The berries, after being collected in the early winter, are treated much as we treat those of the yew and holly. They are mixed with sand in order to separate the seed and fleshy covering, and the whole is sown during early spring in previously prepared beds. The seed beds may be prepared in any shady situation out of doors, the soil being largely composed of light sandy loam mixed with finely riddled leaf-mould. Sometimes the seeds are sown in boxes and placed in a cool frame, but we have found cultivation out of doors more satisfactory. When two years old, the seedlings should be transplanted into lines 18 in. apart and 9 in. from plant to plant. Here they may remain for another two years, after which they should be planted out permanently and headed back the following season. Rather thick final planting is to be recommended, as the shrub being of upright growth, requires comparatively small room for development, and the best wands are produced by a close order of growth, say 5 ft. from plant to plant. Layering does not produce such upright-habited shrubs as those grown from seed, and the yield of wood per acre under exactly similar conditions of growth is greatly in favour of seedlings. After planting, the ground should be kept free from rough-growing seeds for the first two years, the crop being cut at from six to seven years’ growth, when the wands are from 1½ in. to 2 in. diameter at butt end. Cutting and bundling is usually done by contract, but, as with the osier, it is imperative that the crop be cut over near ground level and short “stumps” without “spurs” encouraged. As in the case of ordinary coppice wood, the buckthorn for charcoal making may be cut every sixth or seventh year, the straightest shoots when sorted in about 5 ft. lengths being tied in bundles which are about a yard in girth. The buckthorn being a gross feeder, manuring the land after the removal of a crop has been found advantageous. Although largely imported from Holland, and other parts of the Continent, home-grown wood is preferred, as it produces a much superior charcoal for the manufacture of explosives. Unfortunately, however, home supplies are so limited that foreign wood is imported in considerable quantity, and as there was a scarcity before the war, the probabilities are that, with our greatly increased consumption of charcoal explosives, a dearth of suitable wood is now being felt. With the present small remuneration attaching to the cultivation of coppice or underwood, which under ordinary circumstances does not exceed £4 per acre, the cultivation of the alder buckthorn is to be recommended, particularly as the price is at least quadrupled. The cultivation of this is quite simple, while the quality of soil required need not be better than that which produces a crop of chestnut or hazel. In cultivating the alder buckthorn for charcoal purposes the following rules should be observed:—