BRITISH FOREST TREES 217 



off in their growth in height, and spread out their slender 

 branches to form a comparatively wide-reaching crown. 

 The best returns are obtained when each generation of the 

 birch is formed by planting, or by thinning out judiciously 

 wherever patches of self-sown seedlings stand, especially on 

 fresh, but not too binding loamy soil, on loamy sand, or on 

 moist, sandy, or gravelly soil, or in short on soils that have a 

 greater tendency towards growth of grass than of heather, 

 soils, however, that are as a rule perfectly well adapted for 

 more remunerative species of trees than birch. On heavy 

 tenacious soils, or on their opposite extremes, poor, dry, sandy 

 situations, its growth is neither vigorous nor remunerative ; 

 on moist, marshy soils it does fairly well, especially on 

 the higher-lying localities, and is often gladly seen there, 

 although it is not usually able to attain large dimensions. 

 Its best development is attained on soils suitable also for 

 the oak, where, scattered as single individuals here and there 

 on moist patches, it soon develops into a large and profit- 

 able assortment of stem. On marshy soils that are becom- 

 ing too dry for the alder, it often also yields very satisfactory 

 results. 



Although both as regards soil-protection and the yield of 

 satisfactory financial returns, pure high forest of birch is 

 not recommendable, it finds as standards in copse a role 

 much more suited to its natural requirements. In the full 

 enjoyment of sun-light and air, it rapidly thickens in girth ; 

 whilst, under its light shade, the hardwoods forming the 

 coppice do not suffer much. For underwood it is totally un- 

 suited. At each fall of the coppice, birch and other soft 

 woods are apt to find their way in among the hardwoods, 

 and often occasion much trouble owing to their rapid growth 

 before they -:in IK- cut out, or at any rate reduced to the- 

 proper scanty proportion, during the weedings and clearings. 

 According to the soil, birch varies greatly in respect to 



