NOTES ON PARTICULAR TREES 67 



planting with beech can be decided only after 

 careful consideration of the crop, soil, and 

 future market price of each wood. The financial 

 return from beech planted as an under-crop will 

 generally be small. If felled at the same time 

 as the first crop, they will probably be small- 

 sized ; if allowed to remain, they will have been 

 so much damaged by the felling of the first crop 

 as to be of little selling value. 



There is no doubt of the benefit given by 

 beech leaves in keeping the soil of a wood cool 

 and free from weeds ; their manurial value has 

 not been proved. 



Beech is not an easy tree to plant in a new 

 wood. The young trees suffer from exposure 

 to the sun, and a hot summer kills many of 

 them unless they are protected by the shade of 

 older trees. 



The value of the beech tree to the English 

 planter who lives outside the counties where 

 there is a local industry in beech, is that it is, 

 with the exception of silver fir, the only shade- 

 bearing tree which he can plant. 



Sycamore, when sound, clean, and of large 

 size, is a valuable tree, but in ordinary sizes 

 and with boughs on the stem it is almost un- 

 saleable. Thinnings are worthless, the value 



