ARBORICULTURE IN HAMPSHIRE. 47 



smallest thinnings can be disposed of at remunerative prices, 

 we may calculate on selling 2700 at a profit. This, however, can 

 only be expected in favourable situations, and where hares and 

 rabbits do not prevail. It is disputed among practical foresters 

 whether the ash or the larch is the most profitable crop in a 

 given number of years. Some uphold the ash, others the larch, 

 and others maintain that a combination of the two gives the best 

 results. Much depends on the nature and condition of the soil. 

 Cool, moist, loamy soil, in which ash luxuriates, is not suited 

 for a healthy crop of larch, and vice versa. If the crops in each 

 case are equally adapted to the surrounding circumstance, then the 

 locality in which they are grown will exert a controlling influence 

 on the final results. A larch crop under favourable conditions is 

 undoubtedly the most profitable in Scotland, yet in the south of 

 England the case is occasionally reversed. Larch commands a 

 ready sale in this county, but prices are not so well sustained 

 where the local demand is limited, as where there is easy access to 

 collieries. If large consumers are distant front the plantations, 

 the expense of transit limits competition, and depreciates the value 

 of the timber. Consequently larch, though easily disposed of, does 

 not command such prices as in the mining districts of the north. 

 Again, ash thinnings are put to more varied uses in England 

 than in Scotland. The suitability of ash to various industries 

 causes a continually increasing demand at advancing prices. 

 During the past five years the price has advanced 5d. per cubic foot, 

 and the value of small thinnings in a proportionate ratio. In the 

 same period the price of larch has only advanced 2d. per foot, and 

 small poles have not altered in value. Thus we must con- 

 sider the locality in which the crop is to be grown when 

 deciding these respective crops. The following statement 

 shows the approximate value of an acre of ash in Hamp- 

 shire in seventy years. We suppose the trees are planted at 

 3J feet apart, and allowing for 800 casualties, we have 2700 for 

 thinnings. 



