114 HAND-BOOK OF TREE-PLANTING. 



ash, the larch, the pines, or other trees which 

 grow to maturity or to a valuable size sooner 

 than the oak, and may be economically used at 

 an earlier period. 



It is found also that a better forest-growth 

 can be obtained when different kinds of trees 

 are planted together than when a plantation is 

 made of one kind exclusively. This may be 

 because the different kinds of trees appropriate 

 for their nutriment different elements of the 

 soil, or because some have their roots near the 

 surface, as the beech and the hemlock, while 

 others, like the oak, send theirs downward, and 

 so they feed at different depths, and do not 

 interfere with or limit each other's pasture. 



The appearance of a grove or forest is cer- 

 tainly more pleasing when several kinds of 

 trees are planted together. However satisfac- 

 tory in look a single tree may be, or a few of 

 the same kind, when we meet it in masses to 

 the exclusion of others it becomes less pleasing 

 and may even become unwelcome. The mind 

 craves variety. So we never tire of our native 

 forests, because they are usually made up of 

 many kinds of trees. We do not plant a sin- 



