208 OUR FORESTS AND WOODLANDS 



dominant trees, and 95 dominated stems that will 

 have to be removed during the next few years. 

 The average height of the dominant trees is 75 

 feet, and the largest of these girths seven feet at 

 five feet above the ground, though, of course, 

 there is considerable diversity in the size of the 

 trees. As the crop now stands on the ground 

 the dominant trees are estimated to contain 25 

 cubic feet each, or 38,375 cubic feet worth 9d. 

 a foot (^1439, is. 3d.), and the dominated trees 

 4^ cubic feet each, or 42 7 \ cubic feet worth 8d. 

 a foot (14, 55.), i.e. ,1553, 6s. 3d. or ,194 

 an acre for the total crop. The thinnings of 1887 

 sold for ^34, and the only expenditure since 

 then has been 17 for pruning which might 

 have been unnecessary but for the fact that the 

 plantation was originally made at the wide dis- 

 tance of 6 feet by 6 feet. Fast as the growth of 

 larch often is, it never attains so large an average 

 annual increase as this represents. 



The four genera of abietinous conifers which 

 seem most likely to form profitable woodland 

 crops in Britain, differ greatly among themselves 

 as regards their natural requirements and their 

 specific habits of growth. Larch (L. europcea\ 



