CHAPTER III 



PURE AND MIXED WOODS 



WHEN species suitable for the soil and situation have been 

 chosen it is necessary to decide whether the plantation shall 

 be pure or mixed. A pure wood is one where a single species 

 is grown, while if there are two or more species the wood is 

 a mixed one. 



Opinions differ to a certain extent as to whether pure or 

 mixed woods are the best, but, as a general rule, over 

 a large area it is best to have mixed woods, for the following 

 reasons : 



1. Over a large area the soil and climate probably vary, 

 and if the whole is planted up with one species the growth 

 will be unequal. If, on the other hand, a mixed wood is 

 planted, each spot can be stocked with the species which 

 appears likely to do best, and therefore every part of the 

 forest will be utilized to the utmost extent, and the financial 

 returns are likely to be better than if the whole area contained 

 one species only. 



2. Better timber of the valuable light-demanders like ash, 

 larch, and oak can be produced if these species are grown 

 mixed with shade-bearing trees, like beech, than if grown 

 pure, because they obtain the benefits of the humus thrown 

 by the shade-bearer, and because their branches are naturally 

 pruned. 



Moreover, a larger outturn per acre is usually obtained 

 from such a mixture, as the light which filters through the 

 crowns of the light-demanders is utilized by the shade- 

 bearers. 



3. If a light-demander is grown pure, the soil will, after 



