86 ENGLISH ESTATE FORESTRY 



the Parliamentary Surveys, " alder moors " are distinguished 

 from ordinary coppice, and they seem to have been 

 fairly numerous throughout the country. Evelyn mentions 

 that owners of such moors often went to great expense 

 in grubbing them up, and were then at a loss to know 

 to what better use to put the land. Much the same 

 might be said to-day of considerable areas of low-lying 

 swampy ground which are more or less occupied by this 

 tree ; but the fault lies less in any inclination to grub 

 them, than in neglecting to give them the little attention 

 which would convert a practically waste piece of ground 

 into one of some value to the owner. The alder has a 

 great advantage, so far as most woods are concerned, in 

 being little injured by ground game ; and hence is it that 

 it often forms the most valuable part of a mixed coppice 

 which has suffered from ground game during the first year 

 or two of the rotation. 



The uses to which alder wood are put are much the 

 same now as they have been for over a century. Clog- 

 making, brush-heads, broom-handles, piles for strengthening 

 the banks of rivers, have long depended upon this wood 

 for raw material; "pumps, hop-poles, water-pipes, troughs, 

 sluices, small trays and trenches, wooden heels," says Evelyn ; 

 while a recent use has been found in the manufacture of 

 woodpulp. But the value of the wood quickly deteriorates 

 if left with the bark on, and it decays quicker than almost 

 any wood when cut and left to lie on the ground. For this 

 reason, turners and others who work up the poles usually 

 bark them as soon as possible after cutting, so that the wood 

 may dry before decay begins. The brush-wood is one of the 

 best for making small fagots for kindling purposes, and it is 

 seldom that a particle fit for this purpose is left to rot on 

 the ground, however bad the general trade for firewood 

 may be. 



In the case of pure alder coppice, the most suitable 

 rotation is from ten to twenty-five years, according to the 

 size of pole most in demand. With a good thick crop of 

 stools, from 10 to 20 per acre can usually be obtained in 

 most districts ; but too often, as already said, the coppice is 

 neglected, becomes gappy, and the yield is not more than 



