:i\4- NOTES ON HHITISII I'OHEST TltKKS. 



It is not desirable to prune beecli plants. 



The process of natural regeneration under a shelter-wood is, 

 on the whole, slow ; one or more preparatory cuttings are 

 required, and if the soil be not sufficiently prepared at the 

 advent of a seed year, it must be worked (wounded) ; this 

 is best done by light hoeing ; the seeding cutting is compara- 

 tively light, and the cuttings in the final stage are regulated by 

 the character of the locality and the requirements of the 

 young crop. Under favourable circumstances the whole 

 regeneration period may be completed in 10 years, but 

 frequently extends to 20 years and even more. 



i. TcntJiiKj. 



Fertiliiii of the Soil. — Fully stocked beech woods preserve 

 and even improve the fertility of the soil to a greater extent 

 tlian any other species, owing to their dense foliage up to an 

 advanced age, and the heavy fall of leaves. 



External Dangers. — Late frosts are the greatest enemy 

 of beech ; during early youth they kill or seriously damage 

 the plants, and even later on the tender parts of the tree 

 are liable to suffer ; hence it must be raised under shelter, 

 which is provided either by the old crop, or by a special 

 shelter- wood of hardy species, such as Scotch pine, birch, and 

 larch ; Austrian pine will also do. In natural regenerations, 

 the edges of the shelter-wood must be kept as dense as pos- 

 sible to afford protection against cold winds. In tlic culti- 

 vation of blanks, artificial shelter belts must be grown some 

 years beforehand, on the side whence the cold winds l)low. 



]3eech suffers also from drought while young. Later on it 

 is more than any other species exposed to blistering of the 

 bark by the sun ; the bark is also separated from the wood, if 

 struck by the morning sun after a heavy niglil frost ; hence it 

 is not well suited for standards, apart t'roiu (lie heavy cover 

 which the tree gives. 



Storms, snow and rime are (mly to a limited extent liiiilful 

 in l)eech woods. 



