502 I'UltKST LITTEi;. 



As poor laiul rather tliaii rich hind is usually stocked with forests, 

 forest-litter may always be considered the most indispensable and 

 effective factor for the growth of trees. ^ 



Section III. — Amoint of Forest Litter produced. 



Owing to the importance of moss and weeds as well as dead 

 leaves and needles in the supply of litter for farmyards, the 

 different nature of these kinds of litter and the various ways in 

 which they affect wood-production, it is necessary to consider the 

 question separately for each kind of forest litter. 



1. Dead Leaves and Xeedles. 



Exi)erience shows that the annual amount of litter produced 

 from dead leaves and needles in a forest varies with the species 

 of tree, locality, weather, density of crop and age of trees. 



(a) Species of tree. — Three factors have great influence on 

 the amount of litter produced by European forest trees ; namely, 

 the density of the foliage, its duration on the trees and the suit- 

 ability of the species to form a more or less dense leaf-canopy. 

 Considering all these factors, not for individual trees but for a 

 whole wood, and deducting the amount of moss produced in 

 coniferous forests, the species may be arranged as follows in 

 descending order of their comparative production of dead leaves 

 or needles : — 



Beech ; 



Sycamore and other maples, lime, sweet chestnut, hazel ; 



Hornbeam, alder, black pine ; 



Elms, oaks, black poplar ; 



Scotch pine, larch ; 



Spruce, silver-tir ; 



Ash; 



Birch, aspen. 



The density of foliage of a species depends on the nature of 

 the locality and its mode of growth. Silver-tir, spruce and 

 beech have the densest foliage ; that of sycamore, lime, sweet 

 chestnut and hazel is also dense though comparatively lighter 

 than the above ; black pine, alder, and hornbeam follow these 



* See tlie interesting j.aper by Oberfoi strath Braun in Borgreve's Forstliche 

 Blatt.-r. 16!'0. im the inii>nrtance of forest litter for tlie soil. 



