THE BROAD-LEAVED TREES 159 



sides of streams. They are usually propagated from cuttings 

 or from suckers, and are rapid growers. The leaves of poplars 

 are much eaten by the larvae of many species of moths, but 

 no great amount of damage is done. The timber is bored by 

 the goat-moth caterpillar. The small poplar longicorn beetle 

 (Saperda popitlncd) does a considerable amount of damage to 

 young plants. Fungi do no serious damage. 



Sweet or Spanish Chestnut (Castanea vesca). 



A native of Southern Europe, it was probably introduced 

 into Great Britain by the Romans. It is a tree which should 

 be restricted to warm situations and low elevations, southern 

 or western aspects being best, though it does well on northern 

 aspects in the south of England. It is tender against frost, 

 and cannot withstand severe winter cold. It is a light- 

 demanding tree after early youth, but not so much so as the 

 oak. It stands a fair amount of shade till about twenty years 

 of age, and also when grown as coppice. It is storm-firm. It 

 does best on a deep, porous, fresh, and fertile soil, but can 

 grow on rather dry soils if deep ; it does not like wet or limy 

 soils, but will produce fair timber of small size on clays. 



It seldom produces good seed except in the south of 

 England, but it sends up very good stool shoots even from 

 old stools, and it is therefore a very good tree for coppices 

 and underwoods. It also produces suckers. It can be grown 

 as high forest, standards-over-coppice, and especially as 

 coppice. It should not be grown as a pure wood as high 

 forest except on short rotations and on good soil, but pure 

 coppices are allowable as, with a short rotation, it keeps up 

 the fertility of the soil. As high forest it is best grown in 

 groups mixed with beech and oak, while a mixture of larch 

 and chestnut is also good on a fertile soil. It is a rapid 

 grower and attains a large size, but large timber is usually 

 much shaken, and it is therefore best to cut it at an age of 

 forty to fifty years. As coppice it pays well on a rotation of 



