SEASONAL CHANGES 167 



timber, but its wood is in demand for mallets, shuttles, spools, 

 rollers, and above all for chairs. Nearly all the beech timber 

 grown on the Chiltern Hills is sent to High Wycombe to be manu- 

 factured into chairs ; its value is about 20,000 a year, but 

 so great is the trade that 80,000 worth of beech is imported 

 from abroad. Larch is extensively planted, especially in Wales, 

 and the timber sent to the colliery districts, where the wood is 

 much in demand for pit props. The posts of fences are obtained 

 from both the larch and the spruce. The wood of the hazel 

 makes good walking-sticks, hoops for casks, and staves. Willows 

 are often cultivated for basket making. The village of Mawdesley 

 in Lancashire has been famous for more than half a century for 

 its willow beds, and the interesting thing about the cultivation of 

 the willow in this district is that there is very little wet or marshy 

 land, and the willow is therefore grown under conditions similar 

 to those of ordinary farm crops, such as potatoes, cabbages, corn, 

 etc. The wood of some species of willow is used for cricket 

 bats. 



SEASONAL CHANGES 



Deciduous trees possess a wonderful power of adaptability to 

 the seasonal changes which characterise a temperate climate. 

 Those who from childhood have been accustomed to the beauties 

 of spring, when the buds burst forth in all their greenery and 

 "the small fowles maken melodie" in their branches, can hardly 

 realise what it is to live in a country where the trees are ever- 

 green and the leaves do not fall until the new ones are ready to 

 take their place. Why should leaves fall in temperate climates some 

 months before the new ones are ready to come out ? It is the fact 

 of winter that makes the difference. The low temperature of the 

 winter months causes growth which had been active in the spring 

 and summer to stop, very often entirely, and the plants have a 

 resting period. In the autumn it is evident that many changes 

 take place in deciduous trees. The most obvious is the change of 

 colouring, which lends such great beauty to an autumn landscape. 

 The leaves of the oak assume a rich russet-brown hue ; those of 

 the beech turn from deep green to orange and warm ruddy brown, 

 which almost blazes when lit up by the rays of the autumn sun. 



