessary to distinguish two operations.
1. Bidding the boles of trees of the branches
which grow on them as soon as they are isolated
(epicormic branches). This we will specially desig-
nate pruning.
2. Lopping off certain branches belonging to the
crown. This may be termed lopping.
The pruning of oaks is always useful, and in no
case can it be neglected without danger. We have
already referred to it in speaking of the oak reserves
in high forest left after the final cutting. If these
epicormic branches are allowed to grow on, they
absorb, at the expense of the crown above, part of
the sap which ought to reach it. They do not
increase the quantity of the tree's foliage, but only
transfer a portion to the bole, so that the tree
soon becomes stag-headed and sickly. People are
hence tempted to attribute this to a natural and pre-
mature decay. Instead of seeking the cause in the
160 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
existence of these branches, they fancy that the soil
is no longer able to support old trees. It is too easily
forgotten that the old reserves have passed through
identical circumstances ; and if no traces of this are
now visible, it is solely because the up-growth of the
coppice has stamped out the epicormic branches and
enabled the trees to reform their crowns.
It is certain that during this crisis an appreciable
number of trees die, and those which survive often
contain an unsound heart-wood. The reason is
obvious ; after a certain time, the dry branches in
the crown break off ; the jagged section left behind
decays, absorbs moisture, and allows water to pene-
trate into the interior of the tree. Thus may be
explained in most cases the fact that coppice stand-
ards furnish a larger proportion of unsound timber
than trees grown in the canopied blocks of high
forest. But this defect can in most cases be
obviated.
The means lies in getting rid of the epicormic
branches as soon as they show themselves, or two
years after at the latest. This should be done with
sharp instruments, the bill-hook or the pruning-bill,
cutting upwards to avoid tearing off any bark, and
making the section on a level with the bole. At
the same time some precautions are necessary ;
above all the use of climbing-irons should be inter-
dicted. Each wound that penetrates as far as the
sapwood is the inevitable cause of a fault in the
wood. The wounded portion dies ; sap or rain water
collects round it, and decomposition sets in, giving
the wood a blackish colour. The least that can
COPPICE WITH STAND AEDS. 161
result is a solution of continuity, which renders the
wood unfit for cask staves. Often the bark hears
perpetual marks of these climbing-irons. The healed
wound appears as a shorter or longer slit, on each
side of which the bark, after meeting, swells up very
much in the same way as in a covered diametral
fault.
It is to dispense with climbing-irons that pruning-
hooks fixed at the end of poles six to ten feet long
are employed with advantage. If a sufficient height
cannot be reached with this instrument, the best
thing to do is to use a light ladder, which can be
carried about easily from tree to tree and which
leaves both hands free.
If pruning has been too long delayed, and the
epicormic branches have acquired a diameter of two
inches, it is often more expedient to let them alone
or to cut down the tree if it holds out no further
promise ; otherwise numerous and large wounds
would inevitably be occasioned in the bole of the
tree, and new faults in the wood would be added to
those which have perhaps already been caused by
the infiltration of water through the dead branches
in the crown.
It usually happens that after epicormic branches
have been got rid of, others are produced. There
must be no hesitation in pruning these off too. But
they will be weaker and less numerous than the
first ; and if the operation has been properly
performed, there is very seldom any necessity for
repeating it a third time.
As to the best time for pruning, since it is above
M
162 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
all necessary to avoid everything that will favour
the reproduction of these branches, which are
veritable shoots, the most suitable season appears
to be from the middle of summer up to the first
frost. But scarcity of labour may necessitate cutting
them in any season of the year, and provided this is
is well done, no unfavourable results seem to follow.
The lopping off of branches in the crown is
always a delicate operation, and has given rise to
opinions diametrically opposed to each other. In
order to be able to judge fairly, it is necessary to
distinguish between lopping off dead branches and
those which are still alive.
As a consequence of the isolation of a tree, it is
exceedingly rare not to find some dead branches in the
crown. If these are mere twigs and small branches,
there is nothing to be done ; they will fall of
themselves ; the broken section will soon be covered
over, and will not give rise to any fault in the wood.
Such is not the case when a secondary branch dies.
A considerable number of years must pass before it
breaks off and the wound is grown over. Indeed
sometimes the wound will never heal up, and will
allow water to enter and filter through down to the
trunk of the tree, bringing decay with it. It is thus
that rot in the foot of a tree, or a stain caused by
infiltration of water, can, by making continuous
sections, be nearly always traced to a former dead
branch. It is therefore of the highest importance
to look for all such dead branches and cut them off
at their insertion on the principal branch. In this
way the wound is allowed to heal up, and unsound-
COPPICE WITH STANDARDS. 163
ness in the wood, which, is now no longer in con-
tact with the air, spreads very slowly ; in a word,
becomes localised.
Dead branches which spring directly on the
trunk at the lowest point of the crown must also
be lopped off clean along the surface of insertion.
However, before doing this it is advisable to study
well the local and special conditions of vegeta-
tion. If the branch is erect and the wood liable to
rapid decay, it must be cut off clean on the bole.
But when the branch is horizontal or describes a
small angle with the horizon, and is itself rather
large, and especially if the oak tree in question con-
tains tough timber not easily liable to rot, it is often
objectionable to cut it off down to its point of
insertion. By doing so, a large wound is uselessly
made, and a solution of continuity is caused in the
bole, when a little dead, but perfectly sound wood,
would have been the only result. In this case it is
quite enough to replace the jagged surface at the
broken end by a clean section made at some distance
from the trunk, whenever this can be done.
A live branch may be lopped off with the object
either of increasing the length of bole, or of keeping
a cover, that is too spreading, within proper limits,
or of anticipating the mischief which would result
from an accident.
It cannot be denied that length of bole is a very
important quality ; but we must not be guided by
appearances. A tree, whose branches have been
lopped in this manner, may appear quite sound so
long as it is standing. Unfortunately our hopes are
164 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
only too often proved groundless when the tree is cut
up. Not only does each branch lopped off give rise
to solution of continuity, but it is very rare to find a
wound covered over before decay has set in. Decom-
position may then make very slow progress, but it
never ceases. Wounds covered over fifteen or twenty
years ago nearly always conceal hollows underneath,
and often the mischief is propagated downwards, so
that the length of bole artificially obtained is worth-
less if it has not even rendered valueless the rest of
the bole. From this the necessary conclusion is
that no live branch of more than one to two inches
in diameter should be lopped off from standards of
the second and higher classes, because at the time
of felling there is sure to be a fault of a more or less
grave character in the very heart of the wood.
It must not be forgotten that in a living tree every
portion of the wood, which is exposed, necessarily
dies. The wound may heal up more or less rapidly;
decomposition to a less or greater extent may
previously set in; but there can never be any
coherence between the dead portion of the wood and
the subsequent rings which cover it. The different
substances, with which the section is sometimes
coated, have only the effect of delaying decomposi-
tion; they cannot prevent the wood from dying.
Little wounds, like those caused in pruning off
epicormic branches or lopping off small branches in
the crown, have little or no injurious effect. This
no longer holds good in the case of the principal
branches, the lopping off of which, close to the bole
(the only mode of rapidly obtaining a covering of
COPPICE WITH STAND AEDS. 165
new wood and bark), must cause large wounds.
Thus it happens that wounds covered over in the
most complete manner, always give rise, at the end
of fifteen or twenty years, to decayed wood, and
this chiefly towards the foot of the tree ; for it is
there that water accumulates after filtering through
between the wounded surface and the new layers of
wood.
This danger is very considerably diminished in the
case of first class standards, because their branches
are always small, and the wound caused by their
being lopped off heals up in one or two years.
Besides this, little is to be feared from such a
wound, as it is quite close to the centre, a portion of
the tree that is always cut out in important work.
Here there is everything to gain by lengthening the
bole. At the same time it must not be forgotten
that these reserves have never too much foliage.
Thus only those branches must be lopped off which
are lowest in the crown and which have already
begun to wither and would fall off naturally, if the
leaf canopy were allowed to continue a few years
longer. This is tantamount to saying that the
length of bole can barely be increased by six feet ;
but that is something.
So far as the oak is concerned, its spare foliage can
never cause much damage. More than this, an oak
standard is worth more than the underwood it
overtops. There is therefore no reason for depriving
it of live branches in order to diminish its breadth of
cover. Such a proceeding is always a mistake, since
the sum of foliage cannot be reduced without
166 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
reducing the sum of production. At the most it
may be allowable to cut off the ends of a branch
which stretch out far and immediately overhang a
first class standard of the same species ; even then it
is often more prudent to abstain from doing so.
In the last place, a live branch may be broken off
by the wind or by an accident in the felling opera-
tions. In this case, the thing to be done is very
simple. One of two cases happens. Either the
branch still retains enough twigs to enable it to live,
in which case its broken extremity must be lopped
off close to the nearest twig, so that the section
may be rapidly covered over, or else the branch is
broken close to its point of insertion and cannot there-
fore live ; here the same thing must be done as in the
case of a dead branch, that is to say, it must be
lopped off clean on a level with the trunk, if decay
is to be feared or the branch is small ; otherwise the
broken surface must simply be replaced by a clean
section.
It should be understood that the rules given above
apply chiefly to the oak. They must be extended
also to the elm and ash, large logs of which are in
great demand, and which also suffer much from all
kinds of amputation. As for the other species, they
require less care, not because lopping does them no
injury, but because they are much less valuable and
may do real harm by their cover.
APPLICATION OF COPPICE WITH STANDARDS. 167
CHAPTEE III.
APPLICATION OF THE PRINCIPLES OF
COPPICE WITH STANDARDS TO MIXED
FORESTS.
WE seldom find coppice with standards composed
of a single species ; it is, on the contrary, advantage-
ous to have a mixture of various kinds of trees.
The species commonly met with are the two principal
oaks, the hornbeam, beech, elm, ash, the service
trees, the maples, the alder, lime, birch, aspen, and
lastly willows and brushwood. It is obvious tha's
according to the soil and climate, the mixture will
contain a varying number of these species, in greatly
varying proportions ; but it is seldom that oak does
not exist in considerable numbers.
Whenever oak is abundant, or can become abundant,
and favourable conditions exist for its growth, the
most important thing is to fix the rotation for the
underwood because its duration has a great influence
on the value of the reserve. A period of less than
twenty-five years is not to be thought of; and in
coppices where the term is shorter, there is every-
thing to gain, even for private proprietors, by pro-
longing it to twenty-five years as a minimum. The
interests of the community at large and conse-
quently those of the State require that the rotation
should approach as nearly as possible forty years
in forests belonging to the State.
The rotation for the underwood once fixed, every
proprietor should inquire at what age he ought to
168 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE .
fell the standards, private proprietors viewing the
question from the stand-point of the ratio between
revenue and capital, Communes and the State oc-
cupying themselves chiefly with revenue without
reference to the capital which produces it, or more
simply, with the usefulness of the produce. It is
obvious that this inquiry concerns only the reserve
as capable of furnishing timber, the interest of no
proprietor ever leading him to grow to an advanced
age trees which are reserved purely with the object
of renewing the underwood with the aid of their
seed.
In selecting trees for standards, a large proportion
of oak should be reserved. To this end every healthy
oak, to whatever class it belongs, should be preserved.
Those only must be felled which are mature, too
crowded, or in course of decay ; a few dead branches
in the crown, unless they are the principal branches,
do not constitute a sufficient reason for rejecting a
tree as a standard. A few branches may die, owing
simply to the isolation of the tree, without however
destroying its future promise. As for the trees of
other species, greater latitude must be observed in
giving them up to the axe, especially when they are
too close to oaks which have not completed their
full growth ; but, with the exception of the hornbeam,
they must, if possible, be maintained till they attain
maturity. The hornbeam must be reserved only so
far as its presence is required to keep up the under-
wood. If it is thought necessary to effect an equal
distribution of shade, it is often better to reserve a
few fine poles of aspen or birch, which will at least be
APPLICATION OF COPPICE WITH STANDAKDS. 169
no obstacle to the maintenance of seedlings, and, in ad-
dition to this, will furnish produce of a special value.
The next operation which demands the utmost
care is the actual cutting. All the stools must be
cut down close to the ground, and particular atten-
tion must be paid that every existing natural and
artificial oak seedling is cut back.
When the new crop is three, four, or five years
old, according to the rapidity of growth, the time
has come for making the first cleaning. This
operation must be repeated at stated intervals up to
the age of twenty years. Its object is not to liber-
ate all the seedlings. It is seldom that these can
be selected as standards at the next felling, but they
can be kept in a sufficiently healthy state, that when
cut back they may produce shoots fit to be reserved
at the subsequent fellings.
According to the length of the rotation, the under-
wood should be thinned once or twice. This opera-
tion must continue the work of setting free the
seedlings and effecting the germination of others.
As the necessity arises, this end must be accelerated
by putting out a few transplants five or six years
before the coppice is cut.
It is obvious that without carrying out pruning to
extreme lengths, the lower branches of first class
standards may be lopped off, and epicormic branches
carefully got rid of. If possible this latter operation
should be executed the very year these branches
make their appearance : the prompter the remedy,
the more certain will be the result, and the smaller
the cost.
170 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
The advantage of having a mixed coppice is self-
evident, if a numerous reserve of oak has been
formed and a fitting proportion between the various
component species has been maintained by the aid
of cleanings. At the same time that the underwood,
so formed, contains a good future reserve, it is brought
to its maximum of production. Any one who
traverses such a coppice, will see healthy clumps of
beech and hornbeam side by side with the old oaks.
These clumps protect the soil, and shelter the boles
of the oak, which thus yield timber of the first
quality.
Note. — With the coppice system, may be con-
nected the treatment of pollards and trees whose
lower branches have been lopped off, leaving them
only a small crown. But this cannot, properly
speaking, form a department of sylviculture. The
trees treated thus are always solitary, scattered in
the midst of fields or grown along hedgerows. It
must however be observed that besides yielding
fodder, fuel, and wood for the manufacture of small
objects, the trunks of these trees may sometimes
serve the most important purposes. We obviously
do not allude to the trunks of pollards, which are
nearly always hollow, but with the other class of
trees the case is very different. It is true they are
full of knots ; but when the branches have been cut,
and at frequently repeated intervals, and the wounds
have healed up rapidly, it is not rare to find among
oak trees subjected to this treatment logs of the
very best quality. This explains why ship-builders
esteem so highly trees which have grown along the
HIGH FOREST AND COPPICE COMPARED. 171
hedgerows in Brittany. If the knots are sound it is
a proof of the strength of the timber, and the breaks
in the continuity of the woody tissue do not prevent
its being employed entire.
PART IV.
CONVERSION OF COPPICE INTO HIGH
FOREST.
CHAPTER I.
HIGH FOREST AND COPPICE COMPARED.
To execute a conversion, signifies to change the
method of reproduction ; consequently in order to
convert coppice into High Forest, its regeneration
must be effected by seed, and that too in such a way
as to obtain exploitable timber at the end of the
operation. Indeed it is not enough to let coppice
grow on in order to turn it into high forest, since
the standing crop will be entirely the produce of
stools, and conversion will still remain to be done.
But before undertaking an operation of this
nature, it behoves us to inquire what are the re-
sulting advantages. Without entering into details
of political economy, which belong to the province
of economic forestry, these advantages can still be
rendered sufficiently intelligible.
It is beyond dispute that in the same interval of
time, high forest furnishes a larger yield than cop-
pice grown under the same conditions ; yet it is
172 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
impossible to prove this rigorously, as it would be
necessary to subject the same forest successively to
these two separate systems. But observations tend
to establish the truth of this proposition, which is
besides an accepted fact among all foresters without
exception.
Moreover, the produce of high forest has a wider
range of usefulness. The quantity of large timber
is more considerable, and volume for volume it
contains a smaller proportion of unsound wood.
However, the question at issue concerns only the
range of usefulness, since coppice standards, as
compared with high forest trees, yield timber which
is denser, stronger, and composed of better nourished
tissue on account of the unhampered development of
their crowns. For this very reason their wood is to
be preferred in important constructions. On the
other hand, timber grown under close leaf-canopy is
in great demand for manufactures. It should be
noted too that high forests which have been thinned
yield timber of medium density useful for almost all
purposes, and lastly it must be remembered that the
consumption of manufacturing timber is far more
considerable than that of building timber. Thus
the superiority of high forest over coppice is com-
pletely established.
So far as fuel is concerned, coppice wood is better
than the old trees of a high forest. But on the
other hand the underwood of a forest under coppice
is very nearly counter-balanced by the produce
obtained from the thinnings made in a high forest
towards the middle of the rotation. Moreover, we
HIGH FOREST AND COPPICE COMPAEED. 173
have already seen that the value of firewood has
diminished instead of increasing.
Again, since high forest furnishes more considerable
as well as more useful produce than coppice, it is
evident that the revenue derived from it must he
larger. But to obtain this larger revenue, it is
necessary to accumulate a vast quantity of standing
material, owing to which circumstance the ratio of
revenue to capital engaged is small. This is equiva-
lent to saying that those proprietors alone who do
not consider their forests as a strictly pecuniary
investment, are interested in growing high forests
or in preserving those which they already possess,
as such.
Lastly, a high forest, hy the constant and complete
manner in which it shelters the ground, ensures the
improvement of the soil, and hence improved pro-
duction in a higher degree than coppice. For still
another reason, it can be shown that coppice is not
so well adapted to improve the soil; it has been
proved that the greater proportion of ash is found in
young wood and in the outside layers of old trees ;
it therefore follows that repeated cutting of the
underwood impoverishes the soil more than would
be the case in high forest worked on a long rotation.
From all these different points of view, it is
evident that the private proprietor has no interest
in converting coppice into high forest ; on the
contrary, it would be to his advantage to realise at
once the standing material of any high forest he
may possess and turn it into coppice. If he is
owner of a forest of conifers, which is from its nature
174 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE.
unsuited for coppice, he is always induced to limit
the quantity of standing material to the lowest
figure possible, and thus to adopt short rotations.
The State, on the contrary, has every interest in
preserving its high forests and even in converting its
woodlands under coppice into high forests. This is
frequently a duty in face of the increased consump-
tion of timber and the diminished area of its wood-
lands ; only it must observe a certain moderation,
and consult the timeliness of the operation.
As for Communes, while acknowledging that
future generations would gain much by conversions,
and that Communes, being perpetual proprietors,
ought to be solicitous of the future, it should be
remembered that the interests of the present genera-
tion ought not be overlooked, and that no sacrifice
ought to be demanded of it from which it would be
the only one not to profit. Increase of revenue
necessarily implies previous savings, and there are
few Communes sufficiently prosperous to create a
budget surplus.
For Communes, then, the system of coppice with
standards seems destined to remain for a long time
to come the only method of treatment for their
forests. IS! or is the inferiority of this treatment to
be exaggerated ; when well applied it yields excellent
results. The most important improvement which
can be made in it, is without doubt a lengthening of
the rotation and the formation of a numerous reserve,
composed principally of oak. This constitutes a
real saving, which, while being a rich source of profit,
requires at first a very small sacrifice — a strong point
HIGH FOEEST AND COPPICE COMPAEED. 175
in its favour. If we only consider the enhanced
value of a veteran oak, we see that the conservation
of three or four more standards of the class imme-
diately below may often double the value of an acre
of coppice. Moreover, even as concerns rate of invest-
ment (ratio of net revenue to capital), it is sufficiently
high, seeing that the price of large-sized timber is
constantly rising.
The chief reason why coppice is inferior to high
forest is to be found in the shortness of the rotation.
A single act of recklessness in the oft recurring
exploitations is enough to ruin a forest for several
generations. The danger increases with the area
cut every year. Certain forests there are, where the
mischief caused by such operations carried on during
a period of fifteen or twenty years, cannot now be
repaired before the lapse of a century and a half.
In a regularly worked high forest, on the other hand,
when the rotation has been judiciously chosen and
the blocks properly laid out, the damage caused by
faulty operations is necessarily limited in area.
Nothing short of the most careless thinnings can
destroy the future of a crop, and regeneration cut-
tings must be very badly executed indeed for natural
forces to be powerless to restock the ground with the
valuable indigenous species, a certain amount of
delay not exceeding a single period helping towards
this end. But it is to be hoped that the progress of
knowledge will continually decrease the frequency of
operations executed at hazard or under a fixed idea.
This leads us to recognise the necessity of first
improving, without changing, the system actually
176 ELEMENTS OF STLVICULTUEE.
applied to any given forest. Later on when circum-
stances favourable to saving present themselves, the
ultimate object in view should receive undivided
attention, that is to say, conversions, now rendered
easier by the improvement of the coppice, must be
taken in hand. Considering the vast extent of
woodland composed of coppice with standards, the
impossibility of undertaking the conversion of the
whole at once, and the fact that the operation of
conversion itself requires the continuance of coppice
in certain portions, this system will remain for a
long time to come the principal mode of growing
our forests. It cannot, therefore, be too carefully
studied.
CHAPTEB II.
EXAMPLE OF A CONVERSION AND THE CUL-
TURAL OPERATIONS IT NECESSITATES.
IT is beyond our scope, in a manual of sylviculture,
to discuss all the combinations of economic forestry,
by which a coppice is eventually converted into high
forest. Still as the purely cultural operations are
intimately connected with these combinations, it
is necessary to pass them in review by taking an
example representing the most general case.
Before proceeding further, it is necessary to lay
down certain points, which may almost be regarded
as axioms.
I. A conversion ought to be undertaken in the
most economical spirit. Natural reproduction,
EXAMPLE OF A CONVERSION. 177
therefore, is the only method to be adopted. As
reserves alone are capable of effecting this, it follows
that immediate regeneration ought to be eschewed,
unless the reserves are very numerous, and cover at
least two-thirds of the surface of the ground.
II. Experience has clearly proved that it is
absolutely impossible to turn to any account seed-
lings mixed with numerous coppice shoots, when
the area operated on is large. This is the greatest
difficulty of conversions. The only way to avoid it
is not to begin regeneration before the underwood
is too old to be able to produce strong and numerous
shoots (fifty years at the least). The observance of
this and the preceding conditions is of the utmost
necessity.
III. As the underwood of a coppice is derived
from stools and is often composed of inferior species,
it is liable to die early. There is frequently no
advantage in allowing such shoots to grow beyond
the point of time when the stools lose their vitality.
IV. This last consideration and the necessity of
not depriving the proprietor of nearly the totality
of his income, lead to the gradual and successive
conversion of the different parts of a working circle
and the temporary continuance of ooppice in those
whose turn comes last.
V. If the coppice to be converted into high forest
is simple, then it is better to begin by turning it
into coppice with standards and at the same time
lengthening the rotation.
VI. Similarly, if the coppice to be converted is
poor in reserves, it is better to continue the old
H
178 ELEMENTS OF STLVICULTUEE.
system for a time, and to increase the reserve by
leaving numerous standards.
These facts being assumed, let us suppose a
coppice hitherto worked with a rotation of thirty-
five years, and which is to be converted into high
forest.
It is necessary first of all to determine the length
of the regular (or normal) rotation to be applied to
the future high forest, to divide it into periods and
to define in the working circle an equal number of
blocks. The object of this is to ascertain in what
portion regeneration operations ought to be com-
menced, and therefore what portion should form
what is termed the first Block. Suppose the
rotation to be 180 years, and to be divided into five
periods of thirty-six years each.
If the first Block contains a numerous reserve, and
if, at the same time, the underwood is sufficiently
old for the purpose, regeneration operations may be
undertaken at once during the first period. During
this interval, the Block which is to be regenerated
during the second period, must be allowed to grow
on, and only improvement operations, cleanings,
and thinnings (usually termed cuttings preparatory
to regeneration, or simply preparatory cuttings)
must be made in it. The rest of the working
circle must be treated as coppice with standards,
cutting -^g- of the area annually. During the
second period, cleanings and early thinnings should
be made in the first Block, regeneration operations
executed in the second, preparatory cuttings in
the third, and copsing in the remaining two, and so
EXAMPLE OF A CONVERSION. 179
on. In this manner the conversion will be com-
pleted and the high forest regularly constituted by
the end of the rotation of 180 years.
If, on the contrary, the first Block does not
contain enough reserves, or if the underwood is
still young enough to send up abundant shoots, the
only proper remedy is to let the underwood grow on
till it is old enough to bear seed. In this case the
practice is to wait, usually for one period, before
beginning the conversion proper. In the mean-
while preparatory cuttings are made in what is
fixed upon as the first Block, and cuttings on the
system of coppice with standards are continued in
the rest of the working circle. At the expiration of
this period, we enter the first period of the rotation,
and must proceed as described above. In this way
a regular high forest will be constituted by the end
of 180 years plus the period of waiting.
The advantages of proceeding thus or in any other
similar manner are great and manifold: (i.) repro-
duction is obtained by means of self-sown seedlings ;
(ii.) shoots on stools are allowed the smallest chance
possible ; (iii.) we are not liable to be forced to keep
standing for too long a time crops that hold out no
promise ; (iv.) a considerable revenue is steadily
maintained during the whole interval occupied by
the conversion, and it always tends to increase-;
(v.) a regular high forest is constituted within the
shortest time possible; (vi.) and lastly, advantage
can be taken of the coppice exploitations to improve
the composition of the actual crops by an occasional
resort to artificial means [sowing and planting] .
180 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE.
To sum up, it has been observed that the cultural
operations in conversions consist of regeneration
cuttings, improvement cuttings (preparation for
conversion), and provisional copsing.
BEGENEKATION CUTTINGS. — We have already seen,
in discussing the treatment of high oak forests, that
the first regeneration cutting ought to be made close.
In the present case it ought even to be very close
so as to oppose one more obstacle to the probable
production of stool shoots. The best and largest
quantity of seed will be furnished by the standards ;
these must, therefore, be all preserved, unless they
are in full decay. They will seldom be numerous
enough to insure the requisite amount of shade, and
for this purpose it will be necessary to associate with
them a certain number of the finest poles of the
underwood. The isolation which the reserves have
undergone produces a large development of crown,
but on the other hand only a moderate length of
bole. Hence it will often be necessary to lop off low
branches, for the most part of beech and hornbeam.
As these trees are to be felled at the latest in the
final cutting, it is unnecessary to be over careful in
this operation. But the case is different with
oak. Those oak trees which are ripe for the axe
may be pruned according to the directions given in
a former chapter ; as for the rest, no live branch is
to suffer this mutilation. As a matter of course, it
is necessary to clear away the low vegetation which
may cover the ground and prevent the establishment
of a crop of seedlings.
The secondary cutting ought to be made with
EXAMPLE OF A CONVERSION. 181
caution, and generally in two instalments. It should
include all trees which exercise an injurious effect
on the seedlings, be they the old standards or the
poles spared from the last stool crops. Though lower,
the cover of these poles may be less hurtful than that
furnished by the dense and spreading crowns of old
beech trees. On the other hand, the cover of an old
oak is often less injurious than the less ample but
lower cover of young beech and hornbeam. This
cutting requires great prudence and savoir-faire.
Moreover, it is necessary to guard against the develop-
ment of shoots on the young stools ; this may be done
by being careful not to let in too much light. In spite
of the primary cutting having been made close, some
shoots may nevertheless have sprung up. These
shoots must be cut back when a year of abundant
seed presents itself; at the latest they must be cut
back at the time of making the secondary cutting.
The final cutting should be made in the same
manner as in high forests, that is to say, when the
seedlings form a thicket and have nothing to fear
from exposure to atmospheric influences. But here,
even more than in actually existing high forests,
there is every reason for reserving promising oak
trees, for the reserve contains second class standards
and young third class standards, which are still far
from being fit to fall. These ought not to be cut
except at the time of the successive coppice fellings,
and besides this, their immediate exploitation would
be little productive. Their number need not cause
any anxiety, since only those which seem promising
ought to be reserved, and such trees are but rarely
182 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUKE.
very numerous. Moreover, many must decay pre-
maturely, and the seedlings as a whole will have
little to fear from their reservation.
But there is another point to which it is proper to
call the reader's attention. Those oak trees, which
have grown in a state of isolation, and which, as they
were to be preserved, were not pruned in the primary
cutting, will have holes twenty to thirty feet long at
the utmost. When the young crop is high enough
to fill up the gaps between their crowns, and to form
with them an unbroken leaf-canopy, the lower
branches of these latter trees will necessarily die,
and hence it may be feared that diseases and faults
in the wood will be the consequence, But a little
reflection will soon show that this danger is more
imaginary than real. In the first place, so far as
third class standards are concerned, it will generally
be right to fell them at the moment this happens, for
a considerable number of years will have elapsed
since their preservation in the first regeneration cut-
ting ; and as for the second class standards it must
not be forgotten that if they belong to a block where
cuttings preparatory to regeneration have been made
they will have lived in complete leaf-canopy during a
space of sixty or seventy years. At the moment
they are isolated, they will naturally possess boles
long enough to have nothing to fear from being
pressed round on every side by the new growth.
The difficulty presents itself only when the regenera-
tion of the first block is undertaken immediately, and
never occurs afterwards.
It will lie with the executive officer to appreciate
EXAMPLE OF A CONVEESION. 183
the degree of promise held out by these second class
standards ; he will always remember that, if they
can maintain themselves through only a single period
they will be unquestionably much more useful than
they actually are.
As the young crops are gradually uncovered by the
final cuttings, nothing more is necessary than to
carry out the improvement cuttings prescribed for
high forests. Only there is occasion for still
greater care in making the cleanings, in order to
impede the development of stool shoots.
CUTTINGS PEEPAEATOEY TO BEGENEEATION. —
These cuttings are made in the block which is to
be regenerated during the following period. Their
object is to protect and assist seedlings of valuable
species which may exist in the underwood, and poles
which will be able to aid reproduction or be useful
in creating sufficient shade. Unless they are in full
decay, the old coppice standards should be preserved
in the preparatory cuttings. The only way to con-
tribute to the main end in view is to resort to a little
branch-lopping.
We have thus in reality to execute improvement
cuttings, at one time cleanings, at another time
thinnings, according to the age and composition of
the crops operated upon. But when they assume
the character of thinnings they ought to follow the
rules laid down for thinnings in a mixed crop, that is
to say, they may include poles that overtop others,
or are overtopped themselves, according as it is this
or that species which it is expedient to reserve.
These cuttings then are rather difficult to carry out,
184 ELEMENTS OP SYLVICULTURE.
and without breaking into the leaf-canopy, there must
occasionally be no hesitation in freely extricating
the crowns of oak trees. If there is a chance that
these oaks will be good enough to reserve after the
final cuttings, this operation will be a considerable
step towards the goal.
To obtain from preparatory cuttings all their use-
ful results, it is clearly necessary to repeat them
periodically like thinnings. Taking into considera-
tion the age of the crops operated upon, a periodicity
of from ten to twelve years appears highly suitable.
By this means the conditions will be easier for
distinguishing what is hurtful from what is still use-
ful, and the dangers resulting from an operation
carried out in too timid or in too rash a spirit will be
avoided. It will also furnish increased facilities for
selecting the standards to be preserved.
COPSING. — Coppice cuttings are continued in the
blocks which still have to wait more than one period
to reach their turn of regeneration. In these cuttings
the end to be kept in view ought to be the formation
of a numerous reserve composed of the most capable
subjects for seeding the ground at the desired
moment, consequently in those blocks whose turn
comes last, a large number of standards of the first
and second classes must be preserved. But this is
not a reason for felling third class standards before
they are mature. In the first place such a step
would be a loss as regards the utility of the produce,
and in the second place it must be borne in mind
that in all probability several successive coppice
cuttings will be executed before the moment for
EXAMPLE OF A CONVEESION. 185
regeneration arrives, and that hence it is wise to
distribute the produce among the different fellingr,
in order to avoid too great inequalities in the annual
yield. Lastly, if a numerous reserve of young plants
has been formed, the temporary preservation of a
few standards of the third class cannot present any
danger ; when they are ripe for the axe, their extrac-
tion will not compromise reproduction. It must be
clearly understood that the importance of preserving
these old standards has been urged chiefly with
reference to the species oak. As for beech it is
more advantageous to preserve first and second class
standards than old trees in these provisional coppice
cuttings.
Hence it may be asserted :
(I.) that in marking for reserves, while preserving
the largest number possible of first and second class
standards, the nearer the period of regeneration is,
the stronger reason there is for reserving old oak,
even if they are just beginning to decay ;
(II.) that if the young reserve is numerous in the
blocks which stand last in the order of regeneration,
of standards above the second class, only those
which are still really unfit to cut ought to be pre-
served.
In these coppice cuttings it is necessary to be very
careful not to omit the different accessory up-keep
operations, notably the pruning of first class stand-
ards to add to their length of bole, and cutting off epi-
cormic branches on oaks of all classes. Also advantage
should be taken, if it is necessary, to plant out a few
young oak, whether with the object of afterwards
186 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE.
utilising them in the formation of the reserve, or
simply considering them as an integral part of the
future reproduction according to the greater or less
interval of time that must elapse until the regenera-
tion is commenced.
In the portions of the forest in which copsing
will continue, provisionally of course, to be the mode
of felling, it is obvious that cleanings and thin-
nings cannot consistently be neglected. On the
contrary, these operations acquire here a high
importance. On them depends to a great extent the
success of the conversion. Bearing in mind that
oak cannot well be grown pure as high forest, one
must also be careful to set free at the same time
seedlings of the auxiliary species. The result will
be a proper mixture of trees which grow naturally
with the oak.
ANNUAL YIELD OF CONVERSIONS. — The cultural
operations required in conversions bear a striking
resemblance to those of high forest and coppice, and
this fact is enough to show that the annual yield of
the regeneration cuttings should be based on volume,
while for the preparatory and provisional coppice
cuttings, area should form the basis on which the
annual yield is fixed.
To sum up : the different cultural operations
required by a conversion, ought all to contribute in
effecting it as economically as possible. Conformably
with what has been already said in treating of high
forests, the end in view ought not to be the forma-
tion of entirely uniform crops, nor to sacrifice for
this uniformity trees whose preservation cannot
EXAMPLE OF A CONVEESION. 187
cause any real damage and which have everything
to gain by being left standing. Perfect uniformity
is besides undesirable. In the case of a portion
of forest which forms an unbroken leaf-canopy, it
is undoubtedly necessary to regenerate it, if the
majority of the trees are ripe for felling ; to let it
stand any longer would be running the risk of seeing
the timber going to decay. Hence the length of the
rotation should be so determined as to escape this
danger and to obtain timber of the size most generally
in demand. But it will never be long enough to
produce timber of the size required for certain special
purposes. This demand must be met by means of
trees selected from among the most vigorous and
allowed to grow on for another period or two.
Similarly, to obtain the largest sum of utility, those
trees should be re served which have not yet attained
the minimum girth desired, and of which a few can
perhaps live on to the end of the new rotation.
Thus understood, want of uniformity in a crop is
desirable in every respect. The forest is really
made to furnish the maximum of utility, and is all
the finer for it. We become more strongly attached
to it ; we raise in it true monuments depending
solely on natural forces, which we are not liable to
see multiplied to an abusive extent. Taking even
private forests, there is none in which the interest
of the proprietor should not make him preserve a
few large trees. Who has not seen a few large trees
suffice to increase very sensibly the value of a
cutting, which, without them, would never have
found purchasers, or would have sold for a mere
188 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
soiig ? Hence, without falling into exaggeration, we
need not fear a certain want of uniformity in the
crops, which, for all that, will not be the less
regular.
PAET V.
RULES FOR LOCATING CUTTINGS.
To locate a cutting means to mark out the limits
within which a felling is to be made. It is not an
indifferent matter where a cutting is located, for on
the order observed in this operation depend to a
certain extent the good condition and vegetation of
the subsequent crops. The main point, however, is
to protect all kinds of reserved trees against the
dangerous action of winds. Thus the rules which
form the subject of this chapter are applicable to all
kinds of cuttings, whether in high forest or in cop-
pice. These rules may be thus enunciated : —
(i.) In the same working circle the cuttings should
succeed each other in their order of date, and have
the most regular form possible.
(ii.) The cuttings ought to be so located that the
produce of an area in course of exploitation will not
have to be carried through portions recently cut.
(iii.) The cuttings ought to be located so as always
to march against the direction of dangerous winds.
For France this would, as a general rule, be froml
north-east to south-west. J
KULES FOR LOCATING CUTTINGS. 189
(iv.) In hill forests the cuttings should begin at
the bottom.
(v.) In hill forests, and in general where dangerous
winds prevail, a cutting ought to be long and narrow
in form, and have its longest side perpendicular to
the direction of the winds.X
These rules are not an of equal importance : the
first two are universally applicable, the remaining
three chiefly in mountainous districts, nor can they
all be observed at one and the same time. In each
case it is the duty of the forester first to appreciate
local conditions, and then to apply that rule which he
considers the most urgent, at the same time that he
provides against the dangers which might follow
from the non-observance of the rest. The reader
will best judge of the relative utility of these rules
by studying the reasons which have dictated them.
RULE I. — This rule is the most important of all,
not only on account of the object it endeavours di-
rectly to attain, but because the application of the
others is impossible without it. Taken by itself, it
contributes in the first place to obtain the best vege-
tation possible, for it is manifestly better that two
contiguous crops should be of nearly the same height ;
they enjoy thus all the advantages of an unbroken
leaf-canopy, and the lower crop has nothing to fear
from the immediate neighbourhood of the taller one.
When the different cuttings follow each other in
their order of date, the various crops which grow
upon them, rise insensibly one above the other from
the youngest to the oldest, without any one of them
hampering the free growth of its neighbour. On
190 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
the contrary when the cuttings are not located in
successive order, the younger crops get shut up, as
it were, in the midst of the older crops, and thus
suffer along their whole perimeter from the action
of cover. The mischief is all the greater, as the
perimeter of the cutting is more irregular, and
therefore longer ; for the width of the suffering belt
remains constant. In the second place, it is easy to
see that the damage caused to any part of the forest
by operations in an adjacent portion where fellings
are being made is less when the cuttings succeed
each other in order, and have a regular form.
Lastly it is the young crops which require the most
careful watching both as regards their vegetation or
the prevention of offences. This would be facilitated
in an eminent degree, if they were grouped together,
that is to say, if they followed each other in their
order of date.
Notwithstanding the great advantages which fol-
low from the observation of the first Eule, the actual
condition of our forests does not always admit of its
universal and strict application, at least in high
forests. It seldom happens that the different crops
succeed each other in order of their age. If we lo-
cated our cuttings according to the letter of the first
Kule we should be forced to introduce felling opera-
tions when they would be too early or too late, that
is to say, we should sacrifice the present or the
future without any compensating advantage. The
wiser course is to aim constantly at regularity, with-
out exposing ourselves to any great sacrifice. Pro-
vided the cuttings are located in regular order over a
RULES FOR LOCATING CUTTINGS. 191
sufficiently large area, 100 or 120 acres for instance,
the greater part of the evil described above will be
avoided, a result which ought to be considered quite
satisfactory enough for the time being. Later on
another step towards regularity ma/ be made, and
so on till a general regularity is attained ; but in
many forests it is hopeless to expect to arrive at this
regularity in a single rotation only.
KULE II.— Amongst the many dangers to which
young wood is subject, the most to be feared is that
which results from the carrying of the produce of
adjacent cuttings through it. Besides the damage
necessarily caused by opening out new roads, the
young crops are always in danger of being browsed
upon, as long as they are not high enough to be out
of the reach of the beasts of transport employed.
The extent of this mischief can easily be imagined
when we consider that the number of these roads
must be large, since, being situated on the bare soil
of the forest, they very soon become impracticable
and that, in addition to this, the produce of several
different cuttings is carried to the same point.
Hence each cutting ought to have, so far as possible
a separate system of transport roads ; and the estab-
lishment of good roads is one of the greatest improve
ments that can be made in a forest. The evil we
have referred to is still more to be dreaded in forests
of conifers, for the damage done to young trees
cannot be repaired by simply cutting them back, as
those species do not grow from the stool.
When firewood alone is concerned, men might be
employed to carry it out to certain places fixed be-
192 ELEMENTS OF STLVICULTUEE .
forehand, so as to restrict as much as possible the
passage of carts through the young crops. This
is obviously impossible in the case of large logs, the
only alternative here is to transport them by the
safest means that can be devised. On level or very
gently sloping ground, limbers consisting of high
wheels may be used with advantage. The log is sus-
pended by its middle or rather its centre of gravity
by means of a stout chain, while a man walking
behind prevents it from trailing along the ground.
By this method the only damage done is that caused
by the wheels, but the seedlings, which they bend
down, get straight again afterwards. The employ-
ment of limbers and horses may be avoided by using
portable square frames, standing from eight to twelve
inches above the ground, and fitted above with fixed
parallel rollers, working in sockets. The log to be
transported being placed on the rollers of two such
frames, it is pushed on to a third frame placed in
front, and so on.
RULE III. — The object of the third Rule is prin-
cipally to insure the preservation of reserved trees.
Its importance is considerable both in high forest
and coppice, in the first to obtain reproduction, in the
second to enable the different classes of reserves to
reach a ripe age. Reserves are chiefly exposed
to being uprooted or broken off by the wind, and
hence it is of the highest consequence to leave a
mass of old untouched forest between them and the
dangerous winds. By this means the wind simply
passes overhead without doing them any harm.
In France dangerous winds generally blow from the
RULES FOR LOCATING CUTTINGS. 193
south and west. They are violent and frequently
accompanied with heavy rain, which soaks the soil
and diminishes the stability of the trees. Hence
felling operations should begin from the north and
east. But local conditions may modify the general
rule. For instance on the Mediterranean coast be-
tween Beziers and the Spanish frontier, violent and
rain-bearing winds may blow from the east. Again
in certain valleys, the spur of a mountain or hill may
change the original direction of the wind. Such
circumstances must be taken into account in deter-
mining the direction in which the successive cuttings
ought to follow each other. In the absence of other
indications, it is always easy to ascertain for a given
locality the quarter from which dangerous winds
blow, by observing on what side trees He when they
are blown down.
When the cuttings reach the edge of the forest
struck directly by the wind, it is always necessary to
leave a protecting belt which must be constantly
kept well stocked and worked by selection. The
breadth of this belt will vary with the violence of the
wind, but under any circumstances to be of any real
use it can seldom be under 100 yards.
It may happen that owing to former exploitations
the oldest crop is situated exactly on the windward
side of the forest. In such a case felling operations
must of course be undertaken there, but nothing
prevents our observing the desired order over at leas
the area under this crop. And here again the neces-
sity presents itself of preserving on the selection
method a protecting band of sufficient breadth.
194 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
It is chiefly in mountainous regions, on the sea
coast, or on the edges of unsheltered plateaux, that
this rule must be rigidly followed. In the majority
of cases it loses its importance in the plains in those
forests where the oak is the dominant species.
Nevertheless it is always prudent to conform to it,
whenever the ages of the different crops are suffi-
ciently well graduated not to entail any serious
sacrifices.
Besides the reserves, the underwood also must be
taken into account. Though it has nothing to suffer
from the violence of the wind, still it has much to
fear from the cold dry winds which blow from the
north and east. This danger is most marked in the
north-east of France, especially on the unsheltered
plateau of the Ardennes. This is not, however, a
sufficient reason for changing the general direction
in which the cuttings ought to succeed each other,
It is quite enough to leave a belt on the north-east,
which should be worked by selection. Not being
exposed to violent wind, this belt may be narrower
than in the preceding case, thirty or forty yards for
instance.
KULE IV. — In a mountainous country it is the
higher parts which are exposed to the wind. The
trees there are generally shorter-boled, but more
spreading, more firmly rooted, and growing wider
apart than in the less elevated situations. Their
stability is therefore greater, and their presence is
a protection to the trees lower down, which, being
taller and less firmly rooted, could not stand without
some shelter. This consideration indicates sufficiently
BULES FOB LOCATING CUTTINGS. 195
clearly along what direction the regeneration cuttings
should be made. But on the other hand, self-sowing
will always be obtained more rapidly if the seeds
shed by the reserves of any one cutting are supple-
mented by other seeds coming from above.
Notwithstanding the advantages pointed out, the
fourth rule has often to be neglected, since it may
be opposed to the observation of the second. It is
obviously futile to regenerate the lower portions of
slopes, if the seedlings on them were subject to be
destroyed by the clearance of cuttings situated above.
Moreover, if the crops above contained mature tim-
ber, and those lower down growing timber, no one
would think of working the latter first.
Hence the first and most important thing to do in
a mountainous country is to lay out a good network
of roads, which will divide the slopes into parallel
zones and flank the cuttings on one side at least.
If the declivity is too rapid for cart roads, slides
may be constructed, and if this also is impracticable,
owing to material obstacles or steep inclines, shoots
might perhaps be made available.
However, when it is possible to observe the fourth
rule simultaneously with the second, there is every
advantage in doing so, and it ought to be done.
But if it be not possible to combine them, the second
rule ought to prevail, as being the more important
of the two ; and to avoid the dangers against which
Rule IV. provides, though the cuttings have to begin
&t the top, the more elevated portions, which afford
protection, should be left intact and be worked by
selection. It is impossible to indicate what amount
196 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
of protection is required in any special case. The
width of the belt worked by selection cannot but
vary with the height and form of the mountain. In
the case of mountains higher than the limit of forest
vegetation, the protecting belt should begin at least
200 yards below this line. If the summits them-
selves are wooded, the portion of forest treated by
the selection method ought to include them as well
as the higher slopes for a distance of from 100 to 150
yards. It is not always on the most elevated spots
that the force of the wind is greatest, for it is quite
as violent in the gorge formed by two contiguous
mountains and on the pass between them. Here
also the forest ought to be kept completely stocked,
and worked by selection. It is from having neg-
lected this precaution and the teaching of Rules III.
and IV. that we have to deplore the gradual and
complete denudation of large forest tracts. It is
now extremely difficult to restock these areas. Under
any circumstances restocking is very expensive, and
must often be effected with temporary species, it.
being impossible to introduce the permanent and
proper species of the locality at once.
RULE V. — It is obvious that if the longest
dimension of a cutting is perpendicular to the direc-
tion of dangerous winds, the winds soon blow over
it, and even if a few trees are broken or uprooted
they do not bring down others in their fall, as
would be the case if the wind blew in the direction
of the length of the cutting.
197
PART VI
GENERAL NOTIONS ON ARTIFICIAL
RESTOCKING.
CHAPTER I.
GENERALITIES. — In every rational method of
working a forest, reproduction ought to be the
result of the cuttings themselves. This is one of
the essential objects of the science and art of
sylviculture. Thus in the different kinds of high
forest, reproduction is obtained from seed shed by
the trees under conditions favourable to germination,
while in coppices it is obtained just as naturally by
means of the shoots principally, and secondarily by
means of the seeds furnished by the standards. But
whatever the precautions taken, in both descriptions
of forest there are often spots where seedlings do
not come up, or where stools die and leave blanks.
At other times it may happen that the reserve does
not contain a sufficient proportion of a given
species, a mixture of which is necessary, or that
this species has disappeared owing to indiscreet
operations, or the total absence of all operations.
In each of these different cases recourse must be
had to artificial means in order to restore the
good condition of the forest, or a satisfactory
composition of the crops. But such means ought to
198 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE.
be the exception, not the rule. It cannot become
general and take the place of natural methods. "We
have noticed the circumstances which justify it in our
summary of the treatment of forests of oak and of
Scotch fir. To abandon natural reproduction is
only to retrograde, to return to the infancy of the art ;
it is tantamount to claiming to supersede the forces
of nature ; above all it is simply wasting money
under the false idea of economy, only to arrive in
the end at results which are at the best doubtful.
Nevertheless, artificial restocking cannot be totally
proscribed. It forms the necessary complement of
natural regeneration, but it must remain only its
complement. Hence it is necessary for the forester
to know how to do it well. Besides this, it is the
only method of stocking extensive treeless wastes.
CHOICE OF SPECIES. — There can be no hesitation
in this choice, nor should it ever be allowed to
furnish an occasion for the indulgence of the fancy.
Thus the forester has to take into account the soil
and climate, so that he may not be guilty of planting
the peduncled oak on a dry soil, the silver fir in the
plains or in a southern aspect, the sweet chestnut in
calcareous soil, the cluster pine in a cold climate,
the beech in the plains of Provence, &c. Above all,
he must invariably avoid introducing exotic trees, as
if our native species could not furnish wood suitable
for every purpose. France is a miniature world,
where we find every kind of climate and soil with
its indigenous vegetation, which is not deficient
either in quality or variety.
But precisely because France presents such differ-
NOTIONS ON AETIFICIAL EESTOCKING. 199
ences of climate, care must be taken that each tree
is placed in its proper station. It is not enough
that it grows in France ; it should also be sponta-
neous in the district. For a long time people have
been vainly trying to acclimatise* plants, i.e. to
modify during successive generations the conditions
under which they thrive. This is nothing less than
a chimera ; and whatever may be the duration of the
experiment, whatever the appearances of success,
the cork oak will no more be acclimatised in the
Ardennes than the peduncled oak in Africa.
All that we can expect, is to naturalise* certain
plants which would find in France the same
conditions as where they are spontaneous. Still
naturalisation is seldom complete. Thus wheat, if
left to itself, would soon disappear in the midst of
indigenous grasses. The same is true of those trees,
of which the naturalisation would appear to be the
most nearly effected. The Eobinia (E. pseudo-
acacia), though it ripens its fruit, does not grow
from seed without cultivation, and can maintain
itself naturally only by means of shoots and suckers.
In the same way the plane tree, the Weymouth
pine, &c., would also disappear without the constant
intervention of man. In short, and we cannot
repeat it too often, why seek in foreign countries
* To acclimatise, means, as the author explains, to modify the
requirements of a plant, to create a variety capable of living under
any given conditions of soil and climate, which are hostile to the
original species ; to naturalise, signifies simply to adapt a species to
live away from its own habitat, in a locality, however, where it
finds the same conditions of vegetation. In both cases natural
reproduction by seed is an implied idea.
200 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE .
trees whose timber is inferior, or at the most
equal, to that produced at home? Experiments in
naturalisation must be restricted to ornamental
trees, and entirely excluded from forests grown with
a view to production.
Hence when it is necessary to have recourse to
artificial methods in order to refill blanks or restore
a species which has disappeared, or increase its
proportion in. the existing mixture, the forester must
confine himself to species spontaneous in the locality.
The same holds good in planting up large treeless
areas. In either case he must imitate what takes
place in nature. In the same district several species
of trees may be found, but they will not all demand
the same conditions of vegetation, nor will they all
possess the same constitution. A species which
to-day covers a wide area, has perhaps made its
appearance after, and in consequence of the pro-
tection of, hardier species, which have at the same
time improved the soil by their detritus. Here is a
lesson to learn from nature ; it is often absolutely
necessary to have recourse to plantations of the
Scotch or the Austrian pine* as nurses, in the very
home of the silver fir. In this manner the intro-
duction of this last tree becomes easier and surer.
It is advisable to operate thus even in creating a
new forest in the plains. If the oak requires but little
nursing, the trees, with which it ought to be asso-
ciated, cannot do without it. In this case, the
birch, the Scotch pine, and the cluster pine would
* The Austrian pine in calcareous, anl the Scotch pine in sandy
soils.
NOTIONS ON ARTIFICIAL RESTOCKING. 201
be extremely useful as nurses. Where the soil is
sufficiently wet, it is often very advantageous to
make at first a plantation of alder. Private pro-
prietors would thus find a means of rapidly recover-
ing their outlay, as the alder grows fast and shoots
up freely from the stool. But these trees, which
may not improperly be styled transitory species,
ought, as far as possible, to be themselves indigenous
in the district. In the absence of indigenous species
possessing some value, it it advisable to employ the
Scotch or the Austrian pine. The trees appear to
suffer less than any other from removal to different
conditions of vegetation. Of course brushwood, if
any comes up, should not be destroyed. In a word,
here as elsewhere, we must utilise the forces of nature.
CHOICE OF METHOD. — Which is preferable, to
plant or to sow ? This question has been very
hotly discussed, and yet is simple enough. It has
been said by some that nature only sows, and that
since we cannot do better than imitate her, we too
must sow. But they forgot that natural forces have
time on their side, and that they always operate
slowly and progressively. When a piece of land is
left to itself, it covers itself with such plants as the
soil can support. Grasses and weeds appear first ;
then brushwood, followed by shrubs ; then hardy
trees, which demand little from the soil, and suffer
nothing from complete exposure ; and last of all,
when the soil has become richer and moister, the
more valuable trees come up under the shelter of the
first, and maintain themselves by abundant seeding.
It is not possible for the forester to operate thus.
202 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
If he has to deal with a soil already sufficiently
deep and rich, and a hardy tree which requires no
nurses, he can obviously have recourse to sowing.
But there will always exist this capital difference,
that he cannot sow as abundantly as is done in
nature. Moreover, the seeds are exposed to many
dangers before their germination. Besides being
liable to rot or lose their germinative faculty, they
are liable to be destroyed by animals which feed on
them. Nor ought it to be forgotten that, in spite of
every care, these seeds are not placed in the same con-
ditions as those which are shed naturally by the trees.
For a long time it could with truth be said that
sowing was less expensive than planting, as it was
the practice to make use of old seedlings, and put
them out too close. But it is now an established
fact, that the younger the plants are, the greater are
the chances of success. With the exception of the
silver fir and the beech, which it is dangerous to
put out before the age of three or four years, all
forest trees, especially the pines and the spruce fir,
ought to be put out earlier, or, at the latest in their
third year. Certain considerations, which we shall
discuss further on, and which are entirely special,
can alone determine otherwise. In this manner the
rearing of the seedlings becomes easier, their putting
out less expensive, and ultimate success much more
certain. By employing only the number of seed-
lings necessary, planting can be made as cheap as,
and sometimes cheaper than, sowing. Moreover, if
care is taken that the plants are not put out before
the dangers which threatened them in the seed have
NOTIONS ON AETIFICIAL EE STOCKING. 203
ceased to exist, and if the operation is performed
with equal precautions, it will be easy to convince
one's self that, all things well considered, planting is
more expeditious, more certain in its results, and
more economical than sowing.
It is more expeditious, because, only plants of a
certain age being used, failure can be detected the
very first year, arid be thus repaired at once. In
sowing, on the other hand, success or failure cannot
be appreciated until after several years. Notably in
the case of the Scotch pine, many of the finest seed-
lings die from the disease termed defoliation between
their third and sixth year.
It is more certain, because in the first place the
success of sowing depends on the quality of the seed
used, and as in most cases this has to be purchased,
there is always the risk of obtaining seeds which are
old, rotten or dry, or gathered before they are ripe ;
and in the second place, if the seeds are good they
are liable not to germinate, or if they germinate to
be choked up in the midst of rank, herbaceous vegeta-
tion, &c., &c.
It is more economical, first, because, owing to
uncertainty about the quality of the seeds, more is
sown than is necessary, and if all these sprout, the
young plants come up sickly, in consequence of being
too close together ; and second, because, if there are
empty places, where the seed has failed, these must
be planted up, an operation, which from the blanks
being far apart, sometimes costs as much as the
previous sowing.
Notwithstanding the unquestionable superiority
204 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE
of planting, the method of sowing is not to be abso-
lutely proscribed. It may be used when seed is
abundant and cheap. It should even be preferred
to planting when there is a scarcity of labour, or
when the season favourable for planting operations
is short, or when the area to be planted up is large.
Besides the methods of planting and sowing,
artificial restocking may also be effected by means of
slips* and layers. A slip is a branch of a plant sepa-
rated from it and put into the ground in order to
promote the development of roots, and thus render
it an independent individual. A layer is a branch
which is bent and laid in the ground, but is not
separated from the parent stem, until it has thrown
out adventitious roots. But these methods, which
will be treated of further on, are- employed only
exceptionally.
SELECTION, HARVESTING AND PRESERVATION OF
SEEDS. — To have no doubt about the quality of the
seeds, they must be gathered personally and from
picked trees. Thus those trees ought to be preferred,
which are completely fertile, and at the same time
sound and vigorous. Very young trees furnish many
barren seeds, while very old ones yield seeds which
produce weak plants. Deformed trees also ought to
be avoided, as they give rise to defective varieties.
In a word, one cannot be too careful in the selection
of trees for seed-bearers. Unfortunately it is often
impossible to exercise complete supervision.
* The term in common use is " cutting ; " but as this word has
already been used for an operation, in the sense of " felling," we
have preferred the less familiar word " slip," believing that the
essence of a good terminology is the absence of all ambiguity.
NOTIONS ON AETIFICIAL RESTOCKING. 205
The method of harvesting must vary with the
species. For such trees as the oak, heech, &c.,
whose seed is heavy, we may wait until it falls off
naturally. But it is advisable to reject the first
seeds that fall, as they are generally barren, or punc-
tured by insects. To this end, it will be well to rake
up the leaves. and bad seed, just before the moment
of maturity arrives. We cannot, however, wait for
natural dissemination in the case of trees with light
seeds. They must be gathered by hand as soon as
they are ripe, and before they fall. The seed of the
conifers is also hand-gathered, the silver and spruce
firs immediately they are ripe in the autumn, pines
during autumn and winter, before the warm days in
spring come round again. We shall show later on
how the seeds are extracted from the cones.
Whatever the species, the seed must not be gath-
ered during rainy weather. If the seeds are heaped
up while wet they are apt to become heated. Even
when gathered on a dry day, they should not be
placed in a heap without being previously spread
out, and stirred about to remove their superfluous
moisture.
Nothing is more important than the preservation
of seeds, and yet nothing is sometimes more difficult.
Besides guarding against germination, they must be
prevented from fermenting, rotting, or drying up.
Seeds of some trees can under no circumstances be
kept, and should therefore be sown immediately
after being gathered. Such are the seeds of the
different elms, of the birch, alder, &c.
To prevent germination, it is sufficient to with-
206 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE .
hold one of the three necessary conditions, viz.,
oxygen, moisture and heat. But in doing so, other
dangers arise. Fermentation and rot can be pre-
vented by taking care not to place the seeds in high
heaps, and above all by being careful, as soon as they
are gathered, to spread them out in a well-aired
place, and to stir them about once a day for a fort-
night. At the same time they must not be allowed
to dry too much ; to that end they should be kept in
a place which is cool without being damp. The
seed of conifers can be preserved for more than a
year by leaving them in the cones, which must not
be piled up too high, and which must be stirred
about from time to time. But seeds which have
been kept for more than a year are never trust-
worthy : many lose their germinative power, or do
not germinate until a year after being put into the
ground. Moreover, it is worthy of remark that
plants grown from old seeds are weakly and usually
of no promise.
We have seen from the above considerations that
it is always better to sow seed as soon as it is
gathered. But this can seldom be done, as in that
case a large quantity must be used to make allow-
ance for the numerous causes of destruction; and the
price of seed forms a heavy item of expenditure.
This again is another argument in favour of plan-
tations, for then the young plants are brought up in
nurseries, a circumstance which diminishes to an
extraordinary extent the quantity of seed necessary,
and it is always easier to preserve a small quantity.
According to the kind of tree different methods
NOTIONS ON AETIF1CIAL RESTOCKING. 207
have been prescribed for the preservation of seed.
The following are to be preferred. Large seeds like
the acorn, chestnut and beech-nut, cannot be kept
longer than from autumn to the following spring.
If the quantity is small, they may, after being spread
out and stirred about for a fortnight, be placed in
layers three to four inches deep between alternate
layers of pure and perfectly dry sand, or of straw.
They are thus put away in cellars in chests or
barrels supported on trestles. If the quantity is
large, they may be kept in the same manner in pits
dug in a dry soil and built round with masonry to
keep out mice. When the quantity is considerable,
the best course is to lay the seeds out in a heap four
to eight inches high, to stir them about now and
then, and cover them up with dry straw to keep out
frost. Immersion in water is often impracticable
and yields only indifferent results ; it is entirely
unsuited for the beech-nut.
At the moment of sowing, one can judge if the
seeds are still good, by examining whether the
kernel fills its shell completely, whether it is still
white and fresh, whether the germ is still sound,
whether there is no mouldy smell, and, in the case
of the beech-nut, whether it has preserved its agree-
able taste, resembling slightly that of the hazel-nut.
Seeds ought not to be rejected if the rootlet has
begun to develop itself, or even if it is broken.
The hornbeam and ash do not generally germinate
until the second spring after their fall ; these seeds
are liable to dry up. As these two species strongly
object to herbaceous vegetation, and delight in very
208 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
moist and even wet soils, it is impossible to sow
them directly in the forest. They keep well enough
when placed in holes of little depth dug in the
ground, and covered over with earth. They may be
left thus until the second spring. Hornbeam seeds
are still good, if the kernel is white and moist ; seeds
of the ash ought to retain their bluish tint and the
consistency of pure wax.
Maple seeds are also liable to dry up ; hence they
ought to be kept in a cool place, which is not wet,
and they must not be heaped too high. On ex-
amining the kernel, it is not enough to find the
characteristic green colour, because this remains
even after the seed is quite dry ; the kernel must
also show traces of moisture when crushed.
We have already seen that it is impossible to keep
the seeds of the elm. This is no inconvenience,
because they ripen about the end of May or begin-
ning of June. Also, when sown immediately, they
germinate the same year ; only by reason of the heat
of the season, it is good to shelter the seedlings
during the first few months.
Among conifer seeds, those of the silver fir require
great care. They must be handled as little as
possible, their wings should be preserved, and they
must be gathered near the spots to be sown. In
years of abundant seed, when they cost little, it is
even preferable to sow them immediately after being
gathered. They cannot, indeed, like other conifer
seeds, be kept in the cone, since the scaly bracts
break off at the moment of maturity and fall with
the seede.
NOTIONS ON ABTIFICIAL EE STOCKING. 209
CHAPTEE II.
PLANTING. — Must natural seedlings obtained from
the forest be used, or is it better to bring up the
plants in a nursery ? The answer admits of no hesi-
tation. In a nursery the soil is prepared by cultiva-
tion; the roots therefore develop rapidly, and a
seedling can never have too many roots to succeed.
The extraction of the plant is more easy, and the
fibrous roots do not require such careful handling.
The taproot, which in certain species is very long,
can be shortened either at the time of transplanting
in the nursery itself, or by cutting it off in situ.
By this means the roots gain a lateral development,
and do not sink deep ; hence smaller holes are
necessary, and the operation of putting out is done
better and more rapidly. Lastly, it is in nurseries
alone, and after special care, that we can obtain
vigorous young plants.
Nevertheless, in the absence of nurseries young
seedlings from the forest may be used. Those are
to be preferred which have grown in open places
and not too thick together. Such plants have a
better developed crown and stronger and more nume-
rous lateral roots. In the case of broad-leaved trees
stunted plants are the best ; they possess well de-
veloped roots, while- the form of their crown is of
no consequence, since they may be cut back on being
planted. Those seedlings which are drawn up, and are
p
210 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE.
as yet branchless, have generally a single long root,
of which a considerable portion is left in the ground,
or is necessarily lopped off ; they succeed with diffi-
culty unless they are not more than two years old.
As for conifers, with the sole exception of the silver
fir, which cannot stand transplanting before the age
of three years, the younger the plants are the better.
NUESEEIES. — The first question to settle is that
of site. It is not necessary to establish a nursery in
the forest itself under the pretext that the young
plants will suffer less by remaining in the same soil.
Whatever the soil into which they are ultimately to
be put out, the nursery should be situated in deep
soil of good quality, on horizontal, or rather slightly
inclined ground, sheltered, but not entirely so, and
in the proximity of a spring or stream if that is
possible.
In deep soil of good quality the seedlings will be
vigorous and well furnished with roots, and will,
therefore, evidently resist the risks that attend the
operation of putting out better than others. The
mineral composition of the soil is of little importance
because in a nursery it is modified by the mould or
manure put into it. Nevertheless sandy loam is to
be preferred. The ground must be slightly inclined,
to avoid an excess of moisture, but not too much so,
in order to escape the opposite extreme. An eastern
or south-eastern aspect is the best, because there
the season of vegetation does not begin early, and
there is less danger of late frosts. A nursery must
not be placed in the midst of a lofty mass of forest ;
for being shut up on every side, the air circulates
NOTIONS ON ARTIFICIAL BESTOCKING. 211
there with difficulty, a circumstance favourable to
frosts. Lastly, it is a great convenience during
drought to have a spring or streamlet near at hand
from which to water the seedlings.
The site once fixed, the area of the nursery is
determined by the object for which it is wanted. If
it is to be a permanent one, it should be made pretty
large. A single nursery is better than several small
ones ; it is better looked after, especially if it is
placed next to a forester's house. But it must not
be so large as to render supervision difficult, and it
is advisable not to let it exceed five acres. If only
temporary nurseries are required, they may be small
and their number increased as wanted. No manure
is used in such nurseries, the mould contained in
the soil being sufficient (for all purposes. In the
majority of cases no clearing is made ; the nurseries
are established in glades or blanks near the spot to
be planted.
It is always advantageous to fence in a nursery.
This is indispensable for a permanent nursery, and
for those in which acorns or beech-nuts are sown,
to protect them against wild pig. The attacks of
the small rodents can be avoided by sowing late in
the spring, just before the season of germination.
As for birds, so fond of conifer seeds, there is no
other way of keeping them off than by posting a
watcher armed with a gun to scare them.
Before sowing a nursery, the soil must be culti-
vated and that too, deeply, in order to render it
light ; at the same time it must be freed from stones.
But in turning up the soil care must be taken not
212 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE .
to bring the subsoil to the surface ; for not having
undergone weather influences, it does not contain
elements capable of assimilation. Deep cultivation
is justified by the fact that it admits air into the soil,
causes the roots to develop rapidly, and while per-
mitting the infiltration of rain-water, opposes
drought. This is a fact proved by experience, and
the reason of it is, moreover, clear.
If this turning up of the soil produces more
vigorous seedlings, it presents, on the other hand,
the danger of favouring equally the development of
herbaceous vegetation. For this reason it is pru-
dent to obtain previously one or two agricultural
crops, preference being given to plants which require
hoeing and weeding, such as the potato, Indian
corn, &c. Afterwards only should plots be laid out
to receive forest seeds.
To this end the nursery is divided off into beds
running in the direction of the slope of the ground.
They are given an average breadth of three feet, and
are separated by paths one foot wide. Lastly, the
paths are made to terminate on roads which divide
the nursery into compartments. The seed is sown
in the beds either broadcast or in furrows. The
former method may be adopted when the seedlings
are to be transplanted into nursery lines before
being finally put out, or are to be put out in patches
of several together at the age of one year. But it is
nearly always preferable to sow in trenches or
furrows running parallel to the width of the beds.
For large seeds these trenches are made with the
spade. For small seeds, and generally for those
NOTIONS ON ARTIFICIAL RESTOCKING. 213
of conifers, it is better to make them with a plank
as follows. After having well broken up the soil at
the surface and made it even with a rake, the
nurseryman places this plank on the ground; it
should be pretty thick, about ten inches broad, and
fitted on the under side with two parallel bars
hollowed out in the shape of a gutter. By treading
on the plank or otherwise pressing it down, the bars
are forced into the ground. On taking up the plank
two trenches are seen, each consisting of two furrows
separated by a slight ridge. The seed is sown along
the top of the ridge, and falls down on each side into
the furrows. Nothing more now remains to be done
but to cover the seeds over with mould or fine earth
of good quality.
The advantage of this method consists in a great
saving of seed and its regular distribution. The
young plants springing up in one line, do not inter-
fere with one another, and develop freely on each
side. In sowing broadcast or in slightly wide
trenches, the inside plants soon begin to suffer,
especially if the seeds have been sown thick. A
large number remain sickly, and are fit to use only
after transplanting. Hence when the plank is not
employed, it is expedient to make the trenches
narrow, to leave a space of four to six inches between
two consecutive trenches, and to sow the seed in a
single row in such a manner that they may touch
one another if large or be a few millimetres apart if
they are small.
With the exception of seeds very difficult of
^preservation, such as those of elm, birch, alder,
214 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTTJKE.
poplar, and willow, which ought to be sown as soon
as they are gathered, the most favourable season for
sowing is spring time. It is even necessary to sow
a little late to escape the action of frost ; the end
of April or the beginning of May is best snited for
the greater portion of France. But in that case
there is the danger of drought and the heat which
ordinarily follows the equinoctial showers. The
seeds, therefore, for want of sufficient moisture,
may not germinate. This is remedied by soaking
them in water, or still better in. liquid manure. The
length of immersion varies with the size of the seeds
and the hardness of their pericarp, and ought to
last from twelve hours to several days. Larch
requires the longest soaking. By this means the
seeds absorb the moisture necessary for their
germination, and under the influence of the first
few warm days they germinate at once. The prin-
cipal causes of destruction are thus averted, viz.
animals and extremes of the weather.
It is very difficult to state precisely the quantity
of seed to be used in a nursery. It depends above
all on their quality and also on the age at which the
seedlings are to be put out. If one year old seed-
lings are wanted or if the seedlings are transplanted
into nursery lines, the seed may be sown pretty
thick ; in other words, the young plants may be
allowed almost to touch one another. If the plank is
used or if the seed is sown in similar narrow trenches,
a row of three feet long would contain from one hun-
dred to two hundred seedlings. Thus, if the seed is of
average quality, i. e. if two-thirds are good, it would
NOTIONS ON AETIFICIAL EE STOCKING.
215
be necessary to sow from 1 50 to 300 seeds for the same
length. Hence it appears convenient to ascertain
the number of seeds contained in a certain weight
or volume. Experiments made at the nursery of la
belle Fontaine near Nancy have yielded the following
results : —
TREE.
Volume.
Weight.
oz. avoir.
Number of
Seeds.
Scotch Pine without the wings
1 gallon
82
319,500
Austrian „ „
M
84
113,000
Cluster „ „
}J
96
59,900
Weymouth „ „
n
66
113,400
Silver Fir „
46
40,000
Spruce „ „
5J
90
310,500
Larch „
78
279,000
As these seeds are generally sold by weight it
follows that —
1 pound of Scotch Pine seed contains 62,500 seeds.
„ Austrian „ „ 21,500 „
„ „ Cluster „ „ 9,800 „
„ „ Weymouth „ „ 27,500 „
„ „ Silver fir „ 13,900 „
„ „ Spruce „ „ 55,200 „
„ „ Larch „ 57,200 „
To this list may be added the hornbeam, of which
one pound without the involucre contains from eleven
to fourteen thousand seeds.
Beech-nuts and acorns are usually sold by the
bushel. A bushel of the former weighs on an
average from thirty-four to thirty- six pounds, and
contains about 51,000 to 55,000 seeds. As for
acorns, they vary so much in size that it is difficult
to lay down any rule for them. The peduncled
216 ELEMENTS OF SYLYICULTUEE.
oak, whose vegetation in good soil is rather more
regular than that of the sessile-flowered variety, yields
for a bushel a weight of from 40 to 48 pounds and
8,000 to 9,500 acorns.
These are obviously only general indications, which
must be modified, according to circumstances, by the
means of supervision available, and by the dangers
and enemies to which seedlings are exposed at the
moment of germination.
When the seeds have been scattered, they are
covered over with just enough earth to protect them
from birds and to prevent the rain from laying them
bare . For this purpose mould prepared in the nursery
itself, or very fine earth, is used with advantage. A
covering of a third of an inch is the best for small
seeds such as those of the spruce fir, Scotch pine, &c.
For the larger seeds, such as the acorn or beech-nut,
or for those which have a woody pericarp, like the
hornbeam, drought must be provided against, and
hence it is expedient to go as far as one inch.
It is sometimes prudent to shelter the young
plants at the moment of germination and against
drought during the first year. Twigs laid flat on
the ground or stuck in between the trenches answer
well. It is above all shelter rather than cover that
is needed, and consequently the nurseryman will
avoid the constant use of thatch supported horizon-
tally at a certain height on pegs. Broom, furze, and
branches of the conifers are very convenient for this
purpose. For a long time it was believed impossible
to raise beech and silver fir in open nurseries on
account of the delicate constitution of the young
NOTIONS ON ARTIFICIAL BE STOCKING. 217
plants of these species. It had nevertheless been
remarked that beech seedlings taken from the forest
at the moment of germination, could be transplanted
in an open place, provided they were put into the
ground up to the cotyledonary leaves. The fact is,
that it is the young stalk which is the most sensitive
part. Hence a new plan has been devised for these
species. Narrow trenches are dug and the earth
heaped up on the edges, so that the trenches have a
depth of about four inches. The seed is sown at
the bottom, and as the young plants grow up, the
earth is put back into the trench till .the ground
becomes level. This plan has never failed, especially
when care has been taken to dig the trenches east
and west, so as to shelter the seedlings on the south
side.
The soil of the nursery becomes rapidly exhausted,
since it no longer receives the dead leaves or the
constant shelter which the leaf-canopy formerly
supplied. Moreover, it becomes poorer in the
inorganic elements of the young plants. It is there-
fore necessary by fresh manuring to give back what
it has lost. These manures may be either farmyard
refuse or guano or soluble salts, but in the majority
of instances, mould prepared expressly in a corner of
; he nursery is used. For this purpose leaves and
herbaceous plants are collected and heaped up after
being mixed with fine earth, and the whole is
sprinkled from time to time with water or still better
with liquid manure. This mould is used especially
in covering up seeds. If there is no mould available
and the nursery is to be maintained in the same
218 ELEMENTS OF STLVICULT DEE .
place, it becomes indispensable to let the land lie
fallow, and to have it dug over several times during
this interval. In this way a third or fourth of the
whole area is allowed rest every year.
When the nursery has been thus prepared and
the seeds have germinated (this takes place before
many days are over, if the seeds have been first
soaked in water or liquid manure) certain operations
become necessary for the well-being of the young
plants. These are watering, earthing up, weeding,
and hoeing.
Watering must be sparingly resorted to, unless it
is effected with a forcing pump whose spout is
furnished with a rose. In that case the water
reaches the ground in fine drops, that soak in at
once. When ordinary garden pumps are used, the
water forms mud with the uppermost layer of the
ground, and thus a superficial crust, impermeable to
air, is created. Besides this, this watering must be
continued till the first shower of rain restores the
ground to its original condition, unless the crust is
in the mean while broken by light hoeing. Whether
ordinary garden pumps or forcing pumps are em-
ployed, the water ought to penetrate as far as the
roots to produce any useful effect.
If it has been possible to establish the nursery in
the proximity, and a little below the level, of a
spring, the best plan is to irrigate. For that pur-
pose the footpaths which separate the beds ought to
be horizontal and slightly lower than the trenches.
Water is introduced into these footpaths and retained
there by means of little dams till the ground is well
NOTIONS ON AETIFICIAL EESTOCKING. 219
soaked. In this manner the surface is never washed
away and the permeability of the soil is constantly
maintained.
As in the cultivated portion of a nursery, the soil
is thoroughly loosened, a consequent subsidence of
the ground cannot be avoided, by which the seedlings
may be laid bare as low down as the roots. The
same result may be produced by frost. To remedy
this evil it is sufficient to spread mould or very fine
earth until the plants are covered as high as before.
In light or limestone soils this laying bare of the
seedlings by the frost is often fatal, and the best
plan to avoid it is to place straw or dry leaves on the
trenches at the beginning of winter. This bedding
is removed in the spring after the frosts are over.
The operation of weeding consists in the removal
of the herbaceous vegetation that may have come
up along with the seedlings. Grasses are dangerous
because they grow more rapidly than the latter, their
tufted roots take complete possession of the ground
and their stalks form a close, and therefore all the
more harmful, cover. When the term of their
maturity arrives, they seed abundantly. After the
season of vegetation is over, they lie on the young
plants and smother them. Hence they should be
got rid of as soon as they make their appearance,
and especially in rich or moist soils.
If the soil of the nursery has been previously
prepared by a crop of plants which require weeding
(such as the potato, Indian corn, &c.) there is little
to fear on this score during the first year. The
danger is still further diminished if the trenches are
220 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE.
close together, for then the seedlings soon cover the
whole ground. But whatever the precautions taken,
grass cannot always be kept down ; it must be plucked
out with the hand, the operation being facilitated by
making the beds narrow, in order that the weeder
may reach the middle without leaving the footpath.
Even if no grass comes up in the trenches among
the seedlings, it is always necessary to remove that
which grows on the paths and roads in the nursery.
This must be done at the latest before the seeds
ripen. All the stuff obtained from weeding should
be collected to prepare the mould already mentioned.
Hoeing is an operation by which the soil is
loosened at the surface, being a species of second
working up to which it is subjected. It is not
always resorted to in nurseries, and has its raison
d'etre only when it is proposed to raise plants of
some size. In this case of course, it is necessary to
increase the distance between them, and give them
more free room by transplanting them. The ground,
being then no longer completely covered, becomes
hard, and may be overgrown with grass. This is
the time for hoeing, by which the soil is broken up
and at the same time freed from grass. It has
sometimes been said that the hoe should not be
used during drought. Experience, however, proves
otherwise by showing that a well-loosened soil dries
to a less depth and condenses more dew than the
same soil in a hard and compact state. This is
equivalent to saying that hoeing done at the right
moment is as good as watering.
Seedlings are divided into three classes according
NOTIONS ON AETIFICIAL RESTOCKING. 221
to their size : (i) small, (ii) medium, (iii) tall. The
first class comprises all those below three feet in
height ; the second those between three and six
feet ; the third those above six feet. Small plants
ought always to be preferred, unless special circum-
stances preclude their use ; success is more certain
with them. The success of a plantation depends
chiefly on the condition of the seedlings, which can
never have too many roots ; now it is impossible to
extract a plant of some size without leaving a con-
siderable portion of the roots behind in the ground,
and the older the plant, the greater will be the
number thus left. Hence it is recommended to use
seedlings of one, two, or at the most three years for
nearly every species. Medium and tall seedlings
should be employed only in restoring a species where
other seedlings already exist, or in wet places where
tall grass is to be feared, or finally when it is pro-
posed to grow pollards and those special trees of
which nearly all the branches are lopped off.
If the seedlings used belong to the smallest
category, and have been raised in the nursery in
furrows or narrow trenches, they are put out directly.
But if they have been sown broadcast, or in trenches
from ten to twelve inches wide, and are to be put
out only in their third year or so, those in the
middle are often weakly and ill-supplied with roots
and foliage. Putting them out directly from the
seed-bed would result in almost certain failure. It
is better in this case to transplant them in nursery
lines, giving each a clear space of about four inches
in every direction. The soil being first well loosened,
222 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
the seedlings are put into the nursery lines either
with the hand or with the aid of a frame, constructed
as follows : — the frame is of wood, oblong in shape,
and of the same width as the bed to be planted up.
Small notches are cut in two opposite sides at
intervals equal to the distance proposed between
two consecutive plants, and large enough to receive
a movable flat bar. This bar contains slits or
openings in which the seedlings can be moved about
freely. To set to work, the frame is placed on the
bed, and a trench is opened of which one side is
vertical. A seedling is passed through each slit in
the flat bar, which is then placed over the trench
and supported on two opposite notches in the frame,
and earth is heaped up against the roots of the
seedlings. To render the operation expeditious, this
earth is obtained by hollowing out the trench to be
planted next, so that a second trench is ready as
soon as the first is filled. The nurseryman proceeds
thus until the whole length of the frame is planted
up, and so on with the remaining beds.
The raising of seedlings of the other two classes
also involves the necessity of transplanting. Tall
seedlings ought even to be transplanted several
times, increasing the interval between two con-
secutive plants at each operation; but they ought
always to be near enough to close up their crowns
and allow the lower branches to fall off naturally
without necessitating pruning.
At the time of transplanting or trenching it is
essential to make a clean section of such roots as
are broken or damaged. Even if the roots are intact
NOTIONS ON ARTIFICIAL BE STOCKING. 223
it is necessary to cut off a portion of the tap-root in
the case of species in which it is long. The object
in view is to provoke the development of lateral
roots which present themselves on a swelling round
the section. These lateral roots being nearer the
surface, are easy of extraction and require smaller
holes when put out. Certain species, such as oak and
even the beech, develop a strong tap-root from the
first year, which it is impossible to pull up without
breaking. Moreover, the preservation of the tap-root
would require too deep a hole at the moment of trans-
planting. Besides this, the tap-root remains for some
time the sole root of the seedling, or presents only few
and insufficient rootlets. This is a circumstance un-
favourable to the success of the transplants. It is
remedied, when the seedlings are not removed into
nursery lines, by cutting off the tap-root in situ
underground. For this purpose a spade is employed
the bade of which is flat and about twenty inches
long, terminates in an oblique edge, and makes a
certain angle with the handle. The instrument
ought to be strong, sharp, and of good steel. The
seedlings having been sown in narrow trenches,
the spade is pushed into the ground on either
side of each trench, so as to cut off a portion of the
roots of every plant. The notches made by the
implement are pressed down with the foot. This
operation is generally performed in the autumn of
the first year, and from the very commencement
of spring, numerous lateral roots, are observed to
develop all round the section. Unfortunately this
implement cannot be used in all soils ; thus stones
224 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
in the soil destroy the edge, and prevent it from
penetrating; too stiff a soil clogs the blade, and
renders it necessary to dip it each time in water ;
when the soil is very light, the young plants are
pushed forward along with their roots, against
which the spade strikes without cutting them.
When it is required to extract the seedlings "before
putting them out, every precaution possible ought to
be taken to . keep the roots intact. In the case of
tall plants, they must be taken out one by one:
To that end, by means of a spade, a circle should be
traced round each plant, large enough to avoid the
lateral roots. They should then be dug away, care
being taken not to damage the fibrous roots ; when
a sufficiently deep hole has been made, the tap-root
must be cut through obliquely. If the seedlings are
small and have been raised in parallel trenches or
furrows, the best plan is to make a small trench of
sufficient width alongside the outer edge of the first
one of all, and then to tilt over the seedlings into it
with a spade pushed into the ground on the other
side. This being done, the soil adhering to the roots
is gently shaken off with the hand. Lastly, in the
case of one-year-old conifers, the seed-bed may be
cut up into sods like turf ; the young plants are
separated only at the moment of planting.
The seedlings ought to be used as soon as possible
after their extraction ; but this cannot always be
done, for nurseries are sometimes at a considerable
distance from the spots to be planted up. In that
case, immediately after their arrival, they should be
unbound and put into a trench without being packed
NOTIONS ON AETIFICIAL EE STOCKING. 225
too close together; such, roots as show signs of
mouldiness should he removed, and the whole must
then be covered with fine earth. In this case, more-
over, the plants are extracted only at the moment
of despatch, and put up in loose tufts, the roots
being enveloped in moss. Sometimes when the
transport is long, the roots are still further protected
from contact with the air by plunging them in thin
mud, composed of clay and water.
PLANTING, PEOPEELY SO-CALLED, OE PUTTING OUT.
— The first question which presents itself is " what
is the most favourable season for planting ? "
Except in the case of planting out in sods (like turf)
in which the roots remain entire, it is undeniable
that the operation ought to be done while vegetation
is active. During the remainder of the year, it is
evident that the season of frosts is highly unfavour-
able. There is therefore no choice left but between
autumn and the beginning of spring. If it be
remembered that the welfare of the plants depends
on the state of the roots, it is at once seen that
autumn is to be preferred to spring. The drought
which follows -the vernal equinox exposes the fibrous
roots to dry up rapidly. Now the fibrous roots, in
other words, the finest extremities of the roots,
constitute the organs of absorption, and their
entireness is the first condition of success. More-
over, in the case of seedlings a little old, the alternance
of frost and rain, which characterises the close of the
season of vegetation, produces complete contact
between the roots and the soil. But on the other
hand, when seedlings are put out quite young, frost,
Q
226 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE.
by causing the soil to expand, compels them to fol-
low the upward movement, and when thaw sets in,
the young plants run the danger of having their roots
laid bare. It cannot therefore be laid down as an in-
variable dictum that autumn is preferable to spring
or vice versa. The question is entirely one of local
conditions. Besides, this choice does not always exist,
and if large areas are to be planted up, there is no
alternative but to distribute the work between the
two seasons. The essential thing is to plant carefully.
To that end the forester must first occupy himself
with pit-making, the interval to be left between the
pits, the pruning of the seedlings, and putting
them into the ground. In the second place, he
must examine the different methods of planting.
The pits ought to be deep enough to enable the
plants, with all their roots, to be put into the ground
in perfect freedom, and as low down as they were
before. As for tall seedlings, for which large holes
are of course necessary, it is an advantage to separate
the different layers of soil, so that the best may be
put in immediate contact with the roots. But what-
ever the class of plants used, it is always better to
prepare the pits before they are wanted, in order to
loosen the soil and subject it to the action of the
atmosphere. Moreover, the work is done more
* Three primcipal results follow from exposure to the air, of which
two are chemical and the third physical. They are as follows :
1. Formation of ammonia, and of nitrous and nitric acid, known
technically as nitrification of the soil.
2. Transformation of insoluble into soluble substances ; thus carbonate
of lime which is insoluble is changed into bicarbonate of lime which is
soluble, the decomposition of vegetable detritus is facilitated, &c.
3. (Partly a consequence of 2.) The cohesion of the soil is diminished .
NOTIONS ON ARTIFICIAL RESTOCKING. 2'27
systematically and economically, if the attention is
given solely and exclusively, first to pitting and then
to putting the plants into the ground.
The principle to act upon is to plant as economic-
ally as possible, and at the same time with all the
necessary precautions. This amounts to saying that
the number of holes should be just large enough to
enable the plants to form leaf-canopy in a reasonably
short space of time. It depends then on the rapidity
with which the species grows and quality of the
seedlings. Generally speaking an interval of from
three to six feet is the best for small seedlings.
This distance may be increased, if the area to be
planted up is very large, and nature is left to fill up
the intervals with any species whatever. It should
be clearly understood that we have been speaking of
complete blanks. When the object in view is only
to restore a species in a mixture of other trees, it
is enough to plant twelve to twenty feet apart.
We have seen that seedlings, and especially their
roots, ought to be entire as far as it is practicable ;
and in this respect the utmost precautions ought to
be used in their extraction and transport from the
nursery. This condition is fulfilled easily enough
with very young plants ; hence these may be used
without undergoing any kind of preliminary prun-
ing. Such a proceeding is even indispensable with
conifers, as they cannot be cut back, and have much
to fear from wounds in the portion above ground.
In the case of broad-leaved trees, if the roots have
been damaged, the defective portions may be cut off
clean and obliquely ; and if the remaining roots are
'228 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
insufficient to feed the leafy portion, this defect is
easily remedied by cutting back the latter close to
the ground. The shoots which then come up are
the direct result of the vegetative force of the roots,
and equilibrium is established between the two by
the end of the first year. Among these shoots only
one can survive on such a small stool, so that cutting
back is no obstacle to the creation of high forest.
More frequently when the seedlings have been raised
in nursery lines, or when the tap-root has been
shortened in situ, convenient roots will have de-
veloped themselves, which may be extracted entire.
This is no longer the case, when one has to deal
with tall seedlings. Do what one can, there are
always broken roots which must be amputated, and
vegetative equilibrium can only be established by
cutting back the portion above ground. The only
thing necessary to bear in mind is that it is better
to have too many roots than to have too few.
Similarly too much care cannot be used in put-
ting the seedlings into the ground. The roots
should be placed in their natural position, in which
they previously were. This is especially necessary
in the case of plants already of some size. With
them the roots, after being properly arranged, ought
to be covered over carefully with the best layer of
soil dug up, with that which has been subjected
longest to weather influences. It ought to be
broken up fine, so as to allow it to fill up all the
interstices between the roots. At the same time it
must not be pressed down too tight under the
pretence of producing a more complete contact :
NOTIONS ON ARTIFICIAL RESTOCKING. 229
this is only a question of time. The remaining
earth should then be thrown in. Less precaution is
necessary for small seedlings. Frequently it is
sufficient to hold the plant with one hand against
one side of the pit, while with the other hand the
roots are covered up. When the ground permits of
it, nothing more need be done than plough up
furrows at the distances required, and make holes
with a dibbler as the work proceeds. It is always
advantageous to place flat stones round each plant :
these preserve the moisture of the soil and prevent
it from swelling too easily during frosts.
Lastly, seedlings may be planted out individually,
or in clumps, or in small mounds above the natural
soil (ball planting).
Seedlings are planted out individually whenever
they belong to the large or medium class, or even
when they are small, if at the same time they are
well grown. If they are put into the ground with
care, success is very nearly certain, unless the year
be extremely unfavourable, or the plants be too far
apart. But if only one-year old seedlings are used,
as is to be recommended for the Scotch pine, spruce
fir, &c., it is always prudent to plant in clumps of
two or three plants each. This is done in the hope
that one at least will succeed, and if all live, one of
them is sure to be more vigorous than the rest and
overtop them. These latter will then form a bush
round the first until they succumb to the cover, or
are cut down, thus proving useful in preserving
moisture round the roots of the more vigorous indi-
vidual. To plant in clumps, it is best to sow the
230 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE.
seeds in the nursery in furrows in which the soil
has been mixed with a large proportion of mould,
and well loosened. The seeds must he sown thick,
and in extracting the plants a slightly rainy day
ought to be chosen. They can be easily removed
from the bed by being simply pulled up with the
hand, a small trench being previously dug alongside,
or they may be cut up and carried away in sods like
turf. This latter is the best way of keeping the
plants fresh and vigorous, but the soil of the nursery
is rendered proportionately poorer by it.
If the plants have been plucked up, they must
immediately be put into baskets, to prevent the roots
from drying up. For the same reason, during the
process of planting out, only a small number ought
to be taken out at a time in the hand. They should
be arranged in groups of two or three each, and, to
put them into the ground, an instrument resembling
a mason's trowel in shape is used with advantage ;
with t the hole is made, and at the same time the
soil is loosened. It is especially in this method of
planting that it is advisable to place flat stones
round each group.
Ball planting was principally commenced in Ger-
many. In this method the seedlings most commonly
used are of the first or smallest class, which have
been transplanted into nursery lines and deprived of
their tap root. Small conical mounds from eight to
ten inches in diameter, and of the same height, are
put in lines regularly laid out. These mounds are
composed of mould specially prepared with leaves
and grass. They are hollowed out at the top with
DIEECT SOWINGS. 231
the hand. The seedling is put into the hollow, and
its roots, after being properly arranged, are covered
over with mould. Lastly, sods of turf are laid over
the whole mound with the turf inwards, so that the
mound is completely covered with only a hole at the
top through which the stalk of the seedling passes.
While acknowledging the effectiveness of this
method, it is however fair to state that it requires a
rather heavy outlay, and that excellent results may
be obtained at less cost.
CHAPTER III.
DIRECT SOWINGS.
WE have seen higher up that planting is generally
to be preferred to sowing, provided the species em-
ployed are appropriated to the soil and climate, and
the young plants are judiciously selected. Still it
must be confessed that sowing has at times raison
d'etre ; for instance, when labour is scarce or when
large quantities of seed are procurable at low prices,
or if the object in view is to introduce a new species
under the shelter of that which is already in posses-
sion of the soil, or lastly if the time at one's disposal
is very limited and the areas to be stocked are large.
Hence it is necessary to give a few directions with
regard to the plan to be pursued in these different
cases.
PEEPAEATION OF THE SOIL. — The first question
which presents itself is how to prepare the ground.
This may be done in three different ways ; (i.) com-
232 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
pletely, (ii.) in bands, or (iii.) in patches. The
first method is that least practised. The implement
employed is either a plough or a hoe. The plough
can be used only where the ground is not covered
with large stones, and its slope is not too great.
Whenever its employment is possible, the plough is
to be preferred, because it requires a smaller outlay.
But the cultivation of the whole surface demands a
considerable quantity of seed ; it is also more diffi-
cult to distinguish failure from success, and the
repair of blanks is more laborious.
Cultivation in bands is superior to this. It consists
in cultivating parallel strips of ground with the
plough or the hoe from one to two yards apart accord-
ing to the rapidity of growth, the angle of the slope and
the object in view, the intermediate strips being left
intact. The bands are given an average width of
about ten inches, and in a flat country they are
directed east and west, and care is taken to throw up
the earth on the southern side. In this manner the
seedlings are protected from drought during the first
year. On sloping ground the cultivated bands are
made narrower. Care is taken to level them in the
direction of their length, and it is even desirable to
give their width a gentle inclination downwards and
heap up turf and earth on the opposite side. Band
cultivation offers several important advantages ;
under any circumstances it requires less seed, al-
though proportionately to the surface cultivated, it
requires more than the first method. The vegetation
which presents itself on the intact bands serves as
protection against drought ; on the other hand, it
DIEECT SOWINGS. 233
cannot be denied that grass seeds are liable to spread
into cultivated bands. But it is especially on slopes
that this kind of cultivation asserts its superiority ;
the intact bands maintain the soil in its place,
whereas complete cultivation would cause it to slip ;
the bands of loosened soil render the ground perme-
able to water, which they retain like so many
trenches ; dead leaves and detritus of all kinds accu-
mulate and decompose near the seedlings ; lastly,
the seeds are not washed away by rain.
If the surface of the ground presents obstacles, or
if it is required to economise labour and seeds, the
patch method is adopted. Here the hoe is used.
The patches are made square with a side of from
twelve to twenty inches, and are disposed as nearly as
possible along regular lines. Care is taken that turf is
thrown upon the southern side on level ground, and
on the lower edge on slopes. The distance between
the patches varies with the species of trees and the
difficulties which the ground presents.
In all these three methods of cultivation, it is im-
portant to loosen the soil thoroughly and at the same
time to avoid bringing the deeper layers up to the
surface. It is always advantageous to begin work
the preceding autumn when it is desired to sow
in spring, in order that the soil may be subjected
to atmospheric action, and be more favourable to
vegetation.
In connection with the cultivation of the soil,
naturally come the subjects of surface-firing and
drainage. A few words will suffice to indicate the
extent of their importance.
234 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
Surface-firing consists in burning the vegetation
which may cover the ground and oppose the growth
of the seedlings. There are two methods of practis-
ing : it (I.) open air firing, (II.) firing in heaps. The
first consists in setting fire to this vegetation with-
out any preliminary operation, care being taken to
prevent the fire from spreading. In the second
method, the vegetation is cut up with the soil in
sods and allowed to dry. After drying the earth is
shaken off as far as is practicable, and the dry stuff
burnt in small heaps. The ashes are then scattered
over the whole surface of the ground. This latter
process is especially applicable when the soil is wet
and covered with rank grass. If patches of heather
and furze cover the ground, it is advisable to pluck
them up with the hand before firing. By this
means their roots are killed, which would otherwise
furnish a new crop heavier than the first. Surface
firing destroys noxious vegetation, and also results,
by means of the ashes, in the restitution to the soil
of inorganic elements, which increase its fertility.*
* This statement admits of a doubt in the case of open air firing.
If converting the vegetation, which covers the ground, into ashes
yields at once a large quantity of inorganic elements, on the other
hand all the organic elements, of which plants stand most in need,
are volatilised, the surface soil is baked, and any vegetable mould
and debris that may have collected since the last firing is totally
destroyed. Active growth during the first one or two years is no
proof that the soil is not impoverished ; it is simply the effect of the
ashes, which are soon exhausted. The Dhya cultivator in India
only understands this fact too well ; and a very casual inspection of
the open jungle tracts in that country is quite sufficient to convince
one of the injurious action of fires on the surface soil. The other
method of firing is not so objectionable, as the soil remains un-
DIEECT SOWINGS. 235
It has been asserted that the ashes also add to the
lightness of the soil, and in consequence surface
firing can be practised without danger only in stiff
soils. In the first place it must be observed that
light 'soils are seldom overgrown with grass, at least
with thick tufts. In the second place the ash
produced by the combustion consists of very minute
particles and, therefore, forms a stiff rather than
light soil. Who has not seen heaps of wet- ashes,
and who does not know that when they are dry it often
requires a spade to break them ? Hence if the soil
in question is wet and overgrown with tall grass,
rushes, &c., the best course is, instead of direct
sowing and the risk of having the seedlings choked
up, to plant it up with medium and tall seedlings.
As for draining, except in the case of stagnant
pools, it must be resorted to with great moderation.
The essential point is rather to appropriate the trees
to existing local conditions. A few ditches judi-
ciously dug ensure sufficient drainage, and it must
not be forgotten that it is very moist and even wet
soils which our most valuable species delight in;
for instance the peduncled oak, the ash, elm, horn-
beam, spruce fir, alder, &c.
SEASON FOR SOWING. — As a general rule the most
favourable moment for sowing is that indicated by
the shedding of seed. It is a natural indication
which it is useful to follow, but which it is not
touched ; and in wet lands and cold climates it has the advantage
of keeping down the heather, which tends to render the soil peaty
and too acid for forest vegetation.
236 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE.
always possible to imitate. Indeed it mast not be
forgotten that the price of seed forms an important,
sometimes the most important, item of expenditure.
It is therefore impossible to scatter seed as abun-
dantly as Nature does. Besides this, these seeds
are not placed under conditions favourable for resist-
ing frost, while the ravages of those animals, of
which they constitute the food, are another danger
to their preservation. This last danger is greatest
for acorns, beech-nuts and chestnuts, which ripen
and fall in autumn, but germinate only in spring,
and are greedily sought after by wild pig and the
small rodents. Hence it is necessary to keep them
until spring according to the methods described in a
former section. As for the seeds of the elms, the
birch, alder and other species, which it is impossible
to keep, they must be sown immediately after they
are shed. Hornbeam and ash seeds do not generally
germinate until the second spring after their dissem-
ination. They ought to be kept in pits until then, in
order to avoid the risk of seeing the soil overgrown
with grass, which they fear exceedingly, and which
is abundant in the soils which they affect, viz., very
moist soils.
As for conifers, sowing in spring generally agrees
with natural indications. Indeed, with the excep-
tion of the silver fir, which sheds its seed in autumn,
and of the spruce fir, which possesses the same
characteristic in favourable aspects, the other indige-
nous conifers scatter their seed during the first
warm days of spring. But seeds of the spruce keep
very well ; those of the silver fir, however, are easily
DIEECT SOWINGS. 237
spoilt by handling and transport, and are, therefore,
often advantageously sown at once.
Spring sowing is thus the general rule.* It is also
justified by the fact that the seeds germinate before
the ground is covered with grass, and that, in the
case of conifers, they escape the ravages of birds of
passage, which greedily devour them. It is even ad-
visable, in nurseries for example, to sow rather late,
only in that case the seeds ought to be soaked in
water, or better still, in liquid manure. Nevertheless
when large areas are to be sown, it becomes neces-
sary to distribute the work, and thus to sow in autumn
as well as in spring. The seeds should then be sown
more abundantly, in order to provide against accidents.
MANNEE OF SOWING. — When the whole surface
of the ground has been cultivated, the seeds are
usually sown broad-cast ; but when they are small, it
is desirable to mix them with fine earth, in order to
scatter them more uniformly. The use of dibbling
machines with the object of economising seed, seems
a difficult matter, and, in the majority of cases, the
slope of the ground does not admit of it.
In band and patch cultivation also the seeds are
sown with the hand ; but in the case of light seeds,
care must be taken to stoop down during the opera-
tion, in order to avoid their being carried away by
the wind to the portions left intact. Too much
seed must not be taken in the hand at a time, and
they ought to be allowed to slip through between the
* In some parts of the Himalayas it has been found better to sow
conifer s in the autumn.
238 ELEMENTS OF STLVICULTUEE.
thumb and forefinger, in order to distribute them
equally and in proper proportions.
In every case it is proper to regulate the quantity
of seed used, so as to have no excess or deficiency at
the end of the operation. For this purpose the
ground and the total quantity of seed should be
divided into the same number of equal portions ; in
this manner the quantity sown is equally distributed
from the beginning.
The seeds being scattered, it now remains to
cover them. This is done with a harrow, a rake, or
a bundle of thorns, according to the nature of the
seeds, the depth to which they must be covered, and
the method of cultivation employed. When the
harrow is used, the length of the teeth is regulated
by interlacing flexible twigs between them. The
depth to which the seeds ought to be covered varies
from one inch to the tenth of an inch according to
their size, the amount of moisture necessary for their
germination and the hardness of their pericarps.
Occasionally the seeds are sown without cultivat-
ing the ground by any of the methods described
above. With a hoe or dibbler, holes of a certain
depth are made in the ground at regular intervals,
and one or two seeds are put into each, and covered
over with fine earth or pressed in with the foot.
This method is adopted when the quantity of seed
available is small, or when the object in view is to
restore a species in small blanks in the midst of
thickets of very young seedlings.
QUANTITY OF SEED. — The quantity of seed to be
used depends in the first place on its quality. To
ascertain whether the seeds are good, they are
DIRECT SOWINGS. 239
opened, if large enough, with a penknife, and exam-
ined ; the kernel ought to completely fill the cavity
of the shell, it should be white (except in the ash, in
which it is bluish, and in the maple, in which it is
green), and moist, and the plumule should be entire.
If the seeds are small, they ought, on being crushed
with the nail, to leave traces of moisture more or
less milky, and in the case of conifer seeds, to emit
the odour of turpentine. The weight also furnishes
an indication for the quantity of seed to be employed ;
but nothing beyond the average weight can be given.
This has been already done. In sowing by weight,
the seeds, if small, should be examined, to see if no
dust is mixed up with them ; for this purpose it is
well to stir them about before weighing.
As the Scotch pine is frequently used, it is neces-
sary to be on one's guard against a fraud often
practised in commerce, which consists in adulter-
ating it with spruce fir seeds dyed black. The only
sure method of detecting it is by sowing a sufficiently
large quantity of the seeds ; the young Scotch pine
has five or six cotyledonary leaves and a reddish stalk,
the spruce fir a yellowish stalk and eight or nine
cotyledonary leaves. This precaution is all the more
necessary because the pine is generally raised as a
transitory crop to restore deteriorated soils or to
introduce, later on, under its shelter, some delicate
species which could not be grown in the open.
If two-thirds of the seeds are good, the whole lot
may be considered as of good quality.
The quantity of seed to be used depends also on
the way in which the ground has been cultivated.
It is evident that, proportionately more seed is
240
ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
necessary in band cultivation than when the entire
surface of the soil is cultivated, and more for the
patch than the band method of cultivation. The
intervals between the bands and patches having
been determined by the distance desired between
the two adjacent plants, no room ought to be left for
failure.
Lastly, the season of sowing must be taken into
account, as well as the various causes of destruction
to which the seeds are exposed. Thus sowing ought
to be thicker in autumn than in spring.
In ordinary circumstances, the following figures
calculated for an acre may be adopted :
TREE.
Broad-
cast.
Bands.
Patches.
Oak
Bus
11
9
Pound
18
40
36
hels
Q
7
s avoir
13
31
27
36
31
9
6
6
5
9
11
9
15
11
6
3
dupois
22
18
5
4
6
Beech
Elm
Hornbeam with the wings
„ without „
Silver fir with ,,
, without ,i
]1
9
9
6
31
13
11
„ without „
„ without „
Austrian and Corsican pines without wings
Cluster pine with wings
„ without „
DRYING HOUSES FOR CONIFER SEEDS. — It now
remains to examine the process of extracting the
seeds of the conifers from the cones which contain
DIRECT SOWINGS. 241
them. For this there are two principal methods :
(1) by natural heat, or (2) by artificial heat. The
first is to be preferred as it approaches more nearly
the method adopted by nature, and by it the seeds
retain their vigour better. The cones are spread out
on sheets and exposed to the sun, and when the
scales open, they are violently shaken till the
seeds fall out. But by this method many of the seeds
still adhere to the cones, and there is complete ex-
posure to all the changes of the weather during the
drying ; moreover, the process is long, and requires
a good deal of room. It is for this reason that the
second method is preferred.
Various kinds of drying houses have been con-
structed. We proceed to describe one which has
yielded the best results so far as the quality of the
seeds is concerned, and by which also large quantities
can be obtained at once. On the ground-floor is
established a hot air stove with conduit-pipes which
lead into a close room on the first floor. The heated
air strikes against a large cast iron cap, which pre-
vents the seeds from falling into the pipes. On the
floor are placed movable frames, with canvas bottoms
to receive the seeds. Above the&e, other movable
frames or sieves are supported one above the other ;
the bottom of these is formed of wire netting with
rather large meshes, and they are intended to receive
the cones. Lastly, draught chimneys are constructed
in the corners ; they open on a level with the floor,
and may be opened and closed at pleasure. For
the working of the frames as many little doors are
made in the wall of the adjoining room as there are
242 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUKE .
rows of frames, and frames in each row. The sieves
are capable of sliding horizontally in grooves, and are
furnished below with rollers to facilitate this motion.
Thermometers suspended inside constantly permit
of the regularisation of the temperature.
It is very easy to understand the working of the
apparatus. The sieves are filled with cones, and all
the little doors closed. The stove is heated, gene-
rally with empty cones. The hot air fills the room,
and as it is constantly renewed, it descends after
striking the roof, and escapes by the chimneys carry-
ing the watery vapour along with it. The draught
is increased or lessened at pleasure by widening or
narrowing the mouth of the chimneys. The scales
gradually open. From time to time each little door
is opened, and the cones are shaken about by pulling
the frames to and fro ; and the seeds fall eventually
into the lowest row of frames. When the cones are
quite open, they are taken out and replaced by fresh
ones ; thus the process is continuous. The tempera-
ture of the close room is regulated by means of the
thermometers, as it is essential not to exceed a cer-
tain degree of heat, otherwise the vitality of the
seeds would be destroyed. For pines and the spruce
fir, the temperature maybe allowed to rise as high as
40° Centigrade ; for larch the temperature is lower,
and should be increased only gradually; otherwise the
resin in the cones would melt and glue the scales
together, thus preventing the seeds from falling out.
If, on taking out the cones from the close room,
it is found that the lower scales are not properly
open, which is nearly always the case, the remain-
DIRECT SOWINGS. 213
ing seeds may be extracted by threshing the cones
with a flail or by some other means. But it is seldom
worth while obtaining these seeds, because they are
generally barren.
Cones ought to be gathered with the hand, and
not by shaking the tree, which does them consider-
able damage. The gathering is begun as soon as
the cones are ripe, i.e., at the end of autumn and
during the whole of winter. Cones gathered in
spring and those picked up from the ground are, gene-
rally speaking, already open, and the good seeds
have already fallen out.
In the silver fir the scales disarticulate and fall
naturally with the seeds. Hence it is sufficient to
gather the cones some days before their natural
dissemination, and to spread them out on the granary
floor and stir them about from time to time. The
seeds are then separated by riddling.
Whatever the method employed, the seeds are
obtained with their wings. This is inconvenient, as
carriage becomes more expensive ; but above all it
prevents the seeds from being scattered uniformly,
as they are liable to be carried away by the wind,
and it is impossible to judge with any accuracy of
the quantity which leaves the hand. Hence the
wings should be removed ; but this process is fraught
with risks when not done by conscientious hands.
In the majority of cases the seeds are deprived of
their wings by putting them up in heaps, which are
watered and allowed to stand thus until, on forcing
the hand in, a sensation of heat is felt. Then by
lightly rubbing the seeds together, the wings easily
244 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
come off. But by this method the seeds are made
to go through the first stage of germination, and a
considerable number lose their vitality. When it is
desired to avoid running this risk, a sack is filled to a
third of its capacity with the winged seeds, and the
wings are detached by rubbing them together in the
sack. After this it only remains to separate the
wings and seeds by winnowing.
Do what one will, it is almost impossible to free
silver fir seeds entirely of their wings. This strongly
adhering membrane inevitably breaks short, leaving
a certain portion behind. We have also mentioned
above that these seeds do not stand such manipula-
tions. Hence it is safer to use the winged seed.
When the seeds have been extracted from the
cones, they ought not to be heaped up at once in
the seed room. They should previously be spread
out and stirred about with a shovel for several days.
It is only after this operation that they can be put
up in higher heaps, and even then they must be
stirred about once a fortnight. The store-rooms
ought to be situated in a cool place, which, how-
ever, is not damp. They are generally closed sheds
adjoining the drying house.
With such precautions, conifer seeds may be kept
two or three years. But it must be remembered
that they keep better in the cones, and hence if
sufficient space is available, they ought to be left in
this state, taking care not to heap them up too high
and to stir them about from time to time. Never-
theless it is always safer to use newly obtained
seeds. Among the rest, there are some seeds which
DIEECT SOWINGS. 245
germinate only in the second spring,, and produce
sickly plants without any promise. Silver fir seeds
cannot be kept beyond one winter.
NOTE. — It is obvious that direct sowing can be
resorted to only with hardy species : those of a
delicate constitution can only be sown where suffi-
cient protection exists, for instance, under standing
timber which has been thinned out to the extent
required by the primary cutting. This is done when
one species is to be substituted for another or a
mixture restored which has been destroyed. But it
is quite impracticable on perfectly bare wastes. To
remedy this defect several methods have been pro-
posed, such for instance, as a previous crop of trees
of rapid growth, or the simultaneous sowing of
cereals. This latter plan is good for species which
require nursing for only a limited period, like the
elm for example, which germinates in warm weather ;
but it would never do for species which require
shelter during several years. For these a previous
timber crop is necessary, and as the cost of labour
is the same in each case preference ought obviously
to be given to trees capable of covering the outlay
within a definite period. The Scotch pine, the birch,
and, in strongly calcareous soil, the black Austrian
pine seem to fulfil best this condition. The first
two especially possess light foliage, and experience
proves that when they attain the dimensions of poles,
the shelter of their crowns is very favourable for the
introduction of the oak, the beech, and the silver fir
under them. The oak, it is true, is not averse either
to light or heat, but it is very sensitive to late frosts ;
246 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
moreover, it ought not to be grown pure, and it is
by the method in question that its natural auxiliaries
are associated with it. The alder renders the same
service in moist and wet lands ; it grows rapidly, and
yields valuable produce at an early age.
CHAPTEK IV.
SLIPS* AND LAYERS,
STOCKING with slips and layers cannot, properly
speaking, be termed operations of sylviculture, but
rather of horticulture. Nevertheless slipping is pre-
ferred to sowing in the propagation of willows and
poplars (excluding of course the great sallow and
the aspen), to keep up pretty varieties, to reproduce
exotics, which are not completely naturalised, like
the plane tree, &c. The method of layers is still less
used, and could scarcely possess any utility in forests
except to re-stock small blanks. In nearly every
case planting is to be preferred.
There are two methods of slipping : stake slipping,
and slipping with two year old wood.
The first succeeds well only with the large willow,
theosier, &c. The stake consists of a branch three
or four yards long and about two inches in diameter.
It is stripped of all its branches, and cut obliquely at
both ends, or at least at its lower end. By this means
a larger surface of absorption is obtained, and success
is favoured. To put ifc into the ground, a hole about
20 inches deep is made with a spade, or, in wet soil,
* See footnote on page 204.
SLIPS AND LAYERS. 247
with a pick, and it is filled in with fine earth. This
method is adopted for growing pollards.
Slipping with two year old wood is employed for
the small willows, the poplars, and the plane tree.
The slip is a branch of the current year, which is cut
off along with a portion of the older branch on which
it grows. It is shortened down to sixteen or twenty
inches, and the end is cut obliquely. It is then
pressed twelve or sixteen inches into the ground.
When the soil is light it is pressed in at once ; other-
wise a hole is made with an iron bar, or the soil is
loosened so as to prevent the bark from peeling off.
The process is facilitated if the slip is pressed in
obliquely. Slipping is often performed in nurseries ;
here the slips are planted in regular lines after
thoroughly loosening the soil.
Propagation by layers consists in bending down a
young sapling in such a way as to lay it against the
ground without breaking it off. It is kept in this
position by means of strong wooden hooks driven
into the ground, and soil is thrown over the young
branches, the extremities of which are turned up
vertically. These branches soon take root, and
when they are able to nourish themselves indepen-
dently, they are severed from the parent stem. This
is generally done at the end of two or three years.
If the tree is too thick to bend without breaking, an
incision is made for the purpose, which is covered to
prevent the wood from drying up. This method
may be used to fill up very small blanks ; but it is
better to plant, which permits of the introduction of
valuable trees where they do not exist.
248 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUKE .
It will doubtlessly be found that numerous details
have been omitted on the subject of artificial re-
stocking ; but it must not be forgotten that our object
is to impart general notions, and not to write a
complete treatise on these matters. For this reason
the re-stocking of lofty mountain chains ravaged by
torrents has been passed over in silence. It should
form the subject of a special work.
SUPPLEMENT.
NOTES ON THE FIXING OF THE DUNES
AND THE TAPPING OF THE CLUSTER
PINE (P. PINASTEE) FOR RESIN.
[In the summer of 1872, the author, in company
with the director of the Forest School and of one o.
the other professors, paid a visit to the dunes, be-
tween Bayonne and la Tremblade, and the following
is his interesting account of the methods employed
for fixing the dunes, including the treatment of the
Cluster Pine for its resinous products. — TKS.]
On the low and sandy coasts between the mouths
of the Adour and the Gironde, every tide leaves
behind it quantities of fine sand. The sand is con-
tinually drifted inland by the wind, and forms moving
hills, which sometimes attain a height of 230 feet ;
these hills, as we should naturally expect, have a
gentle inclination on the side of the sea, but descend
abruptly towards the interior ; sometimes they are
long, continuous, and disposed in regular and parallel
NOTES ON THE FIXING OF THE DUNES. 249
lines ; at other times they run zigzag. This de-
pends on the form of the coast line. Thus between
the Adour and the Gironde the first case presents
itself; while near the promontory of la Couhre,
where the wind blows from several points, the
elevations and depressions are entirely irregular.
It is to these moving sand-hills that the name of
dnnes has been given. According to information
furnished by M. Dutemps du Gric, Conservator of
Forests at Bordeaux, it has been ascertained that
the average rate of their progression towards the
interior is fourteen feet a year, and that the quantity
of sand thus brought up is in the proportion of 109
cubic yards for every yard of coast-line. The hollow
between two consecutive dunes, called lette by the
inhabitants of the district, is very variable. It is
flat at the bottom and generally marshy when the
dunes are devoid of all vegetation.
One can easily conceive the great importance of
fixing and utilising these dunes, whose onward
march has swallowed up everything before it, and
has been a perpetual source of danger to human
dwellings, which more than once have had to retire
before them.
The first attempt to fix these sand-hills was made
with hurdles and certain plants having well-deve-
loped roots, such as the Psamma arenaria, a
Euphorbia, Festuca, &c. But these succeeded only
temporarily. At length the Cluster Pine was tried
with all the desired result. This pine is admirably
adapted to the locality. It is indigenous in the
parts of France possesing a mild climate ; its tap-
250 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE .
root penetrates deep into the soil and throws out
strong lateral roots which in their turn develop
along their whole length numerous secondary roots
in a vertical direction. In addition to these valuable
properties we may add the abundance and fine
quality of its resin.
This pine had long before been employed in the
dunes, as is proved by the forest of La Teste, which
dates back several centuries. But such attempts
were successful only on the dunes in the interior,
which were protected by those nearer the sea. It
was not till the year 1787, when Bremontier began
his labours, that they succeeded in planting up to
the seashore. The method used at present for fixing
the dunes is described in what follows.
Before any sowing operations can be attempted,
it is absolutely necessary to establish a protecting
wall, in order to prevent the seeds and young plants
from being buried over by the drifting sand. This
wall is nothing more nor less than a dune, which is
purposely allowed to form, called the littoral dune.
A continuous line of paling is erected parallel to the
coast-line about 100 yards from high-water mark.
The paling is constructed of planks five feet four
inches long, one inch thick, and from five to six
inches broad and pointed at the lower end. These
planks are put into a trench sixteen inches deep, and
then driven eight inches into the sand, so that when
the trench is filled in, forty inches remain above
ground. An interval of about an inch is left between
two consecutive planks.
The sand is arrested by the paling, and is thus
NOTES ON THE FIXING OF THE DUNES. 251
deposited in the form of an inclined plane sloping
very gradually seawards. Some of it passes through
the spaces left between the planks, and serves as
a sort of backing, thus increasing their stability.
When the sand reaches the top of the paling, and
begins to cover it, the latter is raised by means of a
lever with hooks. In this manner the littoral dune
rises higher. This increase in height must be ren-
dered as gradual as possible, otherwise the dune
might be washed away by the sea.
To give the dune more stability, a tight-bound
fence is erected behind the paling. Stakes six feet
four inches in length are driven twenty inches into
the sand, and the wattling is at first carried only up
to a yard above the ground. The wattling is con-
tinued upwards as the dune rises. When the dune
reaches the top of the stakes, another fence of the
same kind is put up, for the old fence obviously
cannot be raised like the paling.
The whole is at length fixed by planting over with
the Psamma arenaria in tufts of five or six plants
twenty inches apart. This grass possesses this im-
portant property, that, as the sand covers it, its
stalk grows higher and developes numerous adven-
titious roots, which form a veritable network. An
acre requires 120 bundles of this plant, weighing
twenty-two Ibs. each, besides five Ibs. of seeds. The
first thing done is to sow the seed broadcast, the
operation of planting and the going to and fro of the
labourers being enough to press them into the ground.
A running foot of paling costs about eightpence.
It lasts on an average five years, when the planks are
252 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE .
made of the non-injected sapwood of the Cluster Pine.
The expense of keeping it in repair and raising it is
about one penny a year per running foot. The price
of a foot of fencing is about three farthings and a
half, and a new fence must be put up nearly every
year.
If, notwithstanding these precautions, the wind is
apt to make breaches in the littoral dune, other rows
of paling, making a given angle with the first, are
erected on the steep side. At the present day may
be seen a littoral dune, in capital order, along a
coast line of more than 200 kilometres reaching from
the bar of the Adour to the mouth of the Gironde.
A protecting wall against the wind being once
obtained, the moment has arrived for beginning
sowing operations on the inner dunes. This is done
by scattering broadcast a mixture of the seeds of the
pine, the common broom (Sarothamnus scoparius),
the furze (Ulex nanus) and the Psamma arenaria.
In the operations carried on by the State, the
quantity of seed to be used per acre is ninety-eight
pounds of the pine, eight pounds of the broom, and
three and a half pounds of the Psamma arenaria.
Over the whole is spread a covering of broom, furze,
and other brush wood. One man unties the bundles,
while two others spread them out, and a fourth
throws on a spadeful of earth at intervals of twenty
inches to keep the brushwood down. This covering
is essential for preventing the seeds, and especially
the sand, from being blown away by the wind. Furze
is preferable to the broom, as it yields a richer
manure by its decomposition.
NOTES ON THE FIXING OF THE DUNES. 253
The sowing and the spreading cut of the brush-
wood must be done simultaneously. At the close of
each day's work some spadefuls of sand are thrown
over the last row of brushwood to enable it to resist
the force of the wind. Care must be taken that the
last row is spread out evenly and well against the
ground, so as to prevent the wind from getting
underneath. Without this precaution a single
night is sufficient to destroy the work of several
days.
The pines, the broom, and the furze come up
together ; and it has been remarked that the young
pines are all the finer for growing along with a large
quantity of broom and furze. When these latter are
not sufficiently abundant, the covering of brushwood
should be carefully maintained, as the protection it
affords is necessary during nearly four years. Some-
times indeed it has to be renewed, and its mainten-
ance constitutes one of the principal operations
during that period.
The reboisement of the littoral dune itself may
often be undertaken at the end of a few years, by
forming a new littoral dune nearer still to the sea.
In any case the maintenance of a littoral dune is a
sine qua non ; otherwise every result of previous
operations must inevitably be lost by the continual
drifting in of new sand.
Such is a brief description of the operations
employed in fixing the dunes. They often entail
great labour, and the difficulty is sometimes so great
that the fixing and stocking of one acre does not cost
less than eight pounds. This outlay ceases to appear
254 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE.
considerable, if we balance against it the protection
which it affords for all the country behind the dunes.
Nearly the whole of it is absorbed by the erection
and constant repair of the paling, and this principally
by the transport of planks and brushwood over a
long length of uneven country formed of deep and
yielding sand.
It now remains for me to describe the treatment
of the Cluster Pine for the extraction of resin. But
before I do so, I must mention that since the dunes
have been wooded, the hollows have dried up. It is
difficult to say whether this is due to the transpira-
tion of the leaves, or rather to the absorption of the
water by the vegetable mould, or whether it is to
be attributed to some other cause or causes still
unobserved. In consequence it has been possible to
restock those valleys where no grazing took place, or
in which grazing was forbidden.
It is an established fact that the extraction of resin
is never remunerative unless the pine is in its true
habitat. It is only in hot and mild climates that
this tree is indigenous. It is common on the west
coast between the mouths of the Adour and the
Gironde. To the north of the latter river, between
Koyan and Eochefort, its vegetation is less vigorous
its wood is less resinous, and it no longer attains its
usual size. Moreover, the forests it forms are not so
dense. Further north, especially in the valley of the
Loire, where plantations of it have, in my opinion,
been too largely made, we get completely out of its
station. It no longer propagates itself naturally, it is
much shorter-lived, its wood is of an extremely
NOTES ON THE TAPPING OF THE CLUSTER PINES. 255
inferior quality, and the extraction of resin does not
pay.
The resin is abundant only when the pines are ex-
posed to the full influence of light, are in active
vegetation, and possess thick foliage. Accordingly,
thinning operations on a large scale are executed as
soon as the young pines are six or eight years old.
The thinnings are repeated every five or six years till
the forest has reached the age of twenty years, at which
time there should not he more than 240 to 280 plants
per acre. The extraction of resin may now begin on
the trees which are to be felled before the end of the
rotation of the forest. To this end from 200 to 250
trees are marked out for the next thinning operations
which are to be made at the end of five or six years.
After another thinning at the age of about thirty
years, only 100 or!20trees are left per acre. This num-
ber is progressively reduced to eighty and even sixty
until the forest is about seventy or eighty years old.
It is now time to begin re-planting operations, if the
object of the forest is merely the production of resin.
Eestocking is obtained either by artificial planting
or sowing, or from the self-sown seedlings which
may have come up during the last few years.
According to M. Bloi Samanos, sowing is the means
usually employed in the Landes. The method he
recommends is to trace out parallel lines at intervals
of from four to six yards (according to the distance
required between two successive plants), to cultivate
them deeply over a breadth of at least two feet with
a pick or plough, and then to sow five pounds of
pine seed per acre, and harrow them in lightly.
256 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE.
During the first thinnings, before the resin-tapping
begins, the lower branches of the pines are pruned
off, so as to obtain a clean stem of at least sixteen
feet. The object of this is to get rid of the dead
stumps of branches, which interfere with the
continuous flow of resin. Moreover, as the wounds
caused by the pruning get covered over by new rings
of wood, the operation of chipping off the bark and
wood necessary for tapping is greatly facilitated by
having an even surface to work upon. Experience
goes to justify this removal of the lower branches.
These branches must be lopped off close to the stem ;
but care must be taken not to produce an
unnecessarily large wound. Above all it must be
borne in mind that a tree can never have too much
foliage, and therefore only a few branches ought to
be pruned off at a time.
It is easily seen that the thinning and pruning
operations leave the soil exposed to the light. The
spare foliage of the pine aggravates this condition.
Thus a rank vegetation presents itself, consist-
ing of grass, heather, broom, ferns, &c. This is
much sought after as bedding for animals and as
manure. It is bought up under the name of soutrage
[German, Streunutzung] at an average price of 5d.
a cart-load (about thirty seven cubic feet). An acre
yields from two to five such loads.
The removal of the scrub is evidently a loss to the
soil of the forest, as it prevents the formation of
mould. But it facilitates the movements of the
resin-tappers, and above all diminishes the chances
of forest fires, which make great ravages in those
NOTES ON THE TAPPING OF THE CLUSTER PINE. 257
districts during times of drought. This danger is
dreaded to such an extent that lines from thirty to
sixty feet wide are cleared through the forests at
certain distances from each other, and are kept up
by cutting away every five years all the vegetation
which may have come up during that interval. In
the plantations of recent date, and notably in the
dunes, these lines are 1,000 yards apart, and are re-
spectively parallel and perpendicular, so as to form
squares of about 250 acres each.
There are two methods of resin-tapping, which
in French are termed respectively gemmage a mort
and gemmage d vie. The first exhausts and kills
the tree [whence the name], and is adopted only
when the tree is to be felled soon after ; the second,
as may be guessed, has for its object to obtain the
resin without causing the death of the tree. In
either case, the first thing to be done is to strip off
gradually a rectangular strip of bark, beginning at
the foot of the tree and going up about four inches ;
a little wood must also be removed with the bark.
The wound thus made is technically called a quarre
or blaze. The instrument used is a light axe with a
curved head and a handle bent at an angle in the
direction of the concave face of the head. Once or
twice a week the wound is reopened, and it is at the
same time lengthened by taking off a fresh strip of
bark and wood above it about two-fifths of an inch
long. In this manner the wound attains a certain
length, which in the forests under tke control of the
Forest Department ought never to exceed eleven
feet. Moreover, in the printed stipulations which
s
258 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
contractors are bound to observe when they purchase
the right of resin-tapping, there is a clause which
fixes a maximum of five inches for the breadth of
the quarre, and a maximum of two-fifths of an inch
for its depth.
Only one quarre at a time ought to be worked in
those trees which are not to be felled in the next
thinning operations. To prolong their existence, it
would even be desirable to make the quarre only
three inches wide. The same quarre is worked for
five years by the process explained above of freshen-
ing and lengthening the wound. During the first
year it is lengthened by twenty-two inches ; during
each of the three succeeding years by twenty-six
inches ; and during the fifth year by twenty-eight
inches. At the end of this term a new quarre is
opened, which is worked in the same manner. This
process is repeated until within a few years of the
felling of the trees so tapped, when the process called
gemmage d mort is employed.
No tree is tapped in the manner we have just de-
scribed before it has attained a circumference of
three feet. M. Lamarque is of opinion that it
would be better at the beginning to work a quarre
for only four years, and then give the tree rest for
one year. The quarres when left alone, soon heal
up by the formation of new rings of wood and bark.
After some time a new quarre may be opened in the
swelling formed by the bark immediately over the
old quarre.
. The swelling is a sure indication of the existence
of an old quarre under it, and some old trees maybe
_^S ON THE TAPPING OF THE CLUSTER PINE. 259
seen here and there bearing traces of several of
them. It frequently happens that from want of
sufficient adherence, the bark separates on each side
of the old wounds, the separation being wider at the
middle, where also the consequent swelling out of
the bark is naturally greater. This phenomenon
gives the lower part of the stem the shape of a
spindle, and the tree looks as if it would be
crushed under its own weight.
In private forests the quarres are often allowed to
reach a height of thirteen to sixteen feet, and two or
three are worked at a time on thick trees. This is
a bad practice. If for the time being the tree is
made to yield a large quantity of resin, its longevity
is materially shortened.
As we have already indicated, gemmage a mort is
practised only in the case of trees near their matu-
rity, or of those which are to be felled in the very
next thinning operations. It is begun as soon as
the trees are big enough to hold a quarre, in other
words, as soon as they have attained a girth of twenty
to twenty-four inches. This generally happens at
the age of twenty years. The quarres are opened in
precisely the same manner as in the first process ;
only they are worked up faster, and several at a time
are opened in each tree. Usually a tree treated thus
dies in three or four years.
When a new quarre is cut or an old one re-opened,
the resin oozes out in bead-like drops. A portion
of it flows down the wound ; the rest, owing to vola-
tilisation, solidifies and forms a crust over the wood.
This solid substance is known under the name of
260 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUKE.
galipot. Formerly the resin was allowed to run
down to the foot of the tree, where it was received
in a little trough hollowed out in one of the roots or
in the sand. Much of the resin was thus lost hy ab-
sorption in the sand, especially the first year. Little
earthenware pots are now used, which are hung
along the stem of the tree, and are raised as the
quarre is worked up higher. To get the resin to
flow into the pots, a small curved plate of zinc is
lightly driven in an oblique direction into the wood
immediately over each pot. The pot is kept in its
place by means of a nail fixed under, and on which it
rests lightly. To render the waste still smaller, the
pot is covered with a thin board, which prevents the
loss of the volatile portion of the resin. The resin-
tapper examines the pots when he goes round to re-
open the wounds, and empties any he finds full.
The galipot is scraped off once or twice a year.
The use of these pots and plates of zinc consti-
tutes the method of Mr. Hughes. It requires a
heavy outlay at first/ but it possesses the advantage
of yielding a larger quantity of resin, and that in a
purer state. According to M. Samanos the results
of this method as compared to former results are
as four to three. It is much employed in the Dunes
at Cape Breton, Mimizan, Biscarosse and la Teste.
But in the district round Dax its use is not so gen-
eral, while at Mont de Marsan it is still rare. This
is a source of much loss. To diminish the waste of
resin by absorption in the soil, the tapper makes the
same trough serve for several successive quarres.
They are consequently obliged to cut little canals all
NOTES ON THE TAPPING OF THE CLUSTEB PINE. 261
round the foot of the tree leading one and all into
the same trough. These canals are necessarily cut
right into the wood, and thus soon kill the tree.
Besin-tapping is carried on only in the interval
between the 1st March and the 15th October ; but
the gradual thinning off of the bark is begun as
early as the 10th February.
Kesin is most abundant in trees which measure
at least sixteen inches in diameter. A pine of this
size yields annually three litres by the process of
gemmage d vie. Taking into consideration the con-
tinual diminution in number of the trees, we may
reckon that an acre yields annually about thirty gal-
lons, whatever be the age of the forest. It is not so
easy to calculate the yield by the process of gemmage
a mort. Still it is generally admitted that from
eighty to a hundred pines eight inches in diameter
will also yield annually the same quantity, and that
for three years. On the estate of M. Marcellus, near
Biscarosse, I saw a pine thirteen feet in girth and
thirty-six feet high up to the first branch, which had
ten quarres worked on it simultaneously, and which
still yields seven or eight litres of resin annually.
The price of the raw resin is necessarily very
variable. Sometimes it is as low as 40 francs a
barrique (340 litres). During the American war it
rose to 290 francs. At Mont de Marsan, where it is
converted into the different resin products of com-
merce, the actual price of a barrique is 120 francs.
The resin-tapper is paid so much per barrique,
usually from 30 to 35 francs ; which gives an average
of four or five francs a day.
262 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE .
I visited at Mont de Marsan several distilleries.
In one of them they distil the resin for spirits of
turpentine. The raw resin always contains, accord-
ing to the care with which it has been collected, a
greater or less quantity of impurities, such as lumps
of earth, chips of wood, bark, leaves, &c. To remove
these the resin is put into boilers, in which it is
subjected to a temperature just high enough to
liquify it without causing it to volatilise. In this
liquid state it is passed through sieves of rye-straw
into troughs. The clear liquid is known under the
name of tertfbentkine. From the troughs the
terebenthine is conducted through apipe supplied
with a stopcock into a still. During the distillation,
a thin continuous stream of water is introduced into
the retort by means of a funnel. The water, in the
state of steam carries over with it the spirits of tur-
pentine, and after condensation in the worm they are
both received into a vat. They are then separated
by the process of decantation. Colophony and black
and white rosin are made from what remains in the
retort. A conduit-pipe leads this residue into a
trough, whence it is passed through a very fine brass
sieve into a wooden chest ; what is collected in the
chest is colophony ; what is left behind in the sieve
is black rosin. It is made into cakes of from 100 to
200 Ibs., by pouring it while liquid into troughs
hollowed out in fine sand. White rosin is prepared
in the same way, except that the hot residue in the
sieve is agitated briskly in one-tenth its volume of
water before it is poured out into the sand moulds.
All these products have their special industrial
NOTES ON THE TAPPING OF THE CLUSTER PINE. 263
uses. Spirits of turpentine are employed in medicine ,
in the preparation of varnishes and paints, for light-
ing, for cleaning furniture, &c. The solid products
enter into the manufacture of paper, soap, stearin
candles, torches, sealing-wax, &c., and are also used
for the calking of vessels.
The residue from the first filtration of the crude
resin is burnt in special stoves, and yields tar and
pitch.
One barrique of crude resin gives 100 kilos, of
spirits of turpentine, which, taking actual prices,
would be worth about 125 francs ; the other products
cover all expenses and yield besides a trifling profit.
Black rosin sells at the rate of eighteen francs per
hundred kilogrammes ; the price of the same weight
of white rosin is twenty francs.
In another establishment in the same town, the
black rosin is heated to a high temperature, by
wrhich a double decomposition takes place. The
result is, according to the manipulations employed,
the separation of certain volatile oils used in var-
nishes, or of certain fixed oils which are used for
lighting, for making wheel-grease, for impregnating
wood, in the manufacture of printing-ink, &c.
Such are the products which have hitherto given
their chief value to forests of the Cluster Pine.
Nevertheless, in those districts where means of
transport exist, the timber acquires a certain value.
Opinions are still divided as to which trees yield the
best timber, those that have been tapped for resin,
or those left to themselves. It may be observed
that the process of tapping produces an outward
264 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE.
flow of resin in the direction of the wound ; owing
to volatilisation, the tissues become impregnated
with solid resin, which increases the durability of
the sap-wood. Moreover, since the annual rings of
a tapped tree grow less thick, there is a large propor-
tion of autumn wood.* But no fair comparison can
be made, as it is rare to find a pine which has not
been tapped. Such are the pines which are left as
boundary marks ; they attain a great size, but are
usually felled only when they are in full decay.
It is evident that in the portion of the stem along
which the quarres have been worked, the annual
rings of wood are neither continuous nor regular.
Hence it is useless for planking ; but it is split up
into vine props, which are much esteemed for their
durability : the solid resin, with which it is thoroughly
impregnated, prevents decay ; moreover, it often
yields small staves for casks which are to hold the
solid resin products. The upper portion of the bole,
however, contains timber with continuous rings of
wood. At Cape Breton I saw planks seven feet long
by seven inches broad and an inch and a quarter
thick, made from this portion of the tree. A hundred
such planks would contain over forty cubic feet of
wood. The hundred are sold for JG2 16s.
This Pine is also used for making railway sleepers.
When impregnated, they are worth Is. Sd. each,
delivered at the railway stations. To demonstrate
their importance, it is enough to observe that the
railways in the south of France and in the north of
Spain are constructed of this pine.
* According to the law of growth in coniferous species ; see note
on p. 86.
NOTES ON THE TAPPING- OF THE CLUSTEB PINE. 265
Moreover, this pine yields a certain quantity of
charcoal, which is used locally for metallurgic pur-
poses. A cubic metre of it weighs from 200 to 220
kilos., and sells for eighteen or twenty francs the kilo.
We have here evidently very valuable resources,
which only require the establishment of means of
communication to be developed. These do not
exist, at least so far as the dunes are concerned ;
and this state of things must continue as long as the
plantations that have been made are not old enough
to attract purchasers. Then alone will good roads
be made, which will perhaps enable us to grow this
pine there as well for its wood as for its resin.
The cultivation of the Cluster Pine has already
rendered incalculable service to the surrounding
country. It has reclaimed a considerable extent of
low lying marshy lands, that used to be the centre
of pestilential diseases which decimated the popula-
tion ; it has drained them, it has converted them
into productive districts, and has introduced trade
and comfort, where poverty and wretchedness seemed
to be the unalterable lot of the inhabitants. It has
arrested the drifting dunes, which used to be a
perpetual menace to fields and habitations. The
good it has done can yet be increased. In the
department of the Landes alone the extent of land
reclaimed by forest culture is estimated at nearly
2,000 square miles ; it is about as much in the
department of the Gironde ; and very soon the
treeless moors as well as the naked dunes will only
be remembered as things of the past.
In concluding these very incomplete notes, I will
266 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE.
draw the .reader's attention to a disease which has
been observed in some of these forests. Not unfre-
quently a pine withers and dies. Starting from the
pine as centre, the disease spreads all round over a
circular area of an ever-increasing radius. I was
not able to investigate its cause. In la Sologne it
had been pointed out to me by persons who ascribed
it to causes more or less imaginary. May not the
disease be traced to a fungus which attacks the
woody tissue itself? The circular area over which
it propagates itself leads to this supposition, which
is strengthened by the means adopted to combat it.
In the department of the Landes the progress of the
disease is effectually stopped by digging a trench
twenty- seven inches deep all round the portion of
the forest so attacked.
NOTE. [Trs.] TheBalticCoastislinedwithdunesin
every respect similar to those of the Coast of Gascony.
According to Oberforster Gumtau, of Stettin, works
for fixing these moving sand-hills were begun as
early as the fourteenth century. Neglected or even
totally abandoned, especially during the Thirty
Years' War, they have just been resumed in order to
protect the country in the interior. The littoral or
anterior dune is principally fixed with plants possess-
ing spreading roots and sending up suckers, such as
ihePsamma arenaria, &c., grasses which are planted
in square sods of four metres side in the form of the
squares of a chess-board ; so that the lines are
respectively perpendicular and parallel to the direc-
tion of prevailing winds (N.W.). As to the inside
NOTES ON THE FIXING OF THE DUNES. 267
dunes, they are planted up with furze, which has
been completely successful, and with the Scotch pine
two or three years old. The pines are not put out
singly, but in tufts, or rather in sods, like turf, which
-fit exactly into the holes. Spades of a special
pattern are employed both to cut up the sods and to
prepare the holes. The cost is on an average three
guineas an acre inclusive of the covering of branches
of pine, furze and broom, which must be strewn over
the transplants for protection. It would appear
that the fixing of the Baltic dunes is attended with
greater difficulty than the analogous operations on
the Gascon Coast where the Cluster Pine is pre-
eminently adapted to the soil, and is a very hardy
grower.
268
LIST OF SPECIES MENTIONED IN
COUESE OF THE WOKK.
Hard Woods.
THE
Systematic Name.
Authority.
English Name.
Quercus pedunculata ...
„ sessiliflora
Ehrh.
Smith
British or peduncled oak
Sessile-flowered oak
„ Suber ...
Linn.
Cork
„ Hex
jj
Holm „
„ coccifera
jj
Kermes „
„ Tozza
Box.
Pyrenean „
Fagus syl vatica
Linn.
Common beech
Carpinus Betulus
5J
Hornbeam
Fraxinus excelsior
))
Ash
Ulmus campestris
Smith
Common elm
„ montana
»
Wych or Mountain elm
„ effusa
Wild.
1
Acer Pseudoplatanus ...
Linn.
Sycamore or great maple
„ campestre
v
Common maple
„ platanoi'des
jj
?
Betula alba
jj
Birch
Castanea vulgaris
Lamarck.
Sweet chestnut
Pyrus, Malus
Sorbus, Pyracantha, &c.
} -
Fruit trees
Amygdalus, Cerasus ...
I
Primus, &c
Soft Woods.
Alnus
Tournef.
Alders
„ glutinosa
Linn.
Common alder
„ incana
B.C.
White „
Populus
Tournef.
Poplars
„ tremula
Linn.
Aspen
Tilia
j)
Lime or linden trees
Salix
Tournef.
Willows
S. Caprcea
Linn.
Common sallow
S. viminalis
»
Osier
269
Conifers.
Systematic ISTame.
Authority.
English Name.
Abies pectinata
D.C.
Silver fir
„ excelsa ...
^
Spruce „
Pinus sylvestris
Linn.
Scotch fir or pine
„ Laricio
Poiret.
Corsican „
„ austriaca
Hoss.
Austrian „
„ Pinaster..,
Solander.
Cluster „
„ cembra ...
Linn.
Cembran „
„ uncinata...
D.C.
Mountain or dwarf pine
„ halepensis
Mill.
Aleppo pine
Pi n us Strobus
Linn.
Weymouth pine
Larix europaea
D. 0.
Larch
Inferior species and Brushwood.
Sambucus
Tournef
Elders
Cor%ylus avellana
Linn.
Hazel
Cornus ...
)>
Dog wood
Ligustrum vulgare
»
Privet
Viburnum
))
Viburnum
Euonymus europaous ...
Linn.
Spindle tree
Frangula vulgaris
Eeich.
Breaking Buckthorn
Ilex aquifolium...
Linn.
Holly
Buxus sempervirens
»
Box tree
Juniperus communis ...
»
Juniper
Houas p-
»
Thorns
Ulex ...
Linn.
Gorse or furze
Sarothamnus scoparius. . .
D.C.
Broom
Vaccinium Myrtillua ...
?>
Bilberry
Psamma arenaria
E. and S.
Marrem grass
Euphorbia
Linn.
Spurge
Festuca
n
Fescue grasa
INDEX.
A
ACOKNS, mode of gathering, 205
„ number of, in given weight or volume, 216
,, preservation of, 207
„ quantity to sow on given area, 240
Adventitious buds, meaning and origin of, 113
After-growth defined, 2
Alder, the common, 114
„ the white, produces suckers, 114
,, the, in simple coppice, 131
„ seed of the, 205
,, use of, as a previous timber crop, 246
Aleppo pine, treatment of the, 92
Annual yield denned, 21
Aquatic soil denned, 15
Artificial restocking, methods of, 197 et sqq.
,, ,, choice of species in, 198
M M compared with natural regeneration, 33, 67.
197
Ash, associated with oak in simple coppice, 132
,, useful as a standard, 136, 145
,, not to be cut until mature, 145
„ seed of the, 207
Aspect defined, 1
„ influence of, on climate and forest vegetation, 9
Aspen, suckers produced by, 114
,, when to be associated with oak, 123
,, associated with oak in simple oak, 132
„ useful as a standard, 137
Atmosphere, action of, on soils, 226, note
Austrian pine, a nurse for silver fir, 200
„ number of seeds of, in given weight or volume, 215
,, quantity of seed to sow per acre, 240
,, employed to restock bare wastes, 245
Axe, use of, in copsing, 119
INDEX.
271
B
Ball-planting, 230
Barrique, 261
Beech, habitat of, 51
„ habits and requirements of, 51
„ uses of, 52
,, rotation in pure, 53
,, regeneration, 53
,, primary cutting, 53
secondary cutting, 54
final cutting. 54
cleanings, 55
thinnings, 55
how raised in nurseries, 216
and oak mixed, treatment of, 56
advantages of, 56
rotation in, 57
primary cutting, 57
secondary cutting, 58
final cutting, 59
cleanings, 59
thinnings, 60
,, and Scotch pine mixed, advantages of, 90
,, and silver fir mixed, treatment of, 80-82
,, treatment of, in simple coppice, 128
Beech-nuts, preservation of, 207
,, number of, in given weight or volume, 215
,, quantity to sow per acre, 240
Belt of trees, for protection against winds, 40, 127, 195
Bilberry, weed in forests of Scotch pine, 85
Bill-hook, use of, in coppice, 119
Birch, in forests of Scotch pine, 85
„ not to be cut out systematically, 110
,, suckers produced by, 114
„ associated with oak in simple coppice, 123, 132
,, seed of, 213
,, use of, as first timber crop on treeless wastes, 245
Blank defined, 3
Block, periodic, defined, 3
Box counted as brushwood, 5
Broad-leaved trees, general characters of, 16
Brushwood defined, 5
Broom, the common, in forests of Scotch fir, 85
,, ,, troublesome in Sartage, 126
„ ,, used in fixing the Dunes, 252
Buckthorn counted as brushwood, 5
Buds, adventitious, 113
„ dormant, 113
272 INDEX.
Cereals, cultivation of, in Sartage, 124
,, useful as nurses in sowings of elm, 245
Chestnut, the sweet, why suited for simple coppice, 111
„ „ treatment of, in simple coppice, 130
Chestnuts, preservation of, 207
Classification of soils, 15
Clay soils, properties of, 13
Cleanings defined, 34
,, in high forest, 34
„ in simple coppice, 123
„ in coppice with standards, 150
„ in conversion operations, 183
Clear cutting defined, 5
Climate defined, 1
„ of plains, 6
„ of mountains, 8
„ of France classified, 11
,, influence of elevation on, 8
forests on, 7
surface water on, 7
aspect on, 9
mountain chains on, 8
soil on, 8
proximity of the sea on, 8
Climbing-irons, use of, deprecated, 48, 159
Clump defined, 2
Clump planting, 229
Cold climate defined, 11
Colophony, preparation of, 262
Colour of soils, 12
Comparison between the different methods of treating high
forest, 107
Complete crop defined, 4
Complete seeding, meaning of term, 30
Conifer seeds, collection of, 205
,, ,, preservation of, 206, 244
„ „ drying-houses for, 240
„ ,, extraction of, from the cones, 242
,, ,, wings, how removed, 243
Conifers, the general characters of, 17
,, structure of the wood of, 86, note
Consistency of crops, 4
Conversion of coppice into high forest, 170
„ ,, ,, exemplified, 175
Coppice, defined, 3
,, simple. See Simple Coppice.
,, origin of shoots, 112
,, length of rotation, 114
,, annual yield, 116
INDEX.
273
Coppice, season for cutting, 116
,, manner of cutting, 118
,, indefinite duration of, 120
,, cutting up produce, 121
,, with standards, denned, 110
„ ,, general remarks upon, 132
„ ,, length of rotation, 133
,, ,, annual yield of, 149
,, „ maintenance operations, 150
,, ,, cleanings, 150
thinnings, 152
artificial stocking, 155
pruning of standards, 158
application of, to mixed forests, 166
compared with High Forest, 170
conversion of into High Forest, 175
,, regeneration cuttings, 180
,, preparatory cuttings, 183
„ provisional copsing, 184
Copse, See Coppice
Copsing, provisional, in conversion, 184
Cork Oak, characteristic of hot climate, 11
,, exception to general rule, 16
,, sends up shoots and suckers, 114
Cornel trees counted as brushwood, 5
Gorsican pine, treatment of, by natural method, 92
,, ,, by selection, 105
,, quantity of seed to sow per acre, 240
Cover defined, 5
effect of, 5
of first class standards, 138
Crop defined, 2
complete, defined 4
dense, 4
open, 4
discontinuous, 4
regular, 4
Cutting back defined, 2
,, clear defined, 5
Cuttings, two kinds of, in natural method, 62
,, preparatory to regeneration, 183
„ not used in sense of slip, 204, note
,, rules for locating, 188
D
Damp soils, 15
Definitions, 1 et sqq.
Defoliation, disease of Scotch pine, 88, 203
Dense crop defined, 4
Discontinuous crop defined, 4
274
INDEX.
Distilleries, resin, 262
Dormant buds, 113
Drainage works in Oak forests, 74
,, ,, in direct sowings, 235
Dry soils, 15
Drying-houses for conifer seeds, 240
Dunes, the Gascon, how formed, 248
>» „ early attempts to fix, 249
»» „ present method of fixing, 250-254
», „ "littoral Dune," 250
Baltic, 266
E
Elder, found with silver fir, 78
Elders, counted as brushwood, 5
Elm, the common, as a standard, 136, 145
Elms, seed of, to be sown at once, 205, 208, 218
Epicormic, derivation of the word, 32, note
,, branches, evil effects of, on oak, 32, 158
pruning off of, after final cutting, 32, 47, 71
„ after secondary cutting, 70
on oak standards, 159
_ . >> . » . » on hornbeam, 70
Euphorbia, used in fixing the Dunes, 249
Exploit, to. defined, 6
Exploitable defined, 6
Exploitability of forests, 17, 20
F
Festuca, used in fixing the Dunes, 249
Final cutting, in natural method, 31
Fire, method of controlling, in Sartage, 125
Firing, surface, in the Ardennes, 124"
„ open air, 125
,, in heaps, 127
First class standards defined, 134
»> )> cover of, not injurious, 138
» >» pruning lower branches of, 164
Forest vegetation, influence of aspect on 9
Fourth class standards, 134
Furetage, 128
Furze, used in fixing the Dunes, 252, 266
fl
Galipot, 259
Gemmage a mort, 257
„ & vie, 257
Germination, conditions essential to, 24
Glade, open, defined, 4
Gorse counted as brushwood, 5
INDEX. 275
H
Hardwoods defined, 5
Hatchet, use of, in coppice, 119
Hazel counted as brushwood, 5
Heavy thinning denned, 37
„ when generally made, 41
Hedge-row trees, 169
High forest denned, 3
„ three methods of treating, 22
,, general rules for, 26, 43
„ general object of, 22
„ irregular, 92, 107
comparison between various methods of treating, 107
„ over coppice, 110, 145
,, and coppice compared, 170
High poles denned, 4
Hoeing of nursery beds, 220
Holly counted as brushwood, 5
Holm oak, why adapted to simple coppice, 111
,, reproduction in coppice, 114
Hornbeam, value of, as a companion for oak, 61
,, habitat, 62
,, peculiarities of growth, 63
,, uses, 63
„ and oak mixed, treatment of, 61 et sqq.
„ seeds of the, test for, 208
„ ,, number in given weight, 215
„ „ quantity to sow per acre, 240
Hot climate defined, 11
Hygroscopicity of soils, 12
I
Improvement cuttings. See Cleanings, Thinnings.
Irrigation of nursery beds, 218
Larch, natural method not applicable to, 91
,, treatment of, by selection, 105
,, seed of the, quantity in given weight or volume, 215
„ ,, quantity to sow per acre, 240
Last thinning in natural method, character of, 41
Layers defined, 204
,, propagation by means of, 247
Leaf canopy defined, 3
}> different states of, 4
,, advantages of, 35
,, to be preserved in thinnings, 37
Lette, 249
Light soils, 15
276
INDEX.
Limes included under soft-woods, 5
,, reproduction in coppice, 114
Limestone soils, character of, 13
Ling, noxious weed in Scotch pine forests, 85
List of species, 268
Littoral Dune, the, what it is, 250
,, method of fixing, 250
Locating cuttings, rules for, 188 et sqq
Lopping, distinguished from pruning, 158
„ method of, 161
Low poles denned, 4
M
Manure, to use in nurseries, 217
Maple, in mixed high forest, 65
„ not to be eradicated from beech forests, 55
„ the sycamore, dangerous in silver fir forests, 78
,, seed of the, examination of, 208
Marl, 16
Marshy soils, 15
Medium seedlings, defined, 221
,, when used, 221
Method of thinnings. See Natural Method.
Methods of treatment, what is meant by, 3
„ „ in high forest, three principal, 22
Mild climate, 11
Mineral composition of soils, 12
Moderate thinning defined, 37
„ when made, 40
Moist soils, 15
Mould, vegetable, defined, 2
,, effect on soils of, 14
Mountain pine, natural method not applicable to, 91
N
Natural method, the, summary of, 24 et sqq
summary of treatment of oak by, 67
compared with artificial restocking, 33, 67, 197.
application of, to pure oak, 44
to pure beech, 51
to oak and beech mixed, 56
to oak and hornbeam mixed, 61
to broad-leaved species mixed, 65
to silver fir, 75
to beech and silver fir mixed, 80
to Scotch pine, 82
to other conifers, 91
Natural phenomena on which natural method is based, 24
Natural seedlings, how used in artificial restocking, 209
,, versus Nursery plants, 209
INDEX. 277
Nitrification of the soil, 226, note
Nurseries, site of, 210
area of, 211
fencing in, 211
preparation of soil in, 211
laying out of, 212
manner of sowing, 212
season for sowing, 214
quantity of seed to use in, 214
shelter to young seedlings, 216
manuring in, 217
watering, 218
irrigation of, 218
weeding in, 219
earthing up of plants in, 219
hoeing in, 220
Nursery lines, transplanting into, 221
,, extraction of seedlings from, 224
O
Oak, what kinds to be understood by the word, 44
,, habitat, 44
„ peculiarities of growth, 44
,, uses, 45
,, rotation, 45
,, pure, regeneration, 46
,, „ primary cutting, 46
„ ,, secondary cutting, 47
,, ,, final cutting, 47
,, ,, cleanings, 48
„ thinnings, 50
„ and beech mixed, advantages of, 56
„ ,, disadvantages of, 57
,, „ rotation, 57
„ „ primary cutting, 57
„ ,, secondary cutting, 58
„ ,, final cutting, 59
„ „ cleanings, 59
„ „ thinnings, 60
„ and hornbeam mixed, advantages of, 61
,, „ rotation, 63
,, „ primary cutting, 63
,, secondary cutting, 64
„ final cutting, 64
„ cleanings, 64
„ thinnings ^5
summary of treatment of High Forest of, 67 et sqq.
treatment of, in simple coppice, 124 ct sqq.
,, in coppice with standards, 166 et sqq.
U
278 INDEX.
Old high forest defined, 4
Open crop defined, 4
Open glade defined, 4
Open primary cutting, definition of, 28
>» »» when made, 28
Osier used in slipping, 246.
P
Period defined, 2
Periodic block defined, 3
Pines, seed of the, season and manner of gathering, 205
Pine Cluster, number of seeds in given weight or volume, 215
quantity of seed to sow per acre, 240
method of planting, in the Dunes, 252
tapping of, for resin, 254 et sqq.
disease of the, 266
wood of, character and uses, 263
Pitch made from resin of Cluster pine, 263
Pitting, 226
Plank used in sowing nursery beds, 213
Planting or putting out, manner of, 225
,, ,, season for, 225
, , versus sowing, 201
Poles, low, defined, 4
,, high, defined, 4
Pollards, 169
Poor soils, 16
Poplars, included in soft woods, 5
Potato, cultivation of, to clean the ground, 130
Preparatory cuttings, 183
Primary cutting, objects it should realise, 27
,, close, defined, 27
,, „ when made, 28
, , . open, defined, 28
„ ,, when made, 28
, , when repeated, 31
Privet counted as brushwood, 5
Protective belts of forest, 40, 127, 194
Pruning off of epicormic branches, 32, 47, 71, 158
,, distinguished from lopping, 158
„ of reserves in regeneration cuttings, 29
,, dead branches in spruce and silver fir, 107
Psamma arenaria used in fixing the Dunes, 251
Pyrenean oak, reproduction of, in coppice, 114
Q
Quarre, in treatment of Cluster pine, 257 et sq^.
INDEX. 279
R
Regeneration cuttings, general remarks upon, 26
,, „ primary, 27
,, „ secondary, 29
,, „ final, 31
,, ,, in conversion, 180
Regular crop defined, 4
Reserve, the, in a cutting, 5
Reserves, 5
Resin, tapping of Cluster pine for, 254 et sc[C[.
,, prices of crude, 261
„ -tapper, wages of, 261
Rich sand, 16
„ soils, 16
Roots of seedlings, treatment of, 227
Rosin, black, how prepared, 262
„ white, „ „ 262
Rotation defined, 2
„ length of, in simple coppice, 114
,, in coppice with standards, 136
Rules for locating cuttings, 188 et sqc[.
S
Sandy soils, characters of, 14
Saplings defined, 4
Sartage in the Ardennes, 124
Saw, use of, in coppice, 118
Scotch pine, habitat, 82
,, peculiarities of growth, 83
uses, 83
rotation, 84
regeneration, 84
improvement cuttings, 86
natural versus artificial crops of, 87
species associated with, 90
treatment of, by selection, 105
number of seeds in given weight or volume, 215
age at which to put out seedlings, 229
test for seeds of, 239
quantity of seed to sow per acre, 240
as first timber orop on bare wastes, 245
used in fixing Baltic Dunes, 266
Seed, quantity to sow in nursery bed, 215
per acre, 240
Seedling, a complete, meaning of, 30
Seedling defined, 2
Seedlings divided into classes, 221
,, cutting taproot of, in nursery, 223
„ extraction and transport of, 224
280
INDEX.
Seeds, selection, harvesting, and preservation of, 204
,, examination of, 207
,, soaking of, previous to sowing, 214
„ connection between volume and weight, 215
Selection method, what it is, 96
its value, 97
transformation of forests worked by, 98
when to be maintained, 101
application of, to silver fir and beech, 102
,, to spruce fir, 103
„ to hardy species, 104
general rales for, 105
Shade defined, 5
,, effect of, G
Shoot defined, 2
Shoots, origin of, 112
Shrub defined, 2
Silver fir, habitat, 75
peculiarities of growth, 75
uses, 76
rotation, 77
regeneration cuttings, 77
improvement cuttings, 78
special remarks upon, 79
how raised in nurseries, 216
and beech mixed, treatment of, 80
advantages of, 80
rotation, 81
regeneration cuttings, 81
improvement cuttings, 82
worked by selection, 102
seeds of, when gathered, 205
,, require special care, 208
„ number in given weight or volume, 215
,, quantity to sow per acre, 240
Simple coppice defined, 110
in Prance, 111
when profitable, 111
standards in, 122
maintenance operations, 123
cleanings, 123
application to oak, 124
,, to beech, 128
,, to sweet chestnut, 130
„ to alder, 131
„ to mixed species, 131
Situation defined, 1
Slip defined, 204
Slipping, 246
Small seedlings defined, 221
INDEX. 281
Small seedlings, when used, 221
Soft woods defined, 5
Soil, influence of, on climate, 8
role it plays with regard to plants, 12
physical properties of, 12
mineral composition of, 12
preparation of, in nurseries, 211
,, in direct sowings, 231
Soils, properties of clay, 13
,, limestone, 13
,, sandy, 14
classified according to amount of moisture, 15
stiff and light, 15
cold and warm, 15
rich and poor, 16
marly, 16
Sowing versus planting, 201
,, in nurseries, 213
,, direct, 231
preparation of soil, 231
surface firing, 234
draining, 235
season for, 230
method employed, 237
quantity of seed to use, 238
,, operations in fixing the Dunes, 252
Soutrage, 256
Species defined, 2
„ two principal groups, 16
„ list of, 268
Spindle tree counted as brushwood, 5
Spruce fir, natural method inapplicable to, 91
treatment of, by selection, 103
seeds of, when gathered, 205
,, number in given weight or volume, 215
,, fraudulently mixed with Scotch pine seeds, 239
age at which to put out seedlings of, 229
quantity of seed to sow per acre, 240
Standards in simple coppice, 122
in coppice with standards, 133
classification of, 134
choice of, 134
number of, 138
distribution of, 146
pruning of, 158
Stiff soils, 15
Stool, species reproduced freely from the, 114
Stools, on, term when used, 4
Streunutzung, 256
Sucker defined, 2
282 INDEX.
Suckers, value of, 113, 136
„ species that send up, 114
Surface firing in oak coppice (Ardennes), 124
,, in direct sowings, 234
Surface water, effect of, on climate, 7
Sweet chestnut, why suited for simple coppice, 111
,, treatment of, in simple coppice, 130
Sylviculture denned, 1
Tall seedlings defined, 221
,, when to be used, 221
Taproot, treatment of, in nurseries, 223
Tapping of Cluster pine for resin, 254 et sq%.
Teller, 134, 135
Tellers, how to distinguish coppice shoots from, 135
Temperate climate defined, 11
Tire et aire, method known as, 92
„ ,, disadvantages of, 93
,, „ advantages of, 95
Thicket defined, 4
Thinnings, principal object of, 36
definition of, 36
method of. See Natural Method.
classification of, 37
leaf-canopy to be preserved in, 37
reasons for preserving leaf-canopy, 37
when to be repeated, 39
periodical, 40
last, 41
special character of, in mixed forests, 41
advantages of, 42
in coppice with standards, 152
in conversion operations, 183
Thorns counted as brushwood, 5
Topsoil defined, 1
Transplanting into nursery lines, 221
„ frame, 222
Transport of produce from a cutting, 191
„ of seedlings, 224
Treatment, methods of, what is meant by, 3
Tree defined, 2
Trenching in nurseries, 212
Turpentine, spirits of, obtained from resin of Cluster pine, 262
U
Ulmus diffusa to be rejected from mixed forests, 66
Underwood defined, 5
INDEX. 283
V
Vegetable mould defined, 2
,, as a forest soil, 14
Very cold climate defined, 12
Volatile oils obtained from resin of Cluster pine, 263
W
Wastes denned, 5
,, method of re-wooding, by sowing, 24.^
Water, effects of surface, on climate, 7
Watering nursery plants, 218
Watery vapour, danger of, 7
Weeding of nursery beds, 219
Weymouth pine, number of seeds in given weight or volume, 215
Willows, reprodu.ction in coppice, 114
,, seed of, hard to preserve, 214
Windfall denned, 5
Winds, belt of trees for protection against, 40, 127, 194
Working circle defined, 3
„ when said to be regular, 3
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