MIXED AND PURE WOODS 45 



English scenery. A fine oak tree or a fine oak 

 wood is a source of legitimate pride to the owner. 

 Even from a financial point of view there is 

 much to be said for the planting of oak. No 

 doubt the present price of oak timber, unless 

 it is of the first quality, is very poor, but all 

 planting is to some extent a speculation, for no 

 one can foresee with certainty the price which 

 timber trees will produce in the future. The 

 varied qualities of oak — strength, elasticity, dura- 

 bility, and ease in working — ^make it one of the 

 most useful trees in the world, and there is a 

 reasonable ground for an expectation that it 

 may in the future greatly appreciate in value. 



Few, except rich men, can plant on any large 

 scale pure oak woods, but there are in most 

 properties opportunities of planting oak and 

 ash on small pieces of land which are better 

 adapted for them than for larch. 



Occasionally very small woods are made on 

 good land for the sake of game or for the im- 

 provement of the landscape. These might with 

 advantage be made of oak and ash. The profit 

 from such small woods, if there is any, is a 

 matter for the distant future, and the substitu- 

 tion of oak or ash for larch will not injure the 

 planter. 



