D 



The Principles of Landscape Forestry 



The Art of Managing Pleasure Woods, in Which Profit 

 Is of Less Importance Than Sport or Beauty 



By Wilhklm M11.LER 

 Dii'ision of Landscape Extension. Dcparliucnt of Horticulture, Universit\' of Illinois. 



L'IvIX(.i the ele\en years when I frequently vis- The great mass of mankind has a similar attitude about 



ited great estates I had the good fortune to meet street and shade trees, and that is one reason why the 



many persons who owned exceptionally beautiful 

 woodlands. When my adxice was asked about the man- 

 agement of these woods I at first referred the owners to 

 the regular foresters. But soon I began to receive com- 

 plaints that the professional men could not get the point 

 of view of their clients. Une trouble was that the com- 



tree-mending enthusiasm swept the country a few years 

 ago. As an editor 1 encouraged that movement, and even 

 now I cannot believe, as some do, that it has done more 

 harm than good. On the contrary, tree surgery has saved 

 thousands of grand, historic trees that otherwise would 

 have perished of neglect. Moreover, it has educated the 



mercial forester wanted to cut down at once all the trees general public to take better care of trees. The coni- 

 that the owners valued most. When profit is the aim it nionest charge made against the tree surgeons is that their 

 is quite right to harvest mature trees, but when a man prices are too high. Granting that this may be true, and 

 is keeping woods for pleasure he 

 does not like to see all his big- 

 gest trees cut down. A man of 

 twenty or thirty may be wil- 

 ling, because he expects to 

 see another generation of trees 

 grow to their full beauty, 

 but a man of fifty or sixty 

 expects to enjoy his woods 

 only ten or fifteen years. 

 Therefore, nuich has to be 

 planned for that brief period, 

 especially when the next gen- 

 eration may not keep the 

 place. Your Wall Street man 

 is not a sentimentalist in busi- 

 ness, but he is a sentimentalist 

 about his country home and 

 he has a j) e c u 1 i a r sense 

 of comradeship with mature 

 trees. 1 le recognizes that they 

 have a long record of solid 

 achievement, like his own. He 

 himself would not like to be 

 rudely set aside by the world 

 just when his judgment is best, 

 and he does not like to have hi^ 

 trees swept away just w'hen their 

 beauty is mellowest. The 

 thought of selling such trees for 

 profit is as repulsive to him as 

 betraying one's friends for 

 money. The average captain of 

 finance would rather spend p.^„„ ^^. ^ ^ Eidrcdgc. 

 monev to prolong their lives. 



• ' ". BEFORE REVEALING A VISTA INSIDE THE WOODS 



Q, unael tne circumstances, Across this stream is an uninteresting mess of young trees, mostly of short-lived species, like the soft 



can VOU blame him ^ maple. The removal of three small trees near the center of this photograph will give a tine terminal 



feature or vista-point. 



969 



