THE NEW FORESTRY. 9 1 



extent to which second-rate species may be used should be 

 carefully considered. The rule should be not to mix all 

 the species in equal proportions, but to give preference to the 

 most valuable species, and keep the strongest-growing and 

 perhaps least valuable species within bounds. The oak, ash, 

 and sycamore, for example, might be the most profitable crop, 

 and should be planted in largest proportion ; fewest of the 

 elm, lime, and pines, and fewest of all of the spruce. The 

 larch does as well in a mixed wood as anywhere, and it is 

 always safe to plant a good proportion of it. 



SECTION VI. GROUPED WOODS. 



These may be regarded as a kind of compromise between 

 pure and mixed woods, and are composed of groups of distinct 

 species running from one rood to an acre or thereabout in 

 extent As yet, systematically grouped woods are not com- 

 mon. Their advantages are that when the land to be planted 

 varies in quality and depth, etc., portions perhaps good, others 

 poor, or wet, the species may be selected accordingly. Oak, 

 ash, elm, sycamore, and the like could occupy the good spots ; 

 poplar, willow and spruce the lower and moister situations ; 

 and the beech and pines the driest and poorer soils, as they 

 make the least demand on the soil for food Grouped woods 

 also afford scope for planting a greater number of species than 

 the general mixture system does, because if a patch of any 

 species fails, it can be cleared and re-planted without encroach- 

 ing on the rest of the wood. Many species of our exotic firs 

 might be tested as timber-trees on the grouping system and 

 in a practical manner, quite out of the question in the garden 

 or park. Where game preservation is carried on, the grouped 

 wood would also be found to possess greater attractions for 

 the feathered tribe than any other, if groups of suitable species 

 like the spruce, yew, low cover, and coppice were also intro- 

 duced in some proportion. 



