TREES BEST ADAPTED FOR VARIOUS SOILS. 257 
have done well, while Pinus Laricio and P. austriaca grow freely. 
I find that a large number of the recently introduced conifers do 
well on prepared peat bog—that is, where a quantity of loam 
has been incorporated with the bog, and all superfluous moisture 
drained away. 
Chalky Soils.—The Beech is peculiarly well suited for planting 
in chalk districts, for it will grow and produce a large quantity 
of timber where but a few inches of loam overlie the chalk—a 
fact exemplified in Holwood Park, Kent, where trees containing 
fully 200 cubic feet of wood, with stems girthing over 20 feet, 
may be seen. It is a fact that, in order to find where the chalk 
beds lie, one has only to be guided by the line traced out by the _ 
largest and most luxuriant beeches. As to planting the beech 
on pure chalk, or where no surface soil exists, I would not think 
of doing so, at least if the production of timber was of importance. 
The beech will no doubt grow on pure chalk; but where we have 
noticed it doing best is where loam, from 1 foot to 3 feet in depth, 
overlies the chalk, or is incorporated with it. In several instances 
that have come under my notice lately in stubbing out old field 
boundaries, this was the only hardwood tree that had attained to 
a respectable size of the many natural or planted kinds; but in 
some parts the chalk cropped through, while no part had more 
than 3 or 4 inches of loam or clay overlying the chalk. 
The Norway Maple (Acer platanoides) revels in a chalky soil, 
and so does A. colchicum rubrum, which are both handsome, hardy, 
large-growing trees, and well suited for extensive forest planting 
under certain conditions of soil. White Poplar (Populus alba) is 
an excellent tree for planting in chalky districts—indeed it is 
surprising to see to what an immense size it attains on almost 
pure chalk. Where but little soil covers the chalk, however, it 
does not attain to so large dimensions as where there is a depth 
of 2 feet or so; but it will grow to a fair size even on the hard, 
dry chalk, where a particle of soil is scarcely seen. Other 
poplars that do almost equally well on the chalk formation are 
P. monilifera and P, canadensis, both excellent free-growing trees. 
Elms, particularly the Huntingdon and the American, grow 
rapidly, and attain to a large size, where but a small quantity of 
loam is present in the chalk. The Wych elm grows freely in 
chalky districts, and I was surprised, some days ago, to notice it 
growing on the side of a chalk pit in only 7 inches of gravelly 
loam. The Lime grows very freely, and attains to large size, 
