THE HEART OF THE COPSE 



Nature runs riot in the copses of May with a peculiar pro- 

 fusion and beauty. Copses occupy large tracts in most of 

 the southern counties, and are a peculiar modification of the 

 original wild growths of the spot. Their strict designation 

 in forestry is ' coppice with standards,' and the meaning of the 

 term becomes obvious when we examine a wood of this kind. 

 Coppice or copsewood means wood that is cut, from the French 

 couper; and the ash and hazel rods and the other young 

 stems in the copses should be cut under a proper system of 

 management at regular periods, varying with the productive- 

 ness of the soil, on an average five or six years. Among the 

 lower copsewood stand dotted at intervals a number of sturdy 

 young oaks. These are the standards, and oaks were chosen 

 for cultivation in this way because they gave the most valu- 

 able timber when mature. Other trees were most profitable 

 when encouraged to send up a bunch of saplings every few 

 years from the old stools. This small copsewood was for- 

 merly in demand for many different purposes. It supplied 

 wattles for farm hurdles, ties for thatching, hoops for tubs, 

 casks and grocers' boxes, and fuel for bakers' ovens and 

 cottagers' hearths. Nowadays the demand for all this copse- 

 ware has greatly declined. The decline in corn-growing, 

 the use of Dutch barns, and the scarcity of thatchers, have 



