6o THE MANAGEMENT OP' EPPING FOREST. 



gether abolished by judicious interference. With this class of correspondent it is 

 difficult to carry on a discussion.^ 



And now wher^ is this glaring inconsistency? I said in 1883 (and I repeat 

 it in 1894, " To the naturalist — and I am sure I may say to the intelligent 

 public generally — such a tract of primitive country is beautiful only so long as 

 Nature is given full sway, and the adjustments which for long ages have been 

 going on slowly and silently under the operation of natural laws remain 

 unchecked and uninterfered with by man." But we all know that this ideal 

 generalised J' natural condition " does not exist throughout our Forest. You 

 have seen examples of closely packed trees, crowded together in unshapely 

 masses, with spindle branches stretching straight upwards in hideous lankiness. 

 Nature, far from having been given full sway, has been interfered with for so 

 long a period that it will be very many years before we can hope to see a natural 

 state of affairs restored. As the result of lopping in the past we now have dis- 

 tricts from which a large proportion of the trees might still be advantageously 

 removed. I maintain that these features are not natural here because they are the 

 result of man's interference. The policy of the Verderers is to restore and beautify 

 the Forest as far as possible and as rapidly as possible.'* I take it upon myself 

 to state their case in broad outline because it is from them that we wish rather to 

 hear the detailed explanations of management. 



The present agitation has arisen almost entirely in connection with the 

 thinning out of the trees ; more especiall}' in Monks Wood. It is not for me to 

 explain technically why thinning is necessary ; j'ou can obtain this information 

 from any of our experts. But the atmosphere must be cleared before the dis- 

 cussion of this question can be carried on in a fair manner, — I may add in an 

 intelligible manner to the majority of those present For the correspondence has 

 been conducted in such a strain as to lead the public to suppose that all thinning 

 was an act of Vandalism. It is possible that there may be some who hold this 

 view. I, for one, should be very sorry to see the Forest committed to their 

 management. The question before us now is not whether thinning is necessary 

 in our Forest, but whether what has ,been done in this direction lias been done 

 judiciously — whether too many trees and too much undergrowth has been cleared 

 or, on the other hand, whether it is not desirable to have further clearance.^ 



I beg those among you who are not practically familiar with forestal opera- 

 tions not to form an opinion based on your inspection of the present appearance 

 of the thinned districts. You must remember that the Conservators iiold this 

 Forest in trust not only for the present, but for the future. And with regard to 

 the Verderers I am fully persuaded of this : that not a single tree has been 

 removed without due consideration — that every trunk which you have seen lying 

 prostrate has been felled for the purpose of giving freedom of growth to other 

 and better trees, to open out vistas for distant views, or to break up the uniform 

 monoton}' of woodland shade by letting in light for the development of that 

 picturesque undergrowth which in many parts of the Forest is conspicuously 

 absent. I ask you to believe, whether you think that these operations ha\e been 



3 The discussion drew from Mr. Percy I.indley ihe acknowledgment that he wrote the letter 

 referred to. 



4 See E. N. Buxton, in " Proc. E.F.C.," Vol. III., Appendix I., p. ^\\\\., footnote. 



5 Sir John Lubbock, who was with us during the whole afternoon, and who also inspected the 

 more northern parts of the Forest (Theydon Thicket, etc ) before the arrival of the party, writes 

 to me as follows : " I write a line to say that I did not see any cases where too much had been 

 cut ; on the contrary, the finer trees cannot reach their full beauty unless by degrees even more 

 rccm is given them. This, however, must, and no doubt will be, done gradually." — R.M. 



