64 SOME TYPES OF BRITISH WOODLANDS. 



small quantity of wood which is only fit for fuel. In this 

 respect the above-mentioned three species differ very con- 

 siderably. Larch produces naturally a high percentage of 

 timber; oak, on the other hand, will spread out horizontally, 

 if not prevented from doing so, producing a short stem and 

 large head, and yield only a poor percentage of timber, accom- 

 panied by a high proportion of firewood. Ash stands between 

 larch and oak in this respect ; and yet the rearing of these 

 three species has much in common. All are light-demanding, 

 especially the larch ; all are thin-crowned, and none of them 

 improves the yield capacity of the locality if raised in pure 

 woods. The best way of rearing them is to mix them into a 

 shade-bearing, full-crowned species. Of these, beech is the 

 best. In mixture with beech, the above-mentioned three 

 timber trees find all the advantages of a permanent and 

 complete shading of the ground, a heavy fall of leaves, 

 followed by a thick layer of humus, and freshness of the soil 

 throughout summer. The competing beech forces the other 

 species to push upwards, kills off their lower branches, and 

 causes them to produce long, straight, clean boles of high 

 value. Woods of this kind require, however, the careful 

 attention of the forester, especially in the case of the oak. 



<)<tl- and ]'<><-]i stand sufficiently near each other as regards 

 their demands on the locality. No doubt oak prefers a some- 

 what moister soil than beech, but the latter accommodates 

 itself to the former ; as a matter of fact they are growing 

 and thriving together over extensive areas. The principal 

 difficulty to contend with is their relative height-growth. In 

 some localities the oak keeps pace with the beech, but in the 

 majority of cases the latter is faster growing after tin- first few 

 years, and, if unchecked, kills out the oak. In the former 

 case, the oak can be mixed singly into beech w : oods, care being 

 taken in the thinnings to help the oak whenever necessary. 

 In the second and much more frequent case, the oak must 

 either be given a considerable start of the beech or placed into 

 groups, or both. 



