AMONG THE PINES AND FIRS 221 



to time receive far less attention than if the out- 

 turn were continuous. 



The common or Norway spruce, one of the 

 most profitable crops grown in mountainous tracts 

 in central Germany north of the warmer region 

 of the silver fir, does not thrive well in the mild 

 climate of central and southern England. Here its 

 general vigour is less than in its true home ; and 

 this immediately, and very noticeably, affects what 

 is in a colder and more congenial climate one of 

 its great characteristics as a timber crop, its 

 capacity for bearing shade and protecting the soil 

 either when forming pure woods or when growing 

 along with larch and pine to counteract the evil 

 effects of their light crown of foliage and their 

 inability to safeguard the soil against deterioration. 

 This comparatively weakly state of growth and 

 want of thickness and persistency in foliage, to- 

 gether with the fact that its wood fetches only 

 about the half of what well-grown Scots pine can 

 be sold for, makes Norway spruce a tree of little 

 use in southern English woodlands. Its develop- 

 ment and the quality of its wood are better if it 

 be grown along with beech ; but in England, oak, 

 ash, sycamore, and any other hardwood would of 



