2i8 ENGLISH ESTATE FORESTRY 



although they may prove monotonous from a lack of variety ; 

 but the latter is far more easily supplied than the former, 

 and is supplied with less trouble. 



The variety or aesthetic effect of a mixture of trees 

 may be said to be of two kinds — that which is due to the 

 varied effects of their foliage, density, form, etc., and that 

 dependent upon their character generally, such as height, 

 fulness of crown, straightness and cleanliness of stem, and 

 capacity for growing in dense or open masses. The former 

 of these effects is of most importance on the margins of 

 plantations, or in small clumps which have been planted or 

 are maintained to produce masses of foliage. In such cases 

 the judicious mixture of different species of hardwoods has a 

 fine effect when light- and heavy-foliaged trees are introduced 

 in small groups at or near the outside, and in such a manner 

 as to present alternate masses of light and shade. Oak and 

 beech stand out with a full heavy front, while lighter- 

 foliaged trees, such as ash or birch, cause breaks in the wall 

 of foliage which make a pleasing contrast, and have much 

 the same effect as a broken margin, such as that described 

 above. In spring and autumn especially, the different tints 

 belonging to each species make a wonderful show of colour, 

 while an occasional larch or Scots fir still further adds to 

 the effect. The great point here, however, as in the interior 

 of woods, is to avoid too regular an alternation of species, 

 but to plant good big masses of one variety here and there, 

 so that the light and shade effects may possess sufficient 

 breadth to produce the desired effect. When the boundary 

 line winds in and out, the use of light-foliaged trees in the 

 recesses, and trees with dense foUage at the projecting points, 

 will add considerably to the depth of the plantation margins, 

 especially if the light-foliaged species consist of such smaller- 

 sized trees as birch, false acacia, English maple, mountain 

 ash, etc. The effect of most plantation margins is rarely so 

 good as it might be if more attention were paid to this point, 

 as it matters little what shape the outline may be, so long as 

 a hard and unbroken front of foliage presents itself all along 

 the line, with little or no variety in the heights of the trees. 

 This defect is often present in plantations which have been 

 planted primarily for landscape effect, such as belts, park 



