68 ENGLISH WOODLANDS 



comes only from the final fall. The hardiness 

 of the tree and the ease with which it can be 

 raised from seed make it useful for filling up 

 any small patch in a wood, on which it is doubt- 

 ful if other trees would grow. It will thrive 

 on any soil or situation that is likely to be 

 found in a plantation. It is an excellent tree 

 for shelter ; it stands the wind well ; the 

 leaves do not cast so deep a shade as beech ; 

 self-sown seedlings of oak and ash are not 

 smothered by it. Almost every year a syca- 

 more growing in the open has a good crop of 

 keys. These, if gathered in October and 

 November and planted in rows in a garden in 

 4-foot wide beds, produce several hundred seed- 

 lings at a nominal cost. In the second April 

 after sowing the seedlings should be transplanted 

 in rows 15 inches apart and 4 inches apart in 

 the rows. In two or three years later they are 

 fit to be planted in the woods. Although syca- 

 more is generally not a remunerative tree, it 

 is useful for planting to a limited extent. 



Elm has two main varieties, the small-leaved, 

 called the English elm, and the large-leaved, 

 called the Scotch or Wych elm. The English 

 elm seeds either not at all or only on very rare 

 occasions ; it is propagated by suckers. The 



