IN THE BEECHWOODS 139 



up would certainly not be worth 55. an acre. 

 And then it must be remembered that they are 

 kept up entirely by natural reproduction, without 

 any attempt at planting, and there seemed no 

 reason why, so long as chair-making went on 

 in that district, they should not continue to 

 yield 303. an acre per annum. The tables given 

 in chapters ix and xi show that beechwoods in 

 Germany, on the better classes of soil, worked 

 with a rotation of 120 to 140 years, give an 

 average annual growth varying up to about 48 

 to 64 cubic feet (British measurement). It is 

 sometimes more ; and well-managed woods in 

 the south of England should certainly not yield 

 less. The profit such largely-enhanced yield re- 

 presents is a very handsome one, which should 

 make it worth while for owners to manage their 

 woods on the most advanced economical prin- 

 ciples. It is certainly the fault neither of our 

 chalk soil nor of our humid climate that the 

 returns per acre are not so large here as on the 

 Continent. 



One of the chief characteristics of the beech 

 as a forest tree is its dense foliage, indicating a 

 greater power of enduring shade than most of 



