100 THE NEW FORESTRY. 



oak prefers a good deep soil, but will succeed and, in time, 

 become a very large tree in the poorest soils up to one 

 thousand feet elevation in Yorkshire. 



TURKEY OAK. Quercus cerris. Since the first edition of 

 this book was published, I have seen many fine examples of 

 this oak, and that, together with the favourable account from 

 other countries, has induced me to give it a place here. The 

 tree is as hardy as the common oak, grows twice as fast, and 

 the wood is hardly inferior to an English oak for many pur- 

 poses. It is used in our dock-yards for ship-building, and is 

 the chief timber employed for that purpose in those European 

 countries where it abounds. The tree is, besides, almost an 

 ever-green, and may often be seen green in this country in 

 December a quality "which should recommend it for cover 

 planting. I am of opinion that there would be no risk in 

 planting it with the common oak, in equal proportions, where, 

 owing to its fast growth, it would yield an early supernumerary 

 crop. In some parts of England it is said to produce a tree 

 one hundred feet high, with a trunk four feet in diameter in 

 80 years. It is a tree of robust growth wherever the common 

 oak will succeed, and its rapid growth to plank dimensions is 

 a strong recommendation in its favour. For a crop of small 

 poles of saleable dimensions, in a short rotation, it would 

 probably be a profitable tree. 



ASH, COMMON. Fraxinus excelsior. A tall, quick-growing 

 tree, succeeding best in mixed woods, but becoming stunted 

 and bark-bound on poor, dry ground. It likes a fairly moist 

 soil and shelter. Ash timber is always in good demand, and 

 is saleable from a small size at from ninepence to one shilling 

 per cubic foot ; large butts fetching from one shilling and 

 sixpence to two shillings per foot. It comes very late into 

 leaf, casts little shade, and is a good plantation tree, producing 

 a trunk of exceptional length, free from breaks, sometimes 

 overtopping the oak. It may be under-planted with beech and 

 the common spruce, the two best shade-bearers, and should be 

 planted out the first or second year from seed, as older plants 

 get bark-bound and are long in moving. 



Ash timber is becoming scarce in this country. More than 

 a hundred years ago Marshall lamented the want of foresight 

 among planters in not planting more ash in " close plantations," 

 considering the multitude of purposes for which the wood was 

 used and its value. One certain cause of the scarcity is the 

 destruction of the tree by rabbits, trees of all ages being barked 

 and killed. There is no tree so liable to be attacked by these 



