1 68 OUR FORESTS AND WOODLANDS 



ground, should always be the rule, but in addition 

 to this the reproductive capacity of the chestnut 

 for throwing up shoots and suckers is increased 

 by heaping earth on the stubbs that are left. 

 As coppice it protects the soil well, and en- 

 riches it with a good mould. Hence, where small 

 material is remunerative, coppices of chestnut can 

 be worked with a lower rotation than any other 

 kind of crop, except hazel and osier-holts, without 

 unduly exposing the soil to deterioration. 



As previously remarked, ash, maple, and syca- 

 more are all trees well worthy of cultivation in 

 highwoods, and the treatment is much the same 

 for all the three. In the case of each of these, its 

 proper position is that of a subordinate tree grow- 

 ing along with others, and best of all with beech, 

 of a somewhat slower growth and better able to 

 protect the soil against deterioration. On many 

 a hillside, dingles and small water-courses will be 

 found where growth of ash can be profitably en- 

 couraged ; while on good, rather moist, low-lying 

 patches of ground a mixture of oak, ash, maple, 

 and sycamore, or even of willows and alder on 

 wet spots, will add materially to the returns ob- 

 tainable. When grown along with oak principally, 



