OF MIXED WOODS. 



21 



Y . flexilis X jilamentosa — Augusta. 

 „ „ x flaccida g/aucescens =Regz\is. 

 ,, aloifolia x flexilis =Siehea.na. 

 ,, X fi/amentosa = vlrescens. 



Xgloriosa (not flowered). 

 tricolor X flexilis — Titan us. 

 „ ,, x Treculeana (not flowered). 



,, ,, gigantea x recurvifolia = Heliodorus 

 (a giant). 



„ Treculeana X Jilamentosa (not flowered). 



,, Xgloriosa (not flowered). 



,, X recurvifolia — Fosteriana. 



XT , CHARLES SPRENGER. 



Naples. 



OF MIXED WOODS. 



There is much evidence in the countries 

 where forestry is best practised, as to the ad- 

 vantage of having woods of trees of different 

 kinds, different ages, and of different times of 

 cutting, instead of a complete clearance. The 

 reasons are many, but perhaps the most serious 

 are the following: When we plant a tree like 

 the Larch, putting them in solid masses of the 

 same age, any disease that comes to the tree 

 is much more likely to sweep through the 

 wood than it would if trees of various kinds 

 were intermixed. Wind, often a destroyer of 

 trees, is far less severe in the mixed wood, not 

 only because some of the kinds are wind-resist- 

 ing, but also because the different ages and 

 heights of the trees help to break its force. 

 The interaction of roots is also more likely to 

 lead to a better annual output of a wood as 

 the roots of mixed trees get more out of the 

 ground than a wood of one kind of tree only. 

 The plan also allows us to have the light-seek- 

 ing tree, the Pines, associated with those that 

 do well below them, like the Beech. This plan 

 by no means commits us to any monotonous 

 or regular mixture, but allows of varying the 

 wood in a way that is good for it, either for 

 effect or growth, and it allows of adapting the 

 tree to the soil. If we meet with a boggy spot, 

 we may plant it with Willows ; a rocky knoll, 

 with Beech, a wind-resister; a wet stretch near 

 a stream, with Spruce. 



We may see in the forest-clad mountains 

 of the Tyrol how often the native trees occur 

 together — Larch, Scotch Fir, and Norway 

 Spruce. Where the conditions suit a given 

 kind completely we may see it prevail, but 

 there are many other conditions in which the 



trees are interspersed — a group of Larch among 

 a colony of Scotch where the Norway Spruce 

 forms the greatest mass of timber. Also single 

 trees of each kind are scattered here and there 

 with a sprinkling of Birch and Beech, until 

 the ground rises so high that the trees of the 

 Pine tribe clothe the rocks. Why should we 

 not in woodland work more often follow this 

 way, by which vast and steep mountain ranges 

 are clothed in some of the most picturesque 

 forest regions of the world ? We should do so 

 for more than one reason. 



Mixed planting is, in many conditions, the 

 most profitable. It is the way, too, that best 

 aids us to adapt the soil to the tree; all themore 

 so if in broken ground, or the many places 

 where we find striking differences of soil in a 

 small area. If, to take an example from a few 

 acres of ground I have lately dealt with, we 

 have a wet piece of ground near a stream, 

 there is a good chance for the Norway Spruce, 

 which so often starves in dry soil. Above this 

 wet ground there is a nearly level bed of stiff 

 soil, which grows Oak of the best quality. So 

 we have the Oak happy here with a few Ash 

 among it. Above the level Oak bed, however, 

 there are some acres of a shaly soil, on which 

 the Oak starves ; so the stunted Oaks are 

 cleared, to plant with Larch and Scotch and 

 Silver Fir ; and these conditions occur in a 

 wood of about twelve acres. It is not intended 

 that any hard lines should be drawn between 

 any of the trees, but the kinds run into each 

 other, as they so often do where the soil or 

 altitude changes in natural forests. 



The fine vigour of our native trees may 

 often aid us in forming mixed woods by their 

 persistent way of coming from seed where we 

 least expect them. If in a woodland district 

 we plant an arable field with Pines of various 

 kinds, we often find vigorous Oak, Ash, and 

 Birch seedlings keeping company with the 

 young Pines which had the start of them by a 

 few years. Mice, birds, or other natural agents 

 set the seed, and instead of cutting out the 

 young trees, often healthy saplings, it is better 

 to leave them to vary the wood. 



The mixed planting by no means confines 

 us to a fixed rule, but, on the contrary, enables 

 us to take the best advantage of the natural 

 variations of soil and aspect. We might in 

 varied soils enjoy the effect of one tree, passing 



b 3 



