50 



JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



tions may be necessary may be done at the proper time, other- 

 wise they may do more harm than good. 



There are two facts which we should do well to remember 

 in connection with timber-growing. One is, that arboriculture 

 is not sylviculture ; and the other, that while " a tree may be 

 growing while we're sleepin'," yet it may not be growing into 

 good timber. 



Part II. 



Coppice and Hedgerow Timber. 



Coppice. — The cultivation of coppice-wood is almost entirely 

 confined to the Midland and Southern Counties of England, and 

 in some districts occupies practically the whole of the wood- 

 land area. It is usually associated with Oak or Ash standards, 

 which are either planted or raised from self-sown seed, or arise 

 from " tellers " which have been retained for that purpose. A 

 few years back coppice was probably the most profitable forest 

 crop in the country. During the last ten years, however, prices 

 have fallen so low in many districts that it no longer pays 

 adequate interest on the original outlay, and scarcely covers the 

 cost of maintenance. This fall in value is chiefly due to agricul- 

 tural depression and the monopolising of small wood-consuming 

 industries by machine -worked factories. The former cause has 

 operated by decreasing the demand for sheep-hurdles, cribs, rakes, 

 stakes, &c, into which the greater part of coppice-wood is manu- 

 factured, and the latter by cutting down the price of wooden 

 articles so fine that the rural manufacturer is practically unable 

 to compete with his stronger rival. In certain districts, however, 

 coppice-wood still pays when properly managed, and although 

 it may yield a smaller return than timber, yet it has an advantage 

 over the latter in the possibility it affords of a comparatively 

 quick return of a portion, if not the whole, of the initial outlay. 



The chief products of coppice-wood are rods and poles. The 

 former are obtained from Hazel or Willow, and the latter from 

 Ash, Spanish Chestnut, Alder, Willow, Birch, &c. Local demand 

 determines whether one or both of these products should be pro- 

 duced, but in most districts poles pay better than rods, owing to 

 the varied uses to which they can be put. Alder poles are less 



