38 ENGLISH WOODLANDS 



largest and most valuable larch timber may be 

 produced by trees which, near the end of their 

 height- growth, have been thinned until each tree 

 has full light and air for the crown and ample 

 room for the roots. 



In pure oak woods in England, grown in 

 suitable situations, there is no real risk of disease, 

 and only a slight risk of damage by windfall. 

 There is no necessity to remove trees which are 

 overshadowed by others; they are useful some- 

 times as underwood. Until the trees are about 

 40 feet high, no more thinning is required than 

 the removal at intervals of about ten years of 

 trees which are crooked and forked. After the 

 principal part of the height-growth has been 

 reached a sufficient number of the inferior trees 

 should be removed to allow the crowns of the 

 better trees, and especially of any scattered ash, 

 fair growing space. In about twenty-five years 

 after a thinning the crowns will again close up, 

 and another removal of the inferior trees should 

 be made. As the wood becomes lighter by 

 these successive thinnings an undergrowth of 

 hazel and small bushes will cover the ground, 

 and the wood will present the appearance of 

 coppice with standards. If the object of the 

 owner is to obtain timber of the largest size and 



