158 FORESTS, WOODS, AND TREES 
a large volume of excellent timber on a short rotation. 
The wood, moreover, is useful in all stages of the growth of 
the tree, so that thinnings are valuable. Chestnut coppice 
is also very productive. The wood is nearly equal to that 
of oak in strength and durability, heartwood being formed 
very early, while the proportion of sapwood is very 
small. It is extremely useful for fencing, building, furni- 
ture, etc. 
In suitable soils and situations, the production of timber 
by this species is very great. At Witley, Worcestershire, a 
plantation 67 years old was 78 feet in height and yielded 
3800 cubic feet (quarter-girth measurement) of timber per 
acre, equivalent to an average annual increment of 56 cubic 
feet per acre. At Highnam, Gloucester, a plantation 60 
years old attained 73 feet in height and contained 3262 
eubie feet per acre, equal to an average annual increment 
of 55 cubic feet per acre. 
Old trees, when felled, are often found to be affected 
with ringshake, which makes the timber useless, except for 
fuel. This defect is generally ascribed to unsuitable soil or 
long rotation; but is really due to the occurrence, during the 
life of the tree, of an exceptionally severe winter, when, 
with a great fall in temperature, the tissue inside the cam- 
bium layer of the stem becomes frozen, resulting in a 
rupture which shows itself later as ringshake. Sound old 
chestnut is common in the milder parts of Ireland. At 
Westwick, Norfolk, ringshaken chestnut, 70 years old, when 
felled, showed by a count of the rings on the stump that 
the main shake occurred in the winter 1879-1880, noted 
for its very low temperature for a lengthened period. Ona 
pond near this tree, skating was carried on from the preced- 
ing Christmas till 19th March 1880. In one butt there 
was an additional but slighter shake in 1874-1875, a very 
severe winter; while in another, the additional shake coin- 
cided with 1854-1855, when great frost occurred. This 
liability to shake in severe winters makes chestnut an un- 
reliable timber tree in the north and in all inland districts. 
In any case, it should not be allowed to stand too long. 
