The Rural Voice, 1998-10, Page 336
species because of the extra growth
achieved in the crop tree but for less
valuable woods there won't be a
direct return, Millar said. However,
the process can pay back because of
improving the stand by encouraging
the higher value species instead of
lower value trees. Remember there
can be 400 trees to an acre at a young
age but by the time they're mature
them will only be 50-60, he said. By
early action a woodlot manager can
be sure that the most valuable trees
will be the survivors.
"I'm going to pick the high-value
species right now," he said. "Give the
growing space over to them. They're
going to occupy the canopy space.
They're going to be bigger. They're
going to be more vigorous and have a
better chance of making it in the
end."
Look at the economic value for
the whole stand, not just one
tree, he advised. If you can
help black cherry grow instead of
birch, you can realize a return of
nearly 400 per cent. Even if the
woodlot is made up of all one species
and there isn't a trade -up value in
replacing a low value species with a
high-value specie you can encourage
long, straight -stemmed trees that will
provide more logs instead of trees
with forked tops.
Pre -commercial thinning should
wait until the tree canopy is closed,
he said to make sure you're picking a
tree that has strong growth, not just
one that gets a quick start. "We like
to say 25 feet tall as a good rule of
thumb. If the trees are 25 feet tall and
there's a closed canopy we can
begin."
While he aims for 50-75 crop
trees per acre the number is variable,
Millar said. "If you walk through
your woods and you only find 10,
just release 10. Focus your
investment on the best trees."
Giving a tree at least three sides of
clear area to grow can dramatically
increase the performance of the tree
without necessarily reducing the
density of the stand of trees, Millar
said.
Whcn trees are large enough that
thinning involves cutting trees that
have some value you are "harvesting
mortality", Millar said. Since there
can only be about 60 trees per acre
when they are full sized, these trees
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