HEDGEROW AND FIELD TIMBER. 555 
for such an operation, unless the work is timely and carefully per- 
formed. In some of the midland English counties the elm is kept 
closely pruned up from its infancy, the practice being supposed to 
favour the production of tough, gnarled timber. As the lower 
branches particularly seldom spread to a great extent, and are not 
usually very abundant near the ground, the English elm is thus 
well adapted either for hedgerow planting or standing singly in 
fields and parks, which, combined with the shelter it affords and 
quality of timber produced, as well as ornamental character, renders 
it one of the best trees for use in the places under consideration. 
The British oak (Quercus Robur) is of about equal value with 
the elm for hedgerow planting ; indeed, by careful manipulation, it 
is even superior to that tree, being, perhaps, less injurious to the 
herbage beneath it, while its roots have a much greater downward 
tendency than those of the elm. As an ornamental tree and valu- 
able timber producer, the oak requires no praise from us, these 
qualities having been well set off from almost the earliest date. 
It bears pruning with impunity, so that all ungainly or far 
spreading branches can be cut back or foreshortened at pleasure ; 
while those near to the ground, and that in any way interfere with 
the fence or crops, can, by judicious management, be altogether 
removed, not only with advantage to those latter, but, when care- 
fully performed, with increased value to the tree as a timber pro- 
ducer. 
Any soil suits the oak ; but the first and clearest timber is pro- 
duced on strong, deep loam, and in partially sheltered situations, 
the tree usually assuming a stunted, many-branched habit of growth 
where fully exposed and growing in poor, thin soils. Several 
varieties of the oak are equally well adapted for hedgerow or field 
planting, more particularly such as have a partially upright inclina- 
tion and are of strong robust growth. 
The Lombardy poplar (Populus fastigiata).—Although of but 
little value as a timber producer, yet, as an ornamental tree of 
singular habit and appearance, the Lombardy poplar is certainly 
unique amongst our hardy, deciduous trees. When planted in 
judiciously arranged clumps in the corners of fields, or singly in the 
hedgerows, this poplar produces a most pleasing effect in the land- 
scape ; and being of close, fastigiate growth, is not in the least 
injurious to crops in its immediate vicinity. 
No tree is, however, more readily misplaced than the one in 
question ; and, in planting, it is well to avoid the prevalent mistake 
