BRITISH FOREST TREES 277 



itself, and the shade overhead must be heavy indeed before 

 it succumbs. The bite of cattle, and the nibbling of sheep, 

 do less permanent damage to it than to other species of 

 trees, for its recuperative power is such, that, whenever 

 badly bitten, or even regularly grazed over, a short period 

 of protection suffices to repair the damage done. In damp 

 localities exposed to frost it is one of our hardiest trees, 

 thriving where even the beech is unable to. It is equally 

 exempt from serious damage through snow and hanging ice, 

 and, having a well-shaped root-system, it is little apt to be 

 thrown by wind ; but on the other hand it often suffers 

 during periods of drought, and like the beech and other 

 smooth-barked trees, is apt to be damaged or " sunburnt " 

 on the west and south-west side of the stem, if exposed to 

 the scorching heat of the sun. 



Among its enemies are to be numbered chiefly mice and 

 squirrels. In the wood-mouse (Mus sylvaticus), indeed, it 

 has a bitter enemy which kills many young seedlings ; the 

 damage, however, is not so great as would be the case with 

 other species less endowed with recuperative faculty, for the 

 stems are easily replaced by stool-shoots, without necessi- 

 tating either coppicing or the removal of the damaged 

 portions. Injuries from insects are comparatively unim- 

 portant, although species of Melolonlha often do considerable 

 damage to the roots, the caterpillars of Cheimatobia brumata 

 to the buds and leaves, and those of Gastropacha ncustria 

 and Porthcsia chrysorrhcea to the foliage. Like all the broad- 

 leaved deciduous species, except perhaps the birch, infection 

 with Nectria ditissima leads to a cankerous fungoid disease 

 of the stem and branches. 



Sylvicultural Treatment of Hornbeam must in Britain be 

 mainly confined to its use as underwood for protecting the 

 soil, and stimulating the standard trees to increased annual 

 production, in situations that are somewhat too fresh or 



