THE OTHER HARDWOODS 157 



of the Cotswold Hills the seedling growth of ash 

 comes up thick and beautifully only, in many 

 cases, to be eaten down by rabbits. Strongly 

 endowed as it is with recuperative power in out- 

 growing injuries, even the ash cannot outlive 

 being eaten down year after year by rabbits. 



It also springs very freely from the stool, 

 throwing up a fine flush of straight rods of 

 vigorous growth. As coppice and underwood in 

 copse it can stand a fair amount of overshadow- 

 ing on good fresh soil, and even benefits by a 

 light shade protecting it against frost, while 

 under favourable circumstances it also throws up 

 suckers as well as stool - shoots. During the 

 later stages of its growth it exhibits distinct 

 signs of being essentially a light-demanding tree, 

 like the oak and the elm, and therefore becomes 

 impatient of shade. Like them, too, it is apt to 

 become dry-topped and stag-headed if suddenly 

 exposed to light when a large tree. With its deep 

 roots, light foliage, and tough wood, it, how- 

 ever, differs entirely from the elm in being little 

 liable to be thrown or broken by wind. Along 

 with the oak and the larch it forms one of the 

 most profitable kinds of trees that can at present 



