60 FORESTRY 



choose for the underwood, species, which, besides stooling out 

 well, can tolerate a certain amount of shade. The Horn- 

 beam, Lime, and Hazel are all very suitable for such use, 

 and serve the good purpose of soil-protection. Very com- 

 monly the harvesting of the underwood takes place each ten 

 to twenty years. 



Practically all coniferous and broad-leaved trees occur as 

 standards, but amongst the most suitable are Oak, Sycamore, 

 Ash, Birch, and Larch. The Beech is by nature quite 

 unfit for this purpose. 



As woods treated under this system are largely made use 

 of as game preserves, it is. nearly always necessary to use 

 saplings where fresh plants have to be introduced. 



CHAPTER V 

 TENDING OF WOODS 



IN the management of growing woods, attention must be 

 given not only to the immediate wants of a crop, but also to 

 the preservation of the fertility of the soil. 



There is an intimate relationship between the forest and 

 the forest soil. The former is very much what the covering 

 of leaf mould makes it. Leaves, needles, and dead twigs, 

 cast down by the trees, form a mulch of decomposed and 

 decomposing organic matter. Gardeners have long recognised 

 the value of this mulch, or humus, as it is generally called, 

 and it is as precious to the forester as to the gardener. It 

 supplies plant food in a form pleasing to the tree, it retains 

 moisture in the soil and absorbs it from a damp atmosphere, 

 it renders a stiff soil porous, and to an over-loose soil it gives 

 cohesion. 



Forests should both produce and protect the humus. The 

 maintenance of a dense cover of trees, forming a canopy 



