136 OUR FORESTS AND WOODLANDS 
pine, an admixture of beech enables all the 
different kinds of timber crops to attain greater 
energy of growth, and a finer development alto- 
gether, than when these are grown in pure crops. 
Even below the surface of the ground such an 
admixture of beech performs good service, as it 
contributes towards more thorough oxygenation 
of the soil through the great capacity of its 
heart-shaped root-system, while symbiotic fungi 
(Mycorhiza) living within the rootlets also exert 
a chemical action in improving the soil. These 
indirect advantages of the beech in improving 
the soil and the growth of other kinds of trees 
have not in the past been sufficiently recognised 
in Britain, though they seem deserving of re- 
cognition in a practical form wherever crops of 
timber may be grown for profit as a regular 
business, like farming. 
Gayer, one of the greatest Continental authori- 
ties, has said that it would be next to impossible 
to grow the better classes of hardwood without 
the assistance of the beech. Though this be 
true for the dry climate of the European conti- 
nent, the case is fortunately somewhat different 
in our humid atmosphere. Thanks to our 
