SUITED FOR PLANTING. 295 



■whole they must he classed among trees that need niiKjh sunlight, 

 and have light foliage. Where they grow in shade, the ground 

 must be exceedingly favourable. For this reason they are not 

 met with in extensive pure timber forests, but often on rich soils, 

 especially lime, scattered among beeches, singly or in groups. 



As standards in composition forests they (especially the 

 sycamore) yield a wood much valued for cabinetmaking and 

 carving ; here they thrive on suitable soil, and do not injure the 

 underwood by casting too much shadow on it. Even as part of 

 the coppice they return a good revenue, for they produce numer- 

 ous shoots from the stool, and are not so much injured by shade 

 as the ash or elm. 



Among underwood and in coppice woods we find with the 

 maple and sycamore the Norway maple {Acer canvpestris), a tree 

 of the tiiird, rarely of the second class. (The third class includes 

 all trees not usually exceeding a height of 30 feet ; the second 

 class, from 30 to (30 feet ; and the first class, from 60 feet 

 upwards). The maples are not, however, to be looked for in pure 

 coppice woods, but rather with oak, ash, elm, hornbeam, beech, 

 lime, hazel, Cornus sangiiinea, Bhamnus frangula, &c., &c. 

 Their culture is rewarded on fresh, strong mineral soils, such as 

 lime, basalt, &c. ; in other words, over those soils which are best 

 suited for the beech, although even on the better, fresher 

 varieties of the hunter sandstein they rarely occur. A high 

 degree of moisture the maples .do not, on the whole, bear so well 

 as the ash and the elm. 



The maple grows chiefly on low hilly land and on plains, and 

 extends further north than the sycamore, which seeks the more 

 mountainous districts, and grows at higher elevations. The 

 former, although preferring a strong mineral soil, and there 

 often found with the sycamore, thrives also on fresh, mild 

 loams, and even on the better moist varieties of sand, if rich in 

 vegetable mould. The sycamore makes gTcater claims on the 

 soil in mineral strength and moisture than the maple. In 

 mountain districts, {e.g. Lauterberger Eevier am Harz), they 

 are more frequently met with on the cool, fresh north and east 

 slopes than on south or west aspects. In dry exposed situations, 

 or very near the sea, neither of the maples shows a lively growth. 



Elm {Ulmus). — The wood of the elm has always been highly 

 prized, on account of its fine colour and texture, and of the 

 length of time it endures exposure to the atmosphere. 

 / ^ Of the numerous varieties the English elm {U. campestris) and 

 the spreading elm ( U. effma) are chiefly seen in the woods, the 

 cork elm {U. suberosci), and the Wych elm {U. montana) being 



ss common. The cork elm is generally regarded as a variety 

 U. campestris. 



The English elm ( U. campestris) has the most extensive range. 



