188 OUR FORESTS AND WOODLANDS 
than that of any of the other broad-leaved kinds of 
trees, it would be well suited for making packing- 
cases, crates, and the like were any quantity of 
it available; but the good land required for its 
best growth can be more profitably utilised by 
other woodland crops. 
Horse-chestnut (4sculus Hippocastanum) is of 
rapid growth, and is a fairly hardy tree. Its 
wood is soft and not durable, though in some 
parts of Britain it sells for as much as elm, and 
more than beech or pine. It can be used for 
flooring, waggon bottoms, and turnery. Its best 
growth is attained ina sheltered position, as heavy 
winds are apt to break its spreading branches. 
But it, too, is rather a tree of the parks and avenues 
than a true denizen of the woodlands; and as it 
requires a good loamy soil for its best growth, 
hardwoods will usually prove a more profitable 
admixture among the timber crops. 
The Willows (Sa/ix) and Poplars (Populus) 
are, like alder and birch, very closely related to 
each other. Indeed, they are all four close rela- 
tives, and they also have many characteristics in 
common, for they are all light-demanding soft- 
woods, and they all do well on moist or wet land. 
