94 THE NEW FORESTRY. 



are easily distinguished. The Scotch elm is a tall, free-growing 

 tree with sweeping limbs, strong twigs, broad rough leaves, 

 and deeply-furrowed bark in old trees. The English elm, 

 compared to the Scotch, is upright and stiff-looking in habit, 

 denser in its foliage, smaller in leaf, rugged and corky-looking 

 in the bark, and sheds its leaves later than the other. In 

 Yorkshire, timber merchants know the two kinds well, and 

 name the Scotch elm " English "and the English elm " Dutch." 

 The Scotch elm is in good demand at from tenpence to one 

 shilling and twopence per foot English elm fetches less. 



Beech. , Fagus sylvatica. — This is a tall-growing tree of 

 vigorous habit, laying on timber fast after middle-age, a good 

 shade-bearer, but bad neighbour in mixed woods, and is best 

 grown by itself, or with spruce and larch, thrives in poor soils, 

 if dry, and at high elevations. The beech is one of the best 

 trees for planting as underwood in thin woods, either as 

 shelter for other trees or covert for game, owing to its 

 shade-bearing power. Timber in fair demand if of good 

 girth ; price from tenpence to one shilling and fourpence per 

 foot. 



Sycamore. Acer pseudo platanus. — It is a rather remark- 

 able fact with regard to this first-class timber-tree that, 

 although it propagates itself more freely than any of our forest 

 trees except the birch, makes a big bole quickly, and fetches 

 a high price as timber, good butts are scarce and not often 

 offered in any quantity. One explanation probably is that in 

 the past the tree has not been valued by foresters for its 

 timber, and that the demand for sycamore has greatly increased 

 within the last forty years or so for various purposes connected 

 with the Lancashire mills and other branches of industry. 

 From eleven inches upwards it is sought for at from one 

 shilling to three shillings and sixpence per cubic foot. The 

 articles made from it, many of them, being cut out, not longi- 

 tudinally, but across the grain, hence the usual stipulations 

 about girth by purchasers who buy sycamore for special 

 purposes, such as rollers for machinery, as in the case of the 

 beech. The sycamore grows quickly, and in a mixed or pure 

 wood produces a fine, clear cylindrical trunk, is extreemely 

 hardy, withstands gales, and is not particular as to soil. The 

 tree sows itself freely, and in some parts it has extended 

 itself naturally from older trees. When planted, one year or 

 two-year-old plants should be used. 



NORWAY Maple. Acer platanoides.—A hardy tree, less 

 vigorous than the sycamore, which it resembles. Timber not in 

 demand, but may be sold with that of the sycamore. 



