HIGH WOODS, COPSES, ETC. 275 



if abnormally heavy fellings had to be made in 

 highwoods approaching maturity though even 

 this might be arranged for, if necessary. More- 

 over, copsewoods are better suited for pheasants, 

 covert-shooting, and sport generally, than any 

 other system of management ; and this attrac- 

 tive side to them will always receive, as it well 

 deserves, the favourable consideration of the 

 majority of English landowners. And copses are 

 certainly among the most beautiful woodlands 

 that we have. In this respect their amenity 

 exceeds that possessed by either highwoods or 

 coppice. When to these advantages is added the 

 further fact that this is one of the best ways 

 of growing oak, ash, and larch, the most highly 

 paid of all our woods, there is, apart from 

 mere aesthetic and conservative feelings about the 

 matter, no lack of justification for continuation of 

 this excellent system of management in Britain, 

 even though it be considered from an unsympa- 

 thetic and almost purely commercial standpoint. 



Apart from special local considerations, the 

 growth of oak, ash, larch, pine, and fir is always 

 remunerative in the vicinity of large towns; while 

 in the hop-districts of England the cultivation 



