266 ENGLISH ESTATE FORESTRY 



outline, and develop symmetrical proportions. Trees which 

 develop low-spreading crowns, such as the beech, oak, or 

 hornbeam, are not suitable for ordinary avenues, although 

 they may be appropriate under certain conditions. Those, 

 again, which form rugged or irregular crowns, are rarely 

 suitable, such as the Scots fir, Weymouth pine, poplar, etc. 

 On the other hand, such trees as the English elm and lime 

 are particularly well suited for park avenues, as they are 

 naturally tall in habit, and symmetrical in proportions. 

 Probably the lime is really the best of all trees for the 

 purpose, as it looks well both in summer and winter, and, 

 unlike the elm, rarely gets ragged in old age. Its effect, 

 when forming an arching canopy, is beautiful in the extreme. 

 Its buttressed stem and arched branches, which often termin- 

 ate iu a sort of pendent a few yards above the ground, are 

 illustrations of architectural features which may be found in 

 almost every cathedral, and it is probable that many of our 

 earliest types of architecture were copied from the branch 

 and stem growth of this tree. 



In the case of formal avenues, few trees are more suitable 

 than the Wellingtonia or spruce, although they are not 

 species which should be selected for park-planting, but in 

 drives running through woods or pleasure grounds, Welling- 

 tonia or spruce avenues may often be seen which have a 

 wonderfully good effect, and on certain soils are often the 

 only type of coniferous avenue which it is at all possible to 

 obtain. For the more rugged and picturesque type, Scots 

 fir is also a suitable species, but it is not one which looks 

 well in youth, or so long as the trees retain their formal 

 crown, and yet lose their lower branches in the manner 

 characteristic of this tree. In fact, few species are unsuitable 

 if a proper site be chosen for them ; and upon this depends 

 not only their success as individuals, but the good or bad 

 effect of the avenue they compose. 



In avenues formed through woods or pleasure grounds 

 much greater freedom may be employed in the choice of 

 species, and both conifers and hardwoods are equally appro- 

 priate. Such avenues are usually formed for the effect they 

 produce in themselves, rather than as an adjunct to a build- 

 ing, although they may occasionally be formed alongside the 



