THE SOFTWOODS 177 
the largest returns, could, in the great majority 
of cases in Britain, be cultivated more remunera- 
tively than under crops of alder coppice, the form 
of treatment most suitable for this tree. The 
returns may vary very widely, however, according 
to the general quality of the soil. 
Where the larger sizes of alder are marketable, 
coppices can be worked even with a rotation of 
forty to fifty years without outreaching their 
capacity of shooting again from the stool. On 
inferior classes of soil, however, it is best to keep 
the rotation down to about twenty years. Alder 
coppice has, more than any other kind of coppice, 
much resemblance to a young highwood crop, 
because two or three dominating shoots soon 
forge their way ahead and suppress the weak- 
ling rods; for, although on good, moist, loamy 
soil it can bear a considerable amount of shade, 
the alder really requires a large amount of 
light on land not particularly suitable to its 
growth. 
Alder is well worth attention and cultivation 
on low-lying land, while a judicious sprinkling 
of ash and oak on the better patches of ground 
can often be made to add considerably to the 
M 
