THE OTHER HARDWOODS 173 



considered one of the most profitable kinds of 

 coppice when grown either pure or mixed with 

 ash. If freed from overshadowing by standard 

 trees, hazel grows vigorously and becomes 

 marketable in about seven years' time. Its finest 

 growth is obtained on land of a loamy or clayey 

 description. There is no special difficulty about 

 its cultivation, the main point requiring attention 

 being to see that blanks in the stock are carefully 

 filled up at each fall of the crop. 



Of all the hardwoods dealt with in this chapter, 

 ash is best suited to be grown as a standard tree 

 in copses, either by itself or else along with oak. 

 Its natural habit of growth gives it peculiar quali- 

 fications for such a position, and the present 

 prospects of the timber market point to this as 

 being an exceedingly promising form of wood- 

 land crop. But detailed consideration of its 

 treatment there will more appropriately find a 

 place in the chapter on Copsewoods. 



