=3. What time should elapse between each thinning?=—This can only be correctly decided after a careful inspection of the particular wood. Generally speaking, after the first thinning, when the trees were eight years old, the lower branches gradually began to give way, and as the trees increased in height, this became more and more apparent, and formed a good guide as to the time which should elapse before the second thinning might profitably be engaged in. The intervals between the various thinnings should for the first thirty years in the case of Larch—and, indeed, most other trees—be comparatively short, but become longer with advance of age; but heavy thinnings must be carefully avoided, especially if the best class of coniferous timber is to be produced. A well-managed Larch plantation of twenty years’ growth should have the trees branchless for about one-half of their height, which is, of course, brought about by crowding, and at forty years three-fourths of the trunk should be clear of branches. I have purposely abstained from giving the number of feet apart at which trees ought to stand at various stages of their growth, and the number of thinnings they require, as being likely to prove misleading. =4. The question as to which trees should be removed= need cause little or no anxiety, as the dead, dying, diseased, and badly-formed will naturally receive first attention. In thinning, the following short rules should be observed:— 1. Thin not at all until the undergrowing vegetation has been completely killed out by the overhead foliage, the golden rule of sylviculture being to keep the sunshine off the ground until near the end of the tree’s career. 2. Thinning should be performed in such a manner as not to reduce the value of the crop, but so as to tend to the production of the greatest quantity of the most valuable timber in the shortest possible space of time. 3. By thinning allow of sufficient light and air to prevent the trees becoming drawn up and lanky, but avoid too much space, which induces the growth of side branches and detracts from the value of the timber. 4. Keep up the number of trees to the highest possible pitch until they are tall, straight and clean, and thin gradually. 5. The danger of suddenly exposing the trees to currents of cold air to which they have hitherto been unaccustomed must be carefully guarded against and it is a serious mistake to thin in an abrupt or unequal manner. 6. In thinning remove all dead and dying trees first, then the distorted and stunted, the best grown and healthiest being preserved for the permanent crop. 7. Hard-wooded trees require proportionately more space for development than conifers, and the annual rings in the timber of the latter should be narrow in proportion to those of the former, good quality of hard-wooded timber being indicated by broad annual rings, but with coniferous wood the reverse is the case.