1885.] CLOSE WOODS OR OPEN? 485 



An old-fashioned writer has said : " The first meditation of a 

 solitary is the behaviour of men in active life." But rather, in tlie 

 depths of this seclusion, the behaviour of the varied forms of animal 

 life may well be considered an instructive, if not a more diverting 

 subject of meditation ; for here, not only in the immediate neighbour- 

 hood, but among the surrounding trees and upon the undulating 

 sward, much may be seen to give food for interesting specula- 

 tion, not only as regards the passions, sensations, and desires, but 

 also upon the inscrutable instinct possessed by that section of 

 creation which we — the lords of it, no less — designate as the lower 

 animals. 



But the time has come when this " Lord of Creation," lying 

 prone amid the tangled underwood, must unwillingly draw his 

 wandering fancies to an abrupt conclusion, for an insidious draught 

 which comes creeping o\qx the surface of the ground calls his 

 attention to the fact that the sun has set in a crimson glow, and 

 reminds him that this October day with all its glorious beauty 

 cannot last for ever. E. E. H. 



CLOSE WOODS OR OPEN? 



" X UCUS a non lucendo " might supply an appropriate motto for 

 I J a cautious and economical wood culture. This scrap of 

 primitive philology claimed to explain the origin of the Latin name 

 for grove, and, whether it be absolutely accurate or a mere guess 

 hazarded by some ancient grammarian, yet records for us the fact 

 that groves in old times were dusky and closely shaded. So they 

 have been also at all times and in all ages wherever wood has been 

 long left unhindered and unassisted to the care of nature. Nature's 

 management of woods is by no means to be despised, but, on the 

 contrary, is deserving of close attention and imitation. Of the 

 £20,000,000 worth of timber which is yearly imported into the 

 United Kingdom, by far the greater part has been produced in 

 natural forests. The excellent timber reaching us from Scandinavia, 

 Piussia, and Canada has seldom known the fostering care of any 

 forester. In the following brief remarks the endeavour will be to 

 show that groves ought still to preserve their ancient and natural 

 character ; that woods ought to be close, and closed overhead against 

 the sun ; that they ought to be dusky and dark, and densely 

 shaded. 



The question gives the choice of two alternatives. Ought the 



2 I 



