BRITISH FOREST TREES 283 



With its strong recuperative power, young transplants of 

 hornbeam stand trimming of the roots or branches well, but 

 the latter should be sparingly done wherever there is danger 

 from scorching or sunburn. This quality of the species finds 

 its use in the formation of thick live hedges, which sometimes 

 form quite a characteristic feature in old-fashioned gardens, 

 especially in northern France. As underwood it forms an 

 excellent cover for game during winter, thereby enhancing 

 its other desirable qualities as underwood in mixed forests 

 on good, fresh soil. 



5. SWEET OR SPANISH CHESTNUT (Fagus castanea, 

 L. = Castanea vesca, Gaert. = C. VULGARIS, Lam.). 



Distribution. The edible chestnut occurs throughout the 

 whole of southern Europe, and is also indigenous to the 

 warmer, extra-tropical localities of Asia and North America. 

 It is found as a forest tree in the outlying ranges of southern 

 Switzerland and France, and forms forests of considerable 

 extent and importance throughout Spain, Austria, Italy, and 

 Greece. Wherever it may be met with north of the Alpine 

 range its presence has originally been due to artificial pro- 

 duction. It ascends to 2,900 feet in the Alps, 2,200 in 

 Spessart and the Odenwald, 2,000 feet in the Vosges, and 

 1,700 to i, 800 feet in the Bavarian uplands. Even in 

 Germany it is of importance from a sylvicultural point of 

 view only in the warmer districts of the Rhine or Bavaria, 

 where it is grown in coppice for vine-props, and in high 

 forest for wine-casks and for general timber requirements. 

 In Britain, where it was introduced by the Romans, its pro- 

 fitable growth as a forest tree must be confined strictly to 

 the warmest lorulitii >. 



Tree-form and Root-system. In suitable locality and on 



