OF OTHEE SPECIES THAN OAK. 213 



On various estates we have observed some deciduous planta- 

 tions,especially when planted in the form of clumps and Ijelts for 

 shelter on exposed situations, and thinnish soils where the trees 

 make little progress in their growth after they rise above the 

 natural shelter of the district. We have frequently valued such 

 trees, and found that on an average they were not worth more 

 than Is. 3d. per tree, or L.15, 2s. 6d. per acre, even after more 

 than forty years' growth, while in the same district, with a similar 

 soil, we have found an acre of coppice, twenty years old, to yield 

 20 tons at 14s. per ton, thus being a balance of L.13 per acre in 

 favour of two crops of coppice, which conclusively proves that 

 not a few of these ill-thriven plantations might Ije prolltably 

 converted into natural coppice. 



We wish it to be distinctly understood that we are not recom- 

 mending the planting of ground, or even the converting of plan- 

 tations into a natural coppice where the soil is suited for the 

 growth of larch, Scots, or spruce firs. Our remarks apply more 

 to those portions of woodland that are naturally not capable of 

 growing so profitably full sized timber as natural coppice. To 

 carry out what we recommend, the essential materials are gene- 

 rally already partly in existence, and all that is needed is to 

 adopt a judicious system of conservation. 



Having thus shortly mentioned some of the situations where 

 natural coppice may be profitably grown, we will now notice 

 the trees that are the best suited for its production. The birch 

 is unquestionably one of the most suitable trees. It thrives on 

 a great variety of soils and situations, even on very damp, cold, 

 bleak exposures ; it grows faster than any other tree for the first 

 twenty years of its growth, and numerous shoots spring freely 

 from the stools after the trees are cut. In almost every district 

 of Scotland there is always a good demand for birch, for the 

 manufacture of gunpowder, clogs, and bobbin-wood, &c. In 

 Glasgow the thinnings of birch sell well as wands, and rods for 

 crate making, and the prunings ahvays meet with a ready sale 

 for besoms. 



Tlie alder is another tree well adapted for coppice wood, for 

 which there is always a ready sale for purposes similar to the 

 birch. It grows rapidly as a coppice, and sends out shoots freely 

 from old stools, even though in very damp indifferent soil. It 

 is not such a hardy and profitable tree as the birch for dry thin 

 soils and exposed situations, but it is superior for marshy gulleys 

 that cannot be properly drained. When coppice plantations are 

 to be planted at first, or even in filling up blanks in older plan- 

 tations, we would strongly recommend the planting of the silver 

 alder, Alnus incana, in preference to the common variety, Almis 

 glutmosa, as the former grows much faster, and continues to 

 thrive to a greater age. After being five or six years planted, it 



