SUITED FOR PLANTING. 



increase of growth takes place there, and also that the reproduc- 

 tion by natural means in most cases yields favourable results. 



In fresh, sheltered situations on lime the beech bears seed 

 early (commencing about the seventieth or ninetieth year), and 

 continues to do so at short intervals (three to five years), and in 

 abundance. Here also the fallen leaves soon become decom- 

 posed, and converted into humus, so that fellings preparatory to 

 a natural reproduction must not be begun until four to five years 

 before a seed-year is expected, and even then the surface of the 

 soil must be kept in the shade. Should this not be do'-e, the 

 soil soon becomes dry, and is overgrown with weeds, or gets 

 barren ; the improvement of such a soil, especially if on a steep 

 hillside, is one of the most difficult tasks that can be assigned 

 to the forester. Under the deep shade of the mother trees, the 

 seeds germinate abundantly, grow slowly, and bear the shade of 

 the old trees well. As the young plants are liable to suffer from 

 solar heat, the clearances must take place later than on clayey 

 soils. In mixed beech forests, where ash, maple, and elm occur, 

 the clearances must be made sooner, otherwise the latter suc- 

 cumb to the shade. 



Here, however, the clearance can be made either gradually, or, 

 if necessary, when the plants are 3 to 4 feet high, in one winter ; 

 for on lime the young beeches do not suffer so much from late 

 frosts as on sand. 



Poor, Shalloiu, Stony Soil. — The growth of the beech becomes 

 less favourable as the soil gets shallower, wanting in earthy 

 ingredients, and stoney (especially if the stones be quartz). 

 Under such circumstances, the stems are short, develop more 

 branches, bear fewer leaves, and have a shorter life; the soil 

 becomes more or less impoverished, and the difficulties of natural 

 reproduction are increased. Should this take place, many plants 

 die from the first summer's heat, and each successive summer 

 injures those remaining. Preparatory fellings must not be made 

 at all, or most cautiously; only such trees as are overgrown by 

 their neighbours should fall to the axe. The clearances must be 

 made soon after the reproduction, for the purpose of strengthen- 

 insf the vouno- underOTOwth, even at the risk of the ground 

 becoming overgrown with grass and other weeds. 



In such situations, the cultivation of the beech should not be 

 tried ; it is more profitable to plant the spruce fir {Picca excdsa), 

 because of its shallow rooting, and its contentment with poorer 

 soil. 



The Oak {Qucrcus scssiliflora and Q. pcchincnlata). — A century 

 or two ago the oak played a much more important part among 

 the forest trees than it now does. On the fertile plains, where it 

 once grew to gigantic dimensions on the deep diluvial and 

 alluvial [soils, the extensive oak forests have gradually been 



