IN THE BEECH WOODS 141 



seed and allow it to grow up as underwood, for 

 the protection of the soil. When the crop of 

 oak attains its maturity at about 150 years of 

 age, the whole can then be felled, with simul- 

 taneous natural regeneration, assisted by planting 

 to the extent that may be necessary to fill blanks 

 and to secure a proper distribution of the oak in 

 the new crop. At the same time an opportunity 

 is then given of introducing more valuable trees, 

 such as ash, larch, and the like, by planting them 

 here and there, singly or in small patches, in spots 

 specially adapted to their particular requirements. 

 On the Continent the cultivation of highwoods 

 of beech by natural regeneration from seed has 

 been brought to a great degree of perfection. 

 Where grown in pure forests, for the chief pur- 

 pose of being split up into fuel, the fall usually 

 takes place concurrently with regeneration, during 

 the eightieth to the hundredth year. When 

 grown for timber, however, the harvesting of the 

 mature wood and the formation of the new seed- 

 ling crop generally begin about the ninetieth year 

 and extend over about the next thirty years. 

 This system gives, along with other advantages, 

 security against late frosts in spring, which seed- 



