BRITISH FOREST TREES 249 



adapted to its requirements, for with a comparatively undis- 

 turbed enjoyment of light, air, and sunshine, it soon thickens 

 in girth, without throwing too great a shadow over the 

 surrounding coppice-growth. Among the coppice, and even 

 under a considerable degree of shade, it can throw out 

 vigorous shoots, which rapidly develop into good-sized poles ; 

 but the stools are apt to get exhausted soon. Where any 

 considerable demand exists for hammer-shafts, carriage- 

 poles, felloes or spokes, oars, and similar small material, 

 coppice-shoots often give very good and remunerative returns. 



Agriculturally the ash is also a very useful tree, besides 

 adding beauty to the landscape. On low-lying pasture lands 

 it affords a grateful shade to the cattle, without diminishing 

 the growth of grass ; and when pollarded, the foliage and 

 young shoots yield healthy fodder readily eaten by sheep, 

 and also by red-deer. Along with elm, maple, and sycamore, 

 ash is deservedly prized for the formation of avenues. 



As already mentioned, self-sown seedlings are frequently 

 to be found on moist suitable localities in beech forests 

 undergoing regeneration, where the shade of the beech 

 after the seed-felling does them little harm less at any rate 

 than would be done by rank growth of grass on lighter 

 situations. But where natural reproduction is not likely to 

 effect itself spontaneously, and where no parent standard trees 

 exist, the mere sprinkling of seed on prepared patches here 

 and there during the seed-felling of the beech is generally 

 all that is required in order to produce a sufficient admixture 

 of ash ; and even then a weeding out of all the weakly seed- 

 lings is usually necessary, so as to retain only the better 

 developed plants. No particular attention or after-tending 

 is requisite, as, although unequivocally a light-loving species 

 during the later stages of growth, it can during the earlier 

 periods of development sustain a very fair amount of shade. 

 Hut in many localities the preference is given to planting. 



