54 Practical Forestry 



on very exposed rocky sites at great altitudes it hardly 

 exceeds a yard in height. 



As regards soil, the birch is by no means particular, for 

 we find it succeeding well even on that of a poor rocky or 

 gravelly character. The largest individual specimens al- 

 ways, however, occur at not too high an altitude, and on soil 

 of a light, loamy nature, an abundance of moisture being 

 still further favourable to quick development. For plant- 

 ing on exposed ground for shelter-giving purposes, but par- 

 ticularly where the soil is thin and poor, the birch is a most 

 valuable tree. Its growth is fairly rapid, and it does not 

 suffer to any appreciable extent either from insect or fun- 

 goid attacks. As a coppice tree it is also valuable. 



The timber of the birch, though of little value for general 

 estate purposes, is largely employed in the arts and manu- 

 factures. It is much used for thread bobbins, turnery work, 

 shoe pegs, hoops, and fish barrels, while it makes excellent 

 firewood, and yields superior charcoal for smelting purposes. 

 In Wales large quantities of birch wood are cut into clog 

 soles, while the sabots used by the French peasantry are 

 also made of that wood. When of large size and good 

 figure, furniture and veneers are made of the wood, and on 

 the Continent felloes for carriage wheels. Brooms and 

 switches are made of the smaller branches or sprays, while 

 the bark is used for tanning, and an oil expressed from it 

 is employed in the preparation of the well-known and frag- 

 rant Russian leather. 



The White or Huntingdon Willow (Salix alba). 

 Whether for ornament or utility the White or Huntingdon 

 Willow must be considered as one of our most valuable 

 trees. The timber sells readily at all prices up to 10s. per 

 cubic foot, and when it is considered that the tree will suc- 

 ceed in dampish ground where most other species decline to 

 grow, and that it is of rapid growth, attaining maturity in 

 less than forty years, its value in economic planting will be 

 recognized. At the outset it may be well to point out that 

 the wood of the particular willow from which the best class 

 of cricket bats are manufactured sells at a higher rate than 

 any other timber that is cultivated in this country. There 



