2 3 8 OUR FORESTS AND WOODLANDS 



all the hedgerow timber from the face of rural 

 England ; but this is never likely to be the 

 case. What might however, not altogether 

 without advantage, take place is, that more con- 

 sideration might be given to the choice of 

 standard trees to be grown there. True, it is 

 indeed impossible to name kinds having specific 

 advantages as hedgerow trees, for all of them 

 damage the crop to some extent; hence the 

 only thing remaining is to see which are least 

 objectionable, as doing least harm to pasturage 

 or to the cereal and root crops grown in the 

 fields. To some extent damage may be obviated 

 by pruning, but there are somewhat narrow limits 

 to this. 



If shelter be wanted, elm, maple, and syca- 

 more have the advantage of coming into leaf early 

 in spring. But then the elm is both a greedy 

 robber of the soil-nutrients meant for the field- 

 crops and a hindrance to the ploughshare (vide 

 page 148), while the heavy foliage and the spread- 

 ing branches of the other two damage the crops 

 greatly by overshadow and drip. Heavily-foliaged 

 trees like beech, hornbeam, and horse-chestnut 

 are quite out of place in a hedge, as their drip 



