• Penistan, M.J.
  Forestry Commision, UK
  

Quality is given by cleanness in timber, an even rate of growth, close rings, and freedom from coarseness in texture and knottiness. The quality of crops depends much on the type of thinning. The value of crown thinning from an early age is stressed, if a narrow core of wider rings and, therefore, a steady growth of constant ring width is required.

After the species has been chosen there is no question of quality versus quantity, as total yields vary little with thinning methods. Attention is drawn to the superior quality of timber grown in under-planting.

The prescription for growing quality timber can be summed up as: Careful choice of species; thinning to concentrate growth on the finest, not the largest stems; and control of early growth and heavy branching by interplanting or planting in forest conditions.