n8 OUR FORESTS AND WOODLANDS 



more, or whatever seems most likely to prove 

 profitable. An excellent opportunity is also 

 then offered for planting larch here and there, 

 as, in admixture with such a crop, it develops 

 into fine stems, and is much less liable to canker 

 than when grown in a pure crop by itself. 

 Without taking up much space or interfer- 

 ing perceptibly with the other trees, except 

 the oak itself, larch stems grown thus among 

 highwoods of broad-leaved trees yield timber 

 of the best quality, and commanding the highest 

 price. 



As in other matters of Forestry, the particular 

 manner of growing oak and the various kinds of 

 trees that can most profitably be raised along with 

 it, except in the comparatively few cases where 

 it may be advisable to grow oak as a pure crop, 

 will of course mainly depend on the local con- 

 dition of the timber market. But in whatever 

 manner it be grown, it is essential to protect 

 the soil against deterioration and consequent 

 decrease in capital value as a producer of wood. 

 On the better and the moister classes of soil, 

 ash, sycamore, and maple will in this respect 

 deserve special attention as companions of the 



