150 FOEESTS, WOODS, AND TEEES 



it is grown singly or in groups amidst other trees, which 

 are capable of killing the undergrowth of grass and of keep- 

 ing the soil moist and covered with good humus. In other 

 words, ash must be grown in a matrix of trees slower 

 in growth, which protect the soil. A suitable species for 

 this purpose is hazel, which is not injured by the shade of 

 the ash. A small plantation of mixed ash and hazel made 

 on fairly good soil at Westwick, Norfolk,, in 1906, has 

 grown splendidly. The ash had in 1918 an average height 

 of 36 feet, with a girth of 14 inches, while the hazel 

 beneath was about 6 to 8 feet high. 



Ash also requires for its proper development a soil rich 

 in mineral constituents and at the same time full of moisture ; 

 but the water must not be stagnant. It is, in fact, one of 

 the most exacting of our forest trees, as it only thrives on 

 moist deep soil, preferably light and loamy, and containing 

 lime. 



In England there are natural woods, in which ash is the 

 predominant tree, mixed with oak, wych elm, hazel, haw- 

 thorn, etc., on the limestone hills of Yorkshire, Derbyshire, 

 Westmorland, and Somerset, and on the chalk in Devon, 

 Dorset, and Isle of Wight ; but the trees are small in size 

 and poor in quality, except where there is much moisture 

 in the soil. These woods ascend to 1000 or even 1250 

 feet elevation in the Pen nines. 



Ash tends to spread naturally and oust other trees 

 wherever the soil is either calcareous or contains a good 

 deal of moisture. It regenerates itself freely by self-sown 

 seed throughout the British Isles. Under natural condi- 

 tions the finest ash would grow in deep alluvial soil in river 

 valleys, but in this country such land has long since been 

 monopolised by agriculture, and does not now carry forests. 

 In the limestone districts of England, Scotland, and Ireland 

 there are many spots with fairly deep, moist, and well- 

 drained soil, on which would grow fine groves of ash, but 

 most of such sites are probably taken up by the farmer or 

 grazier. On thin, chalky soils, as in the Lincolnshire 

 wolds, beech succeeds well in situations unsuitable for 



