1 90S-] 



Hedgerow Timber. 



i33 



with others. An ideal hedgerow tree may be said to be one 

 which is little affected by the prevailing wind, retains its 

 leading shoot until late in life when grown alone, and has no 

 great tendency to develop large side branches near the ground. 

 Such a species is not easy to find. Sycamore and ash stand 

 wind well, and are not characterised by low side branches, 

 but they are both apt to lose their leading shoot early in life 

 and develop a short bole. Another disadvantage connected 

 with these trees is their tendency to exhaust the soil round 

 about them, and to kill out or weaken a hedge in which 

 they stand. Oak quickly loses its leading shoot, and forms 

 a low spreading crown, and much the same may be said about 

 Wych elm. Beech, of course, is out of the question, although 

 occasionally met with in hedges, or, rather, where hedges ought 

 to be. All of the above species, however, fail to produce timber 

 of sufficient value to compensate the landowner for the loss of 

 land taken up by them or the damage done to hedges and crops. 

 If there be any difference, perhaps the sycamore is the best of 

 them, as, if large and sound, it fetches a fair price in spite of knots, 

 from 2s. to 3s. 6d. per foot being occasionally paid for large butts. 



There is one species, however, which probably approaches 

 the ideal more closely than any named above, and that is the 

 English elm. The specific value of the timber is not high, but 

 taking into consideration its tall, straight, and well-shaped bole, 

 its comparatively small crown, and the rapidity of its growth, 

 one is certainly justified in regarding this tree as worth its 

 standing room. But probably the most valuable feature con- 

 nected with the English elm is found in the fact that it propagates 

 itself readily from suckers, so that a continuous succession of 

 saplings are always coming on to take the place of felled 

 or blown timber. This fact is seldom properly appreciated in 

 hedgerow-timbered districts, and few realise the possibilities 

 presented by this tree as a source of revenue when properly 

 managed. Farms are frequently met with in the South and 

 West of England which contain sufficient hedgerow timber to 

 bring in an average annual sum which will keep buildings and 

 fences in good repair and allow the landlord to derive full benefit 

 from the rent. This, of course, would be impossible if the trees 

 had not originated spontaneously, or were less fitted to produce 



