Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-10-13
Scientific Forestry.

There is no mvStery in the scientific
cultivation of forests, 80 far as concerns
the tillsge of the crop. ALI that is need
ed is to observe the action of nature In
the forest, and follow it, or utilize i,
advantageously, when that can be done.
The object Of the cultivation should be
to obtain the utmost possible advantage
from the soil by keeping it always GOV
cred with growth Of trees; and, wher
the trees arrive at maturity, to remove
them in such a manner, that the small.
est possible interruption may be caused
to the productive work Of nature.
When the time has come for the remov.
al of the timber, the ground should OF
no account be anywhere all cleared Of
trees at, once; but commencement
should be made by telling tree here
and there, and so breaking the thick
cover OF the forest as to allow sufficient
light and air to reach the ground, and
cause the seed which has fallen to ger.
inmate. In this way about one-fifth Of
the mature trees should be removed
every i've or six years, never by making
large gaps in the cover, but taking a
tree here and there, and always leaving
the finest and most vigorous trees till
the last, so that in about thirty years
the whole of the old trees will be cleared
of, and new forest established in thei,
place. Thus the seeding of the wood
will be effected by the agency of the
finest trees, which will be themselves
all the while increasing in bulk, and the
productive power of the soil will be util-
lied to the fullest possible amount. It
Is not only in the removal of the timber
and the reproduction of the forest that
we ought to study the action of nature.
but it is equally necessary that we
should do so IN the telling for improv-
ing the growing crop, or, as it is COM
monty called, the thinning. The COM
petition between trees after they reach
their full height, at half their full age, is
for space to spread their heads; and
from this time, till they arrive at matur-
ity, they go on always augmenting the
diamenter Of their stems, but at the
same time decreasing in number. It is
calculated that, if sixteen hundred trees
of four inches in diameter can stand and
thrive on an acre of ground, there will
not be more than four hundred of them
when the trees have grown to eight in
ches, two hundred when they have
reached twelve inches, and between one
hundred and one hundred and forty
when they attained sixteen inches in
diameter. Little is to be done in the
earlier stages of a forests growth ex-
cept to keep the heads Of the most val
liable species from being overtopped by
those which stand near them; and this
can be done best, not by removing the
others, but by cutting Off or breaking
the tops; for it is desirable at this stage
for the sake of the natural pruning. to
have the trees growing as thickly to-
gether as possible. At later stage.
thinning can be judiciously arranged so
as to pass through the entire forest at
intervals of from ten to fifteen years, en-
abllng the whole area to be operated on
in turn. In executing these, the most
difficult of all forest operations, it will
be well to remember that the object is
to give room to the heads of the trees.
and not to their stems; for the stems
will never be too close together as long
as the heads have room properly to de-
velope themselves. The favoring of the
most promising trees, and the removal
of the weaker ones, together with the
preservation OF continuous shade to the
surface of the ground, while all the trees
have sufficient room to grow, should be
the particular ends aimed at.