HIGHWOODS, COPSES, ETC. 281 
sitate corresponding variations as to both stan- 
dard trees and coppice underwood. And the 
leading principles are simple; it is, unfortu- 
nately, only their practical application which is 
often difficult. While the local market will 
mainly determine the kinds of trees to be favoured 
as standards, the soil and the situation must de- 
termine the kinds which can be grown best and 
the number of standards that may be allowed to 
remain with advantage. The better the soil and 
the more sheltered the locality, the greater the 
number of standards that can be retained with- 
out interfering too much with the growth of 
the underwood; and the market open for the 
timber will, of course, determine the time at 
which the standards should be cleared, as there can 
be no advantage in growing these to the age of a 
hundred years if trees of sixty or eighty years give 
a better profit on the capital they represent. It 
is true that standards over coppice have always 
a larger proportion of branchwood than trees 
grown in regular highwoods, which produce the 
longest, straightest, and cleanest stems; but, not- 
withstanding this, copse is an excellent method 
for growing large and valuable oak, ash, and 
