CLIMATE AND SOIL 21 



this is not so; the previous crop consisted of fine tall oak, 

 which produced much-prized timber. The poor condition 

 of the present crop is due to different treatment, the woods 

 having been thinned heavily in order to produce knees and 

 crooks for the use of the Navy, in the days when the ships 

 were built of oak. This sort of timber is now valueless. 



3. Latitude, elevation, and aspect. These three factors of 

 the situation must be considered together, as upon them 

 depends the temperature of the local climate. Some trees 

 require warm situations, whilst others will flourish in cold, 

 breezy places; and in deciding what species to plant these 

 three factors are perhaps more important than any others. 

 However good the soil may be, no species will grow to timber 

 size if the climate is unsuited to it, while if the climate is 

 good a somewhat poor soil will often grow good timber. 



By latitude is meant the geographical position of the area 

 to be planted. Generally, we may say that the nearer one is 

 to the south of England, the warmer is the climate, while 

 as one proceeds towards the north of Scotland it gradually 

 becomes colder. As, however, the local climate, due to its 

 latitude, is modified very considerably by its elevation and 

 aspect, no general rule can be laid down regarding the species 

 to plant in any county, but roughly we may say that oak, 

 chestnut, common elm, ash, beech, sycamore, Weymouth pine, 

 Austrian pine, Corsican pine, and silver fir succeed best in the 

 south of England ; while larch, spruce, Scotch pine, wych- 

 elm and birch are more suited to the climate of Scotland. 

 At the same time there are many situations in Scotland where 

 the former trees will do well, and many in England where the 

 latter succeed. 



Regarding elevation, the higher up a mountain we go the 

 colder it gets, so that we should only plant hardy species on 

 high elevations. Below 1,000 feet above sea level all our forest 

 trees will do well if not too much exposed to high winds, if the 

 other factors of the climate and the soil are suitable. It is 



