IN THE BEECHWOODS 141 
seed and allow it to grow up as underwood, for 
the protection of the soil. When the crop of 
oak attains its maturity at about 150 years of 
age, the whole can then be felled, with simul- 
taneous natural regeneration, assisted by planting 
to the extent that may be necessary to fill blanks 
and to secure a proper distribution of the oak in 
the new crop. At the same time an opportunity 
is then given of introducing more valuable trees, 
such as ash, larch, and the like, by planting them 
here and there, singly or in small patches, in spots 
specially adapted to their particular requirements. 
On the Continent the cultivation of highwoods 
of beech by natural regeneration from seed has 
been brought to a great degree of perfection. 
Where grown in pure forests, for the chief pur- 
pose of being split up into fuel, the fall usually 
takes place concurrently with regeneration, during 
the eightieth to the hundredth year. When 
grown for timber, however, the harvesting of the 
mature wood and the formation of the new seed- 
ling crop generally begin about the ninetieth year 
and extend over about the next thirty years. 
This system gives, along with other advantages, 
security against late frosts in spring, which seed- 
