134 



Hedgerow Timber. 



[JUNE, 



good timber at a rapid rate under the prevailing conditions. 

 But, given the right soil, and associated with a suitable system 

 of farming, it is not difficult to make out a good case in favour 

 of hedgerow timber when consisting of the English elm. 



As regards soil, the same principle applies in a general way 

 to this tree as to any other species, and poor soils are[not likely 

 to bring about satisfactory results, either in the shape of land- 

 scape effector commercial timber. In the South of England, 

 however, there are few soils which are not sufficiently deep and 

 good to produce timber of fair size, although neither]fpoor, hard 

 gravels nor stiff, wet clays are conducive to a rapid growth. 

 Some of the best English elm timber is grown on the edge of 

 the chalk districts, and in the combes and valleys which inter- 

 sect the Downs. In most districts, however, at low or moderate 

 elevations, trees containing 300 cubic feet of timber are frequently 

 met with, although butts averaging 80 ft. or 100 ft. make as good 

 a price as any. 



The system of farming which can be best carried on in con- 

 junction with the growing of hedgerow timber is undoubtedly 

 dairy or sheep farming, to which the trees do least harm on the 

 one hand and afford most benefit on the other. Grass, either 

 in the form of pasture or hay, is not injured by the right class 

 of hedgerow tree to any appreciable extent. If hay-making is 

 rendered more difficult in a wet season by the presence of trees, 

 some compensation is afforded in late springs or dry summers 

 by the shelter and shade, which encourage an earlier growth in 

 spring and retard evaporation of surface moisture in hot, dry 

 weather. The shelter from strong cold winds or hot sun is 

 always a valuable provision where cattle are fed, and this in 

 itself may be said to justify the existence of trees. 



The two most important points in the management of elm 

 hedgerow timber are the selection or retention of suitable trees 

 or saplings and the pruning off of low side branches at an 

 early age. In selecting the saplings at each cutting or laying 

 of the hedges only those with straight stems and well-defined 

 leading shoots should be considered, and all others taken out 

 whenever the opportunity occurs. Trees with crooked stems or 

 of stunted growth, as well as any inclined to be flat-topped early 

 in life, should be removed as soon as they exhibit these features, 



