CHAPTER IV 



CLIMATE AND TREE GROWTH 



The three outstanding features which distinguish the 

 climate of the British Isles from that of continental countries 

 lying between the same degrees of latitude in North- 

 Western Europe are mild, humid winters, cool summers, 

 and a heavy autumn and winter rainfall. To every tree- 

 lover familiar with the severe winters and frequent spells 

 of heat and drought which characterise the weather in 

 many parts of Europe, these features of the British 

 climate at first sight would seem to be all that could be 

 desired for the hardier evergreen and deciduous trees from 

 a not inconsiderable portion of the world. When the fact is 

 considered that most species from practically all parts of the 

 warm temperate zone can find a home in the British Isles, 

 one might be excused for drawing deductions, which are 

 possibly more or less unsound, as to the suitability of 

 the British climate for timber-growing. Thanks to the 

 Gulf Stream, British winters are, taking the average of 

 a number of years, proverbial for their mildness and 

 absence of long spells of severe frost, and the extremes of 

 summer and winter seldom differ to any great extent. 

 A January day often shows a warmer and balmier air 

 than a day in June, and it is no uncommon thing to find 

 vegetation which has stood uninjured during eleven 

 months of the year cut back and disfigured at a season 

 when tradition leads one to assume that all should be 

 smiling and gay. As a matter of fact, trees which require 

 a relatively high winter temperature are certainly better 



