54 ENGLISH WOODLANDS 



itself continuously by natural reproduction, but 

 in England the susceptibility to disease and the 

 inability to reproduce itself by natural seedlings 

 indicate that there is a diminution of vitality in 

 the plants and that the climate and soil are 

 less suitable than in Switzerland. The com- 

 paratively high winter temperature and the 

 dampness of the English climate induce a quicker 

 growth than on the Continent, and this quicker 

 growth may impose so great a strain on the soil 

 that soil exhaustion in England is in a few 

 years greater than after centuries in Switzerland. 

 Also, the climate of England may be advantage- 

 ous to some destructive spores which exist in 

 the soil or stumps of a felled larch wood. Very 

 little observation on this point has been recorded, 

 and it is impossible to say what is the least 

 period during which the site of a previous larch 

 wood should remain unplanted, or to indicate 

 any effective and practical methods for shorten- 

 ing this period. 



