IN THE BEECHWOODS 139 
up would certainly not be worth §s. an acre. 
And then it must be remembered that they are 
kept up entirely by natural reproduction, without 
any attempt at planting, and there seemed no 
reason why, so long as chair-making went on 
in that district, they should not continue to 
yield 30s. an acre per annum. ‘The tables given 
in chapters ix and xi show that beechwoods in 
Germany, on the better classes of soil, worked 
with a rotation of 120 to 140 years, give an 
average annual growth varying up to about 48 
to 64 cubic feet (British measurement). It is 
sometimes more; and well-managed woods in 
the south of England should certainly not yield 
less. The profit such largely-enhanced yield re- 
presents is a very handsome one, which should 
make it worth while for owners to manage their 
woods on the most advanced economical prin- 
ciples. It is certainly the fault neither of our 
chalk soil nor of our humid climate that the 
returns per acre are not so large here as on the 
Continent. 
One of the chief characteristics of the beech 
as a forest tree is its dense foliage, indicating a 
greater power of enduring shade than most of 
