58 SOME TYPES OF BRITISH WOODLANDS. 



In this example it has been assumed that ash, larch, &c., 

 disappear at the age of 80 years, oak only being allowed to 

 reach a higher age. Any other suitable combination may, of 

 course, be adopted ; for instance, some of the 80-year-old oaks 

 may be cut out, or specially fine oaks may be allowed to grow 

 beyond the age of 100 years. In such cases, the other figures 

 must be modified accordingly. It is, under any circumstances, 

 necessary to begin with a large number of young standards 

 per acre, to guard against accidents, and because not all will 

 develop into fine timber trees. In selecting the 20-year-old 

 standards, or tellers, the finest specimens are chosen, and 

 these reduced step by step, allowing only the most promising 

 trees to reach maturity. In this way timber of various dimen- 

 sions is obtained at every cutting. It goes without saying, 

 that in addition to oak, ash, and larch, any other suitable 

 species may be introduced, as, for' instance, spruce, a few 

 specimens of which are very desirable in pheasant preserves. 

 The distribution of the standards over the area should be so 

 that each coupe contains about the same number, with the 

 proper proportion in the age classes. In some cases the 

 standards are arranged by single trees, each separated from its 

 neighbour; in others they stand in small groups. 



The system of placing the standards into moderate sized 

 groups can be specially recommended, because : 



(1) far more valuable timber trees are produced, as the 



standards push each other up; and, 



(2) woods so arranged are just what pheasants like ; a 



dense underwood, over which groups of trees (standards) 

 are scattered. In this case the age classes of the 

 standards are placed into separate groups. The area 

 occupied by the underwood on the one hand, and the 

 standards (or patches of high forest) on the other 

 depends on circumstances, and more particularly on 

 the objects which the proprietor has in view. 

 Procedure to be folloiced at each Cutting. When the under- 

 wood has reached the desired age, in our case 20 years, the 



