500 The yournal of Forestry. 



same foundation, he tells us that the evidence is not enough, and the only 

 reason we can discover for his incredulity is that it does not square with 

 a favourite theory he has adopted. 



If I had stated that the Sultan of Turkey had taken up his winter 

 quarters in Argyleshire, or something else equally absurd, then there 

 might have been room for doubt ; but when I am recording the accumu- 

 lated evidence of many years' experience, and still find he pronounces that 

 " not to be enough," then I can only say I have no more to offer, and that 

 I am sorry for his unbelief Then as regards the latter part of the 

 sentence, where he fancies that I am " interested in the disposal of that 

 class of timber that he is seeking to lower in estimation, and consequently 

 in value," I would in charity believe that our friend does not realize the 

 full meaning of the words he thus uses ; for surely it would l)e an infallible 

 proof that a man had lost his senses were he to circulate throughout the 

 country an unfavourable report about wood he wishes to sell, in the expec- 

 tation that it would prove a tempting bait for the wood merchants. In 

 this quarter at least we follow the old-established custom of saying as 

 much in favour of our wood as we conscientiously can, and leave our 

 customers to judge for themselves. Then there is another conclusion 

 which we must come to, if Mr. Wilkie's letter is to have any meaning at 

 all. It will be observed that the readers of this Journal are warned not to 

 accept a simple statement coming from an individual like me, but they are 

 expected to draw the very modest inference that they ought to have the 

 most implicit confidence in the conclusions which my friend has so ably 

 reasoned out, and I have no doubt they will appreciate to the full extent 

 the advice given. I will express in a few words what I trust is felt by 

 every one of your correspondents to be the only safe and honourable 

 footing we can occupy in regard to such matters as this, namely, that 

 a man's signature ought to be a sufiicient guarantee of the truthfulness of 

 all statements he may advance in relation to matters of fact ; and if any 

 one violates this rule, depend upon it, the recoil will be upon himself 



Secondly, every writer must be credited with being perfectly sincere in 

 the mutual interchange of opinion in regard to questions on which we 

 are not all agreed ; for if we allow an element of suspicion to infect and 

 pervert our minds in regard to the purity of each other's motives, 

 then all reasoning is at an end. Such being my views, it is almost super, 

 fluous to state, in reply to the imputation already referred to, that the 

 only motive which I have in writing to this Journal is a desire to help, 

 however feebly, in some way every one of its numerous readers. 



Dalkeith Parh Egbert Baxter. 



P.S. — Since Mr. Wilkie has expressed his thorough confidence in the 

 plan of inserting the thin strip of hardwood between the rail and the 

 stob, I have no doubt he will try the experiment on the next fence he 

 erects, and hope he will let us know how it succeeds. R. B. 



