PROFITABLE TIMBER TREES 65 



rides and roads, which are more troublesome on wet than 

 dry soils. 



Yet, in spite of all its disadvantages, the temptation to 

 plant oak on aU deep and fairly good soils is strong in the 

 forester's mind, whether from instinct or reason it is difficult 

 to say. For many generations it was the tree which occupied 

 the first rank as a producer of valuable timber, and as a 

 species which was closely bound up with our national life. 

 Oak and ash were the only suitable trees for growing in 

 coppice, and coppice woods practically constituted the bulk 

 of English woodlands until comparatively recent times. An 

 ordinary plantation even was not considered perfect unless 

 it had its due proportion of hardwoods which were eventually 

 to form the main crop, and of which oak was considered the 

 most desirable species. It is little wonder, therefore, that 

 the average planter still likes to put in his usual quantity 

 of oaks, on the chance of their turning out of some service 

 in the long-run, which perhaps 1 per cent, may do on the 

 average. To say that such a custom is wrong is going too 

 far. To say that it rarely meets with much success is 

 probably the truth, for it cannot be denied that really fine 

 oak woods, or even timber, in this country are comparatively 

 scarce. 



The best samples of oak, as already said, are usually 

 found in small groups, or as single trees here and there in 

 coppice or high forest. Why such examples should not 

 be more common it is difficult to say off-hand. That they 

 are due chiefly to soil on the one hand, and just the correct 

 amount of crowding or close order on the other, is probably 

 a statement as near the truth as can be. But to define 

 the most suitable soil and the most suitable degree of 

 crowding is another matter. Fine oaks may be found on 

 deep sand and in stiff clay, that may be found in an open 

 park or hedgerow and in a thick wood. Between these 

 respective extremes innumerable variations occur, yet we 

 do not doubt that the resultants of the various forces at 

 work will point in the same direction in nearly all cases. 

 A light sou may be balanced by a wet climate, or some 

 chemical constituent in the soil itself which is not apparent 

 on the surface. Or it may be that the subsoil is of a 



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