AMOUNT PRODUCED. 001 



on the ground, or among uneven-aged patches of young woody 

 growth ; a complete leaf canopy hinders their growth. Clearings 

 for plantations on a rich soil sometimes produce a vigorous 

 growth of ferns. 



Bilberry-lDUshes, and other species of Vacciniitm are less 

 frequently used as litter than the above-mentioned plants ; their 

 stems are usually too woody, no weeds decomposing more 

 slowly. They require a moderate amount of clay in the soil, 

 and need shade in soils free from clay, and consequently dry. 



Species of Vaccinium hence are found in loamy soil in lightly 

 shaded old woods, when the soil has become superficially 

 impoverished ; more on warm than on cold aspects, both in 

 broad-leaved and coniferous forests. A large suppy of Vac- 

 cmiti))i litter, therefore, always implies deteriorating old woods, 

 or stunted young woods containing blanks. On superior forest 

 soils a vigorous growth of bilberry is also found in young woods 

 not yet fully closed. The bilberry, like many other forest 

 weeds, has a superficial root system, but no other weed covers 

 the ground so thoroughly with its densely matted roots.* Hence 

 results the superficial impoverishment of the soil, as far as the 

 bilberry roots extend. 



In wet, swampy localities, on fairly level ground, many species 

 of reeds and sedges grow (Junciis, Carex, etc.) ; they have long 

 broad leaves which die early in the winter, and can easily be 

 raked together. In some districts, as in Upper Bavaria, 

 meadows of sour grasses, rushes, etc., are used for litter. 



Other forest weeds occasionally used as litter are of too rare 

 occurrence to be mentioned here. 



It is difficult to form an estimate of the amount of weed 

 litter which an area may produce. This depends on the density 

 and height of the weeds, and the mode of harvesting them. 

 There is, for instance, a great difference between merely cutting 

 the sappy tops of heather, or scraping up the whole plant with 

 its roots. Similarly in harvesting broom or bilberry, the lower 



* [Species of Slrohilanthes have a siniilar hal)it in India, and most of them 

 blossom only periodically, every 5 to 10 years. Alter blossoming, the whole crop 

 dies, and thus allows tree seedlings to take root — otherwise an impossiljility. 

 Species of Strohilanthcs are common in oak-forests in the Himalayas, but the 

 genus is best represented in the Nilgheri Hills, where some kinds are largely used 

 for fuel. Gamble, Indian Forester, vol. xiv., p. 153. — Tk.] 



