154 SYLVICULTURAL NOTES ON 



Holly (Ilex aqui folium}. 



A native of Central Europe. It is hardy, but does best 

 when sheltered. It is not particular as to aspect. It is a 

 great shade-bearer. It does best on a light, dry soil with 

 plenty of humus, and prefers soil containing lime. It seeds 

 well and produces good coppice shoots. It can hardly be 

 regarded as a useful forest tree and is usually grown for orna- 

 ment. It is, however, a very good plant for evergreen hedges. 

 Seeds should be treated like those of ash, as they do not ger- 

 minate till the second spring after ripening. 



Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus). 



A native of Great Britain and Central Europe, it is generally 

 a tree of low lands and low hills. It is hardy, and will do better 

 than other species in cold, damp situations ; it prefers north and 

 east aspects. It is a good shade-bearer, but not so good as beech. 

 It does best on a loose, fresh, rich, and fairly deep soil, but it will 

 succeed on soils of most descriptions and is useful on a heavy 

 clay. It seeds and coppices well. It can be grown as a pure 

 wood either as high forest or as coppice, but is hardly valuable 

 enough to be grown on a large scale. Its chief use in Great 

 Britain is as a substitute for beech for mixing with or under- 

 planting woods of light-demanding species on heavy clays or 

 in very frosty places. It also makes an excellent hedge. It 

 can be cut at any age up to 100 years in high forest, and at from 

 fifteen to thirty-five years as coppice. It reaches a height of 

 50 to 60 feet. It suffers but little from insects and fungi. 



Horse-chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum}. 



A native of Greece and parts of Asia. It is a hardy tree, 

 and grows on any aspect, but its branches are often broken by 

 wind in exposed situations. It will bear a light shade. It 

 does best on a good, rich, loamy, fairly dry soil. It is used as 

 an ornamental tree, and is not valuable enough to be grown in 

 woods, its timber being soft and not durable ; it might, how- 

 ever, become valuable for the manufacture of wood-pulp. It 



