TREES FOR WATER CATCHMENT AREAS 147 
timber would be produced. The wood of isolated branchy 
trees is heavy, hard, strong, and very durable; and, though 
very knotty, has proved suitable for fencing, for building, 
and for pitwood. In New Zealand, a plantation of this 
species “has yielded posts and telephone poles of the most 
perfect type and durability,” and a similar use might be 
found for trees grown in plantations in this country. 
As a main-crop tree, Cupressus macrocarpa is strictly 
limited to localities near the sea, at a low elevation and in 
a mild climate. It appears to be indifferent to soil, growing 
vigorously even on poor shallow soil overlying chalk in 
Sussex. The seedlings are easy to raise, and may be planted 
out when a year old in situations where the surface vegeta- 
tion is slight, or as two- or three-year-old seedlings, where 
a dense growth of grass is expected. This species is suit- 
able for introduction in groups to fill up blanks in wood- 
lands near the sea. Its use as a shelter belt and for hedges 
is well known. It is useless to attempt the cultivation of 
this tree in situations exposed to cold winds or to spring 
frosts. 
BrROAD-LEAVED TREES 
Beech.—The importance of the beech in forestry cannot 
be over-estimated. It flourishes in most soils, except peat 
and wet clay; and produces, when grown in woods by itself, 
a large volume of timber per acre. As it bears much shade, 
the stems stand close together, and the dense canopy of the 
foliage covers the ground, so that evaporation is checked 
and moisture in the soil retained, while the grass is killed. 
Its heavy fall of leaves produces by their decay an abun- 
dant, mild, and fertile humus. Beech thus greatly improves 
the soil ; and is accordingly mixed with other trees, especially 
with species requiring much light like ash, oak, and larch, 
which are unable to protect the soil once they are past the 
young stage of growth. These valuable trees, when grown 
amongst beech, develop tall, straight, cylindrical stems, free 
from branches and knots in their lower half, the timber 
