84 METHODS OF TREATMENT 



Coppice is a wood consisting of shoots which have sprung 

 up from the stools of felled trees. From such a wood only 

 small produce is usually obtained, and broad-leaved trees alone 

 can be treated under this system. Coppice- with- standards, 

 copse, or stored coppice is a wood which consists partly of seed- 

 ling trees which usually form an overwood, and partly of 

 coppice shoots which usually form an underwood. From such 

 a wood both large and small produce is obtained, but the 

 timber is not usually so tall, straight, or clean as that obtained 

 from high forest. 



With regard to the rotation it is impossible to say, when 

 planting woods, at what age they will be exactly fit for the 

 axe, but we may assume that this will be approximately the 

 age at which we now find existing crops to be mature. 



At present the following rotations are about the most pro- 

 fitable : 



High Forest. 



Oak . . . 120 to 150 years. 

 Beech . . . 100 to 120 years in most places. 

 ... 80 to 90 years in some places. 



Ash, maple, sycamore, elm, and chestnut, 60 to 90 years. 

 Conifers . . 60 to 80 years. 



Coppice. 



Alder and chestnut 20 to 25 years. 



Oak . . . 30 to 35 years. 



Hazel . . . 8 to 15 years. 



Osiers ... i year. 



The length of the rotation depends greatly on the local 

 demand ; when, for instance, conifers can be sold as pit-wood, 

 a rotation of forty years can be adopted, while where small 

 stuff cannot be sold the rotation must be sixty or seventy 

 years at least. 



In coppices where fuel cannot be sold it is usually best to 

 have as long a rotation as possible up to the age beyond 



