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By Andrew Gilchrist, Urie,
Stonehaven.
[Premium—Five Sovereigns.]
At the present day,
notwithstanding that more attention is being paid, alike by proprietor and
forester, to the science and practice of arboriculture than has ever been,
there is still room for further improvements in the economic management of
plantations, ere they become as remunerative as might be reasonably
expected, considering the skill and intelligence that is being brought to
bear upon them.
A more extended and
judicious system of conserving and rearing natural coppice wood in
plantations, is, we think, one of the means whereby our Scottish woodlands
may be brought to yield a better return for the land occupied. At present
there is a great extent, probably, on an average, about a fourth part of
the woodlands of Scotland, that yield little or no return per acre.
This is not so much owing
to mismanagement as to local peculiarities, such as, for instance, a
portion of an enclosure, after say twenty-five years growth, owing to
something deficient in the soil, or peculiar in the situation, often
yields a crop of three-fourths less value than the rest of the plantation.
In cases of this kind, instead of allowing the whole extent of a
plantation to grow to the age of full sized timber, it would often
considerably increase the returns per acre to take two crops of coppice
instead of one very inferior crop of aged timber. We might mention several
examples of this kind that have come under our own observation when
clearing plantations. For example, in clearing a 50 acre enclosure in the
county of Forfar, the crop of which consisted for the most part of larches
and Scots fir, we found about two acres of damp ground with a partial crop
of birches. Apparently only about one-half of the trees had been planted
at the time the plantation was formed; the others were about twenty years
old, and had grown from seed. It was evident that during the last twenty
years the planted birches had not been making so much progress in their
growth as they had previously been doing; as a whole they were not so
saleable, nor so sound as the younger trees were. The actual produce of
these two acres was 25 tons of birch at 12s. per ton, equal to L.7 10s.
per acre. The seedling trees were doubtless the most valuable. They were
all quite sound and saleable, but not a few of the others were dry and
slightly affected with rot, and it took a greater quantity of them to make
a ton. A partial examination of these two kinds of birches was sufficient
to convince any practical man that these two acres might have yielded more
than the double of what they did. Had they been cut over after about
twenty years growth, at that age they would have been quite as suitable
for bobbin wood as they were at forty years. If they had been thus allowed
to grow up as a natural coppice, the second crop would have been closer,
and, doubtless, altogether much better than the first; but even though it
had only been the same, it is not too much to say that under judicious
management there might have been L.15 per acre for the forty years instead
of only L.7 10s.
Another portion of damp
ground in this same plantation (fully two acres in extent) had been left
undrained and planted with larches, the actual value of which at the time
of cutting was not more than L.12 per acre, while the realized value of
the larches and Scots firs on the suitable soil was L.42 per acre, showing
a loss of L.30 to the proprietor. Now, had this portion of damp ground
been planted with birch and alders, and treated as natural coppice, the
return per acre for the forty years would have been at least L.30.
On most estates there are
several acres of woodland very similar to the above examples that might be
most judiciously turned to a better account by converting them into a
natural coppice. For instance, there are in some enclosures small portions
of damp or boggy land on which trees such as the birch and alder have been
planted and are allowed to grow for sixty or more years, simply because
the trees on the dry soil are not cut down. It is an admitted fact by all
practical men, that alder and birch grow most rapidly during the first
twenty years of their growth, and that, in not a few instances, they begin
to get dry and affected with rot after about thirty years' growth. Indeed,
in cutting over old plantations, as well as in the periodical thinning, we
have frequently cut down alders and birches that were comparatively
worthless, simply because they were left too long. All this clearly shows
that in many instances it would be more profitable to take two crops
instead of one, even though there was no demand in the district but for
firewood.
There are also many
precipitous glens, by the sides of large and small streams, that are
almost inaccessible, and where the expense of removing large sized and
full grown timber is almost equal to its value. In such places a crop of
coppice wood, consisting of sycamore or ash, would generally grow very
rapidly, and could be worked and removed at a great deal less expense than
full grown timber. Most of the counties of Scotland are intersected with
numerous streams, some of which have their banks clothed with trees, but
in many cases these are very stunted and unhealthy. Owing to the banks
being narrow and steep, the trees are often liable to be partly submerged
at the time of a spate. And the small extent of ground that is found to be
available for planting is often not considered to be worth the expense of
a protecting fence. Under these, and similar circumstances, natural
coppice would be a much more remunerative crop than the trees that are
generally grown on these places.
In the year 1859 we cleared a crop of natural
coppice from the banks of the Nethen and one of its tributaries in the
county of Lanark; this crop consisted for the most part of alder and
birch, and was sold for the manufacture of gunpowder at 18s. per ton
peeled. They had grown about twenty-five years, and the estimated yield
per acre was about L.16. The greater part of this coppice was cut from
narrow and steep banks that were not considered worth the cost of a
protecting fence, and they had apparently never received any thinning, so
that there had been no expense whatever connected with the growth of this
crop. The ground occupied could scarcely be considered worth any rent; but
supposing we value it at 5s. per acre, and allow 35s. for clearing the
crop, there is still a clear profit of L.8. Now it is on these portions of
peculiarly situated soils that are not properly suited for the rearing of
full sized trees, and that, except for the growth of natural coppice,
would be quite unproductive, that we consider would be well worth the
expense of being planted with those trees that are best suited for growing
as a coppice. Narrow banks and slopes of streams are often left implanted
because the expense of thoroughly enclosing the small extent of ground
would be greater than the profit to be derived from the crop. But, except
when newly planted, or when the crop is cut over and the shoots young and
tender, natural coppice (especially birch and alder) does not require
great protection, and in many instances, both at the time of planting and
at each periodical cutting, the fencing might be done at small cost, by
arranging the prunings of trees or thorn hedges in a form of a dead hedge.
A temporary protection of this kind will be found to last for a few years
till the young growths are to a certain extent beyond the reach of serious
damage from animals. There are other comparatively inexpensive methods of
fencing, such as the turf dyke and ditch, that might afford a permanent
protection; but they need not to be detailed here.
On various estates we have observed some
deciduous plantations, especially when planted in the form of clumps and
belts for shelter on exposed situations, and thinnish soils where the
trees make little progress in their growth after they rise above the
natural shelter of the district. We have frequently valued such trees, and
found that on an average they were not worth more than 1s. 3d. per tree,
or L.15, 2s. 6d. per acre, even after more than forty years' growth, while
in the same district, with a similar soil, we have found an acre of
coppice, twenty years old, to yield 20 tons at 14s. per ton, thus being a
balance of L.13 per acre in favour of two crops of coppice, which
conclusively proves that not a few of these ill-thriven plantations might
be profitably converted into natural coppice.
We wish it to be distinctly understood that we
are not recommending the planting of ground, or even the converting of
plantations into a natural coppice where the soil is suited for the growth
of larch, Scots, or spruce firs. Our remarks apply more to those portions
of woodland that are naturally not capable of growing so profitably full
sized timber as natural coppice. To carry out what we recommend, the
essential materials are generally already partly in existence, and all
that is needed is to adopt a judicious system of conservation.
Having thus shortly mentioned some of the
situations where natural coppice may be profitably grown, we will now
notice the trees that are the best suited for its production. The birch is
unquestionably one of the most suitable trees. It thrives on a great
variety of soils and situations, even on very damp, cold, bleak exposures;
it grows faster than any other tree for the first twenty years of its
growth, and numerous shoots spring freely from the stools after the trees
are cut. In almost every district of Scotland there is always a good
demand for birch, for the manufacture of gunpowder, clogs, and
bobbin-wood, &c. In Glasgow the thinnings of birch sell well as wands, and
rods for crate making, and the prunings always meet with a ready sale for
besoms. The alder is
another tree well adapted for coppice wood, for which there is always a
ready sale for purposes similar to the birch. It grows rapidly as a
coppice, and sends out shoots freely from old stools, even though in very
damp indifferent soil. It is not such a hardy and profitable tree as the
birch for dry thin soils and exposed situations, but it is superior for
marshy gulleys that cannot be properly drained. When coppice plantations
are to be planted at first, or even in filling up blanks in older
plantations, we would strongly recommend the planting of the silver alder,
Alnus incana, in preference to the common variety, Alnus glutinosa, as the
former grows much faster, and continues to thrive to a greater age. After
being five or six years planted, it sends out large numbers of suckers,
not only from the collar of the tree, but they also spring up at a
distance of several feet from the stem; and these can all be turned to
account, either by encouraging them to grow up as additional coppice
shoots, or transplanting them when young. The alder is very suitable for
planting as a coppice on the marshy banks of streams, as it grows freely,
even though its roots on the one side are partly covered with water; nor
does it seem to suffer so much from the effects of high floods as the ash,
elm, and other trees do.
The sycamore is also a most useful tree for
the production of natural coppice. It grows freely on almost any soil, if
not too clamp, but though very impatient of stagnant water in the soil, it
thrives rapidly on the drier banks of streams, even though part of the
roots are almost constantly among the running water. After being cut over,
shoots grow freely from the stools, and in many plantations young trees
spring up and grow rapidly from fallen seeds. At present there is a
growing demand for all sizes of plane tree, from two inches diameter
upwards, chiefly for the manufacture of bobbins and rollers.
The Norway maple is also a profitable coppice
tree, being very similar in its habits and uses to the sycamore.
The ash is beyond dispute one of the most
profitable coppice trees in Scotland; it grows freely and rapidly from
stools in dampish glens and sheltered situations, and is always in good
demand at all sizes. When young it sells well as wands and rods for the
manufacture of strong crates; its older growths meet with a ready sale for
cart and barrow slots, and for handle-wood. In the county of Dumbarton we
have cut down thinnings from a ten year old ash coppice with from three to
six feet of the root cuts quite suitable for handle-wood, and sold these
thinnings at 16s. per ton lying on the ground.
The elm is very similar to the ash, both in
regard to its rate of growth, soils, and situations on which it thrives,
and also as to the value of its thinnings, but it is slightly inferior in
its value as a full grown crop, owing chiefly to the preference that is
invariably given to the ash for making handles, but the elm is equally
useful for turnery purposes, cart and barrow framing, &c. The Spanish
chestnut on a loamy soil and sheltered situation is another useful coppice
tree; shoots grow up rapidly from its stools, and sell well for wands,
hoops, and crate wood; older growths sell well for turning purposes.
The horse chestnut, though it sends up shoots
freely, is in Scotland not considered to be a very profitable coppice
tree. Its wood being wanting in elasticity, the thinnings are unsaleable
until they are size for strong crates, or for turners and firewood. The
lime tree is also suitable as a coppice tree, but is much inferior to the
ash and elm, both in regard to profit and the purposes to which its wood
can be applied; still it always meets with a ready sale for turning
purposes. The same remarks may be applied to the hornbeam, the only
difference being that it grows on a poorer soil and its shoots are rather
more elastic, consequently, its thinnings sell better as wands and rods.
The beech, compared with the foregoing trees,
is at best somewhat tardy in sending up shoots from its stools, otherwise
it is very similar to the hornbeam.
The wild cherry makes a good coppice tree; it
grows freely on thin soils, and produces numerous shoots from its stools,
and propagates itself from seeds. The shoots are tough, and quite saleable
at all ages, for purposes similar to the birch.
The mountain ash is a first-class coppice tree
for the production of wands and small crate wood; it is very hardy, and
grows freely on very poor soils and exposed situations, and is very
suitable for growing on rocky shelves of glens.
The hazel is also a hardy reproductive plant,
very similar in almost every respect to the mountain ash. Both trees being
mainly adapted for the production of the smaller class of coppice wood,
and are consequently most suitable for being planted as intermediate
stools among stronger growing plants, such as ash, elm, and sycamore.
These trees are also the most profitable and vigorous growing plants that
can be planted to produce a crop of underwood in hardwood plantations.
Several of the poplars, such as P. nigra, P.
alba, P. tremula, grow vigorously as coppice wood, and the shoots are very
saleable for the manufacture of hampers and crates. If the situation is
somewhat sheltered, such as a hollow, dampish part of a plantation, they
are by no means particular as to quality of soil, and are very profitable
as a coppice, especially when grown in clumps by themselves. One of the
largest proprietors in Kincardineshire has planted about a million of P.
nigra at the foot of the Grampians, with the intention, we understand, of
converting them into a coppice for the production of wood to be
manufactured into pulp for paper-making. This is a new branch of industry
that deserves to be carefully and impartially inquired into, and the
results brought under the notice of landed proprietors before they are
recommended to plant poplars indiscriminately on land that might be very
profitably occupied with larch and Scots firs.
The above list comprises most of the trees
that are usually grown as natural coppice in Scotland, and in regard to
their suitableness for the various soils and situations they may be
classed as follows:—
1st, For high lying and exposed situations, with a thin soil, the best
trees are the birch, hazel, and mountain ash. The birches would constitute
the main crop, and should be planted about eight feet apart, and the
intermediate spaces made up with hazel and mountain ash to four feet over
all. 2d, On similar
situations but with a damp boggy soil, as also on all marshy undrained
portions of land, the alder should be planted by itself.
3d, On less exposed parts, with a deeper and
better quality of soil, the ash, sycamore, and hornbeam may be planted at
nine feet apart as the main crop, and the ground filled up with mountain
ash or hazel to about four and a half feet apart.
4th, Peat moss, if properly drained, may be
profitably planted with the common ash, at tea feet apart as the permanent
crop, with birch or mountain ash as nurses. But on imperfectly drained
moss the birch and alder are the most profitable trees.
5th, Poplars, chestnuts, elm, and lime trees
are best suited for good deep soils with a considerable shelter, such as
the hollow parts of plantation ground; there they may be planted at ten
feet apart, with the mountain ash and hazel between.
In forming coppice plantations some recommend
the planting of larches as nurses, but after considerable experience and
observation we are inclined to think that this is not a judicious
practice, because the trees that are to constitute the crop of coppice are
liable to be overdrawn, and this has a great tendency to prevent them from
becoming so stout at the collar as they ought to be, and always are when
grown by themselves.
In planting trees for a permanent crop of coppice wood, it is very
desirable, as far as possible, to have each variety planted in a clump by
itself; when this is done, it is generally found that the crop is more
remunerative, and grows up more regularly.
When rearing young trees for the purpose of
converting them into a coppice wood, the great aim should be to encourage
them to become branchy and stout in the stem, with a good diameter at the
base, which insures a large-sized healthy stool for the growth of the
subsequent crops. The
hazel and mountain ash should be cut over as soon as they are seen to be
sufficiently strong for being sold as wands or rods, which they will be
after from six to ten years' growth, according to soil and situation;
while the other sorts will generally take from twelve to eighteen years to
attain a diameter of 4 to 6 inches at the base, which is the size they
ought to be before they are cut over for the first time. At the first and
at all subsequent cuttings, the stools should be made as low as possible,
and have a surface so sufficiently smooth and convex as to entirely
prevent water from standing on them.
After the first crop has been cut over, the
shoots that spring from the stools should be thinned out when they have
grown from two or three seasons, leaving from six to eight of the best on
each stool; a preference should always be given to those shoots that
spring out from the lower parts of the stool, as these generally send out
individual roots into the soil, which greatly encourages the growth of the
shoot, as well as the extension of the stools. The second thinning should
be clone about six or eight years after this, and at this time all hazel
and mountain ash shoots should be clean cut over, pruned, and taken up
along with all the other thinnings that are found suitable for being sold
as wands and rods. These are tied up into bundles of 100 each, and sold
for the manufacture of crates and hampers. At this thinning, from two to
three shoots will be found sufficient to leave on each stool, and in most
cases it will generally be found that no further thinning will be
necessary. Except in
the case of simply foreshortening any very strong side branch that
inclines to spread out and overhang any of the no pruning in the rearing
of natural coppice is necessary shoots.
Regarding the age at which natural coppice
should be cut over,, no absolute rule can be laid down, as experience
proves that it can only be fairly determined from an intimate acquaintance
with local peculiarities, such as the size and kind of wood most in
demand, varieties of trees that constitute the crop, nature of soil, and
situation. For
example, we have found a crop consisting chiefly of ash, that, owing to
the demand in the district for rods and crate wood, could be most
profitably cut over at about 12 years of age; while, in the very same
plantation, there were several clumps of alders and birch that would, in
about eight years more, be well adapted for clog and turners' wood, for
which there was also a good demand in the district. Consequently, we
apportioned the plantation, and cut over the clump of ashes; and as the
alders and birch were growing vigorously, we allowed them to remain till
they were a suitable size. But this can only be done where a crop consists
for the most part of one sort of trees. It would never do to carry this
out with a few stools in a promiscuous plantation.
The crop should always be cut over as soon as
a want of vigour is apparent in the annual growths, as it considerably
impairs the vitality of the stools when the shoots are left till they get
into a stunted state of growth.
In managing coppice woods, they should always
be apportioned in accordance with the extent on the estate, and the sorts
of trees on each portion treated and cut over successively. This
systematic method of rearing is by far the most profitable, as it
equalises the labour and cost of rearing as well as the return from the
plantation; and besides it may, and often does to a certain extent,
control the supply and demand in the district, which helps to maintain a
regular price.
Regarding the cutting and disposal of natural coppice, little can be said
here, as no absolute method can be laid down suitable for every district.
Large plantations are frequently divided into
lots and sold by auction or by private tender. In the counties of Argyll,
Dumbarton, and Stirling there are merchants who purchase both the
thinnings and the entire crop by the acre or by the lot, and cut and carry
the whole to the market at their own expense ; while others purchase the
thinnings after they have been cut and assorted by the proprietor's men.
On some estates the thinning and final clearing is cut, assorted, and sent
direct to the market by the proprietor's men, or sold after being cut
over. After noticing and comparing several instances where the work was
done each way, we would recommend the system of allowing the purchaser to
perform all the work, as it is generally the most profitable for the
proprietor. No doubt there are some exceptional cases where a really
energetic forester, with a thorough system of forest management, and
perhaps a favourable market, can as economically manage the cutting and
disposal as a wood merchant can; but as a rule, the latter have the
advantage of efficient men who are in almost daily practice, and are
consequently able to do the necessary work at less cost. And besides, the
merchant not unfrequently lets the work by contract to practised men.
Whatever method is adopted, the strictest
attention should be paid to have the wood carefully cut, so as to leave
the stools smooth and slightly convexed; and as severe frosts are
sometimes injurious to newly cut stools, the cutting over should not, if
possible, be begun till the end of February, and finished (the plantation
being thoroughly cleared of prunings and rubbish) by the middle of April.
Immediately after this, if there are drains they should be cleaned, and
the fences sufficiently repaired to keep out cattle.
It is of comparatively little importance to
state the returns that may be expected from an acre of natural coppice, as
no two districts are exactly similar in regard to soil, situation, and
demand; consequently the realised value of an acre in the one district
would be often fallacious in another. The profitable growth of coppice,
like all other forest produce, is to a considerable extent controlled by
circumstances; consequently many of the statements that are given of its
value per acre have a tendency to mislead, owing to the crop that is
valued being grown under exceptionally favourable circumstances or the
reverse. For example, we have seen in the western district of Scotland a
two-year old coppice fully as strong as one of four years' growth in one
of the north-eastern counties. After considerable experience in the
thinning of coppice, we think that, unless in districts that are
unfavourably situated in regard to a market, the thinnings will generally
be found to pay the cost of rearing. In such districts we have seen an
acre of mixed coppice, after 20 years' growth, not yield more than L.8 per
acre; while on a district more favourably situated, both in regard to soil
and market, a similar crop has, at the same age, brought L.14 per acre.
And, again, we have seen L.30 realised for a crop of ash 18 years old, and
L.25 per acre for a 20 years' old crop of birch and alder, both in
districts very favourably situated for the growth and disposal of coppice.
But as these statements may be considered of comparatively little value,
we think it better to state the current prices of coppice produce. In
Glasgow, where there is the best and most regular demand, both for
thinnings and for full-grown coppice, the prices for 5 to 7 feet
gardeners' wands, 10s. to 14s. per 1200; 7 feet upwards foresters' wands,
not strong enough for ribs, 21s. to 25s. per 1200; 9 feet long, ˝ inch
through at that length, 30s. to 45s. per 1200; crate wood, 22s. 6d. to
25s. per ton. In Paisley, alder suitable for bobbin wood brings from 20s.
to 24s. per ton; birch, from 22s. to 26s. per ton; sycamore, from 18s. to
20s. per ton; beech and hornbeam from 14s. to 18s. per ton.
In Aberdeen there is a fair demand for various
sorts of coppice, at from 18s. to 20s. per ton. In Arbroath there is
always a good demand for coppice, especially for birch and sycamore, at
from 18s. to 25s. per ton; and the latter tree, when 7 inches through at
any length, readily brings 9d. per lineal foot, lying in the plantation 40
miles from the manufactory.
At Edinburgh, birch and alder brings from 15s.
to 20s. per ton; ash and elm from 14s. to 18s. per ton.
Alder and birch, when sold for powder making,
has generally to be peeled; the bark of the alder is not saleable, but the
birch bark sells at from 35s. to 50s. per ton, which in most cases more
than pays the cost of cutting and peeling the trees.
It is customary in many places to grow some
timber trees along with the coppice wood, but this is a great mistake, as
they through time spread out and overhang the coppice, and ultimately
cause the stools to become feeble and to die out. The number of trees per
acre should be about ten, and at most not above twenty, and even this
number should, by a regular and early system of foreshortening, be kept
from becoming so wide-spread as to kill any of the stools.
Natural coppice is on some estates grown as
underwood in hardwood plantations, but except in very favourably situated
districts it does not generally pay. And when there is a full and rapid
growing crop of trees on the ground, it is to a certain extent injurious
to their growth, especially when thinning is neglected and the underwood
allowed to grow up and contend with the trees for space. Some foresters do
everything in their power to discourage the growth of underwood, and even
go the length of affirming that it so seriously affects the growth of the
timber crop that the better plan is to grub out the trees that are
periodically thinned out, rather than leave them to send up coppice shoots
; and allege that the benefits to the timber crop by the removal of the
stools more than pays the expense of grubbing. While not recommending the
growth of underwood as a generally remunerative crop, we are inclined to
doubt if it is not much more profitable to allow the stools to grow than
to grub them out. Where there is a good market for the sale of wands and
rods, such as, for example, in the counties of Stirling and Dumbarton, the
trees should be kept much thinner on the ground, and the stools, if
suitable, allowed to send up shoots, which, if cut clean over when size
for wands, are a profitable crop, and are thus removed before they can to
any extent become injurious to the timber trees.
Unless where the trees are specially thinned
out for the growth of underwood, the coppice shoots are to a great extent
under the control of the timber crop ; hence there is practically no
necessity for going to expense of grubbing. No really practical man
expects to have a profitable crop of underwood with a full crop of timber
trees. But there are always exceptional cases where it is well to
encourage its growth, such as open spaces that accidentally occur in
hardwood plantations; and also not unfrequently in ornamental belts and
clumps that are composed chiefly of old trees, standing at a considerable
distance apart.
Natural coppice, when grown as underwood, should be thinned out after two
years' growth, leaving about six shoots on each stool, and except in
plantations where the trees are standing very wide apart, these shoots
should be clean cut over after from six to eight years' growth. If a
regular method of this kind is carried out the timber crop will not be
greatly injured, and in districts where there is a good sale for coppice
produce it will much more than pay the expense of growing it. |
