66 ENGLISH WOODLANDS 



useful. In two other cases beech may be profit- 

 ably planted under other trees. Where there 

 is an exceptionally good sale for immature larch 

 and the owner is unwilling to clear-cut and 

 replant, he may severely thin, to the extent of 

 two thirds or more of the crop, and then fill up 

 the wood with beech. The soil would probably 

 become dried and impoverished unless it was 

 protected by an under-growth, and natural under- 

 growth would probably not come in a larch 

 wood severely opened out. An oak wood of 

 thirty or forty years which flags because the 

 ground is not quite good enough for it may also 

 be benefited by a severe thinning and under- 

 planting with beech. The leaves keep the ground 

 clear of weeds and the stems shade the stems 

 of the oak and prevent the growth of lateral 

 boughs. 



Severe thinning followed by under-planting 

 with beech is an expensive and rather risky 

 experiment. There is the risk of damage by 

 wind, and also the risk that the reduction in 

 the number of the trees may not be repaid by 

 a sufficient enhancement in the size and quality 

 of the remaining trees. The under-crop may 

 grow so freely as to deprive the first crop of 

 sufficient nutriment. The propriety of under- 



