CHAPTER III. 



ON THE FORM AND QUALITY OF TREES. 



Trees grown in sheltered places run up quickly and to 

 a great height, a fact of which advantage is taken in the 

 early stages of growth of forests ; such trees also produce 

 the greatest length of clear stem, the development in the 

 upper portions preventing the growth of branches low 

 down. This is chiefly owing to the want of sufficient 

 light and air to enable them to assimilate freely, and in 

 situations where it occurs to excess the texture of the 

 wood is soft in comparison with that of trees grown in 

 the open. They have, however, the compensating 

 advantage of being very free from local defects, and by 

 gradually exposing them to the light after the principal 

 growth in height has been attained, the best results are 

 secured in the end. 



Many trees, as, for example, the Oak, when grown in 

 hedge-rows, or other exposed and isolated places where 

 they are fully exposed to light and air, take a freer and, 

 perhaps, more natural form of growth; the branches 

 generally occurring lower down, and meeting with no 

 obstacle to their development, they assume every variety 

 of curve, and produce timber which is especially valuable 

 for naval purposes. Timber thus grown is from the first 

 of the hardest and most compact kind, although subject 



