156 FOKESTS, WOODS, AND TKEES 



Sycamore. — The sycamore or great maple is a native of 

 the mountains of Central Europe, and is an extremely hardy 

 tree. It never suffers from frost, and bears Mund, whether 

 close to the sea or inland, better than most broad-leaved 

 trees. Quercus Ilex, however, resists the sea breeze better 

 in Norfolk. Sycamore is rarely injured by insects or fungi, 

 and is not attacked by rabbits in most districts. It re- 

 generates itself freely from seed. It bears moderate shade 

 when young, but once it has passed the pole stage, requires 

 considerj^ble light and space, and becomes unable to protect 

 the soil. Hence it is scarcely ever found growing pure in 

 masses, but occurs scattered amidst other trees in conti- 

 nental forests. It needs a good loam for its best develop- 

 ment, making poor growth on sand, gravel, or heavy clay. 

 It is rather partial to limestone soils. Examples of remark- 

 able growth of sycamore scattered amidst conifer plantations 

 on oolite limestone in the Cotswolds are given in Quarterly 

 Journal of Forestry, iii. 281 (1909); in one plantation, 

 25 years old, sycamore averaged 40 feet high and 19 inches 

 in girth, as compared with beech, 38 feet high and 10^ 

 inches in girth. It can be planted higher up in the 

 mountains than beech, and is well adapted for growing in 

 groups or in bands amidst the conifer masses, acting as a 

 wind-break. It is very rarely blown down by gales, and is 

 of considerable use in shelter belts. It should be grown in 

 plantations wlierever there are patches of loamy soil too dry 

 for ash. Here, mixed with beech, it would develop a tall 

 straight stem, free from branches or knots for a considerable 

 height above the ground. Such stems, when clean and of 

 a large size, are of great value as rollers in cotton mills. 

 The wood of the sycamore is also used for furniture, wood 

 ware, etc. ; and the cultivation of this tree should be 

 encouraged. 



Norway Maple This species is more widely spread 



throughout Europe in the wild state than the sycamore, 

 occurring far north in Scandinavia and Finland, and south- 

 wards in the Pyrenees and Caucasus. It is like the syca- 



