THE NEW FORESTRY. 157 



the light, and beneath the leafy canopy one walked, as it 

 might be, through a vast natural vault, upheld by myriads of 

 rustic columns." 



To a large extent the Germans regulate their thinning 

 operations by the shade-enduring power of the different 

 species, a hitherto unrecognised factor in British forestry, but 

 to which much importance is attached on the Continent The 

 greater the shade-enduring power of any species, the greater 

 the density of crop may be, the greater the number of trees to 

 the acre and the greater the number of cubic feet. German 

 authorities, indeed, profess to give the shade-enduring power, 

 or " light requirement " of most species, but for all practical 

 purposes the forest trees requiring special notice in this respect 

 may be divided into four classes, viz., the beech and hornbeam, 

 as compared with the oak and ash, etc. ; and the spruces as 

 compared with the pines. That is to say, the beech being a 

 better shade-bearer than the oak or ash, it will stand crowding 

 better, as also will the spruces compared to the pines. But 

 the practical results go further than this in computing the final 

 crop. According to Schlich, vol. i., p. 168, an acre of beech 

 at maturity contains a greater volume of timber than does the 

 ash or oak, and the spruces a greater volume than the Scotch 

 fir. In the case of the spruces and pines, Schlich gives the 

 following figures, " which give the average growing stock per 

 fully-stocked acre at the age of one hundred and twenty 

 years, in localities of the first quality in each case " : 



Silver Fir ... ... 17,400 cubic feet per acre. 



Spruce I4>5 



Scotch Pine ... ... 9,780 



These figures are suggestive, as regards the great advantage 

 which shade-enduring power gives one species over another, 

 and the comparative productiveness of the pine and spruce. 

 They are also a guide for the thinner, whether dealing with 

 mixed or pure plantations, showing him that the room required 

 by each species need not be regulated by the rule-of-thumb 

 practice of giving all the trees equal space, but by their power 

 to bear crowding. A beech or a spruce in a mixed wood may 

 be crushed, but an oak or a birch may not be to the same 

 extent. 



