176 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



its share of the growing space. The lines of larch become the 

 conspicuous feature of the young plantation, and give shelter 

 to the adjoining lines of oak and beech. It may be said that as 

 soon as the nurse trees begin to do good to some of the young 

 oaks by their shelter, they also begin to injure others by their 

 side shade. From the fifth year until the last of the larch are 

 cut out, the plantation requires close attention and care, directed 

 to obtaining the maximum benefit from shelter, and the minimum 

 injury from side shade. The whole tending of the wood at this 

 stage has for its object the development of a large number of 

 healthy young oaks, from which the most valuable part of 

 the future crop will be selected. The beech needs little 

 attention — the plants which stand alternate with larch in 

 every third line may be in danger of suppression, but they 

 are easily protected by shortening back the branches of 

 the larch. 



To describe the early tending of the plantation in more detail : 

 up to the fifth year after planting, little attention is necessary, 

 except where strong-growing weeds have to be kept down. 

 About the fifth year, self-sown birch may begin to give trouble, 

 and if it is in any considerable quantity it can be cut for sale 

 to steel works at a price which will more than cover the expense. 

 At the same time, any badly grown larch are cut out and burnt, 

 and strong-growing side branches are pruned back where 

 interfering with the young oaks. 



In the sixth year some more pruning of side branches may be 

 necessary. In the seventh to eighth year it often becomes 

 necessary to reduce the number of larch where the oaks are 

 suffering from their shade ; sometimes a very severe pruning 

 is all that is needed. In the ninth year at least half of the 

 remaining larch are removed, giving some 350 pit-wood poles 

 per acre. The remainder of the larch are cut out in the tenth 

 and eleventh years, giving another 300 to 350 poles per acre 

 of rather larger size. At the present prices the return from 

 these early thinnings is not negligible; and although a much 

 larger return could be obtained by allowing some of the larch 

 to stand for three or four years longer, this gain would be at 

 the expense of the future crop of oak and beech, which must 

 suffer if any appreciable number of larch are retained in the 

 crop after the eleventh year. As a rule, any larch remaining 

 after the eleventh year will be younger trees which have 



