AMONG THE PINES AND FIRS 221 
to time receive far less attention than if the out- 
turn were continuous. 
The common or Norway spruce, one of the 
most profitable crops grown in mountainous tracts 
in central Germany north of the warmer region 
of the silver fir, does not thrive well in the mild 
climate of central and southern England. Here its 
general vigour is less than in its true home; and 
this immediately, and very noticeably, affects what 
is in a colder and more congenial climate one of 
its great characteristics as a timber crop, its 
capacity for bearing shade and protecting the soil 
either when forming pure woods or when growing 
along with larch and pine to counteract the evil 
effects of their light crown of foliage and their 
inability to safeguard the soil against deterioration. 
This comparatively weakly state of growth and 
want of thickness and persistency in foliage, to- 
gether with the fact that its wood fetches only 
about the half of what well-grown Scots pine can 
be sold for, makes Norway spruce a tree of little 
use in southern English woodlands. Its develop- 
ment and the quality of its wood are better if it 
be grown along with beech; but in England, oak, 
ash, sycamore, and any other hardwood would of 
