70 THE MANAGEMENT OF EPPING FOREST. 



future. His own observations made that afternoon, and the evidence he had 

 heard from those best acquainted with the peculiar conditions of the Forest, had 

 convinced him that the thinnings were an absolute necessity. 



The President then put Professor Boulger's resolution to the meeting, when 

 forty-one voted for it, and eight against — the Verderers and members of the Epping 

 Forest Committee present not voting. 



Mr. T. V. Holmes {Vice-President) said that he had great pleasure in pro- 

 posing a vote of thanlcs to their Conductors and more especially to Mr. E. N. 

 Buxton, from whose clear and full explanations they had learned so thoroughly 

 both what had been done and the reasons for doing it. There was a singular 

 notion among some persons that Epping Forest had been an almost virgin forest 

 previous to the present management, but a glance at Mr. Buxton's excellent 

 Guide, which was obtainable for one shilling, would at once show the absurdity 

 of that view. The present managers were indeed doing their best to undo the 

 deplorable results of the pollarding and general artificialising of the Forest which 

 had prevailed before their time. In the hideously grotesque group of pollards 

 adjoining Monk's Wood they had seen what the Forest generally would have 

 been like had it been left untouched by its present Conservators. On the other 

 hand, in Lord's Bushes they had visited a spot which had been described as one 

 in which the most ruthless devastation had recently taken place, and yet Lord's 

 Bushes had been the most natural-looking piece of the Forest they had seen. He 

 had therefore great pleasure in proposing a hearty vote of thanks to Mr. E. N. 

 Buxton and their other Conductors for their services on that occasion. 



Mr. John Spiller seconded, and the vote of thanks was carried nem. con. 



Mr. Buxton, in the course of his reply on behalf of the Conductors, said that 

 he had had the greatest possible pleasure in acting as guide that afternoon, and 

 he was very gratified to see such an interest taken in the dear old Forest. He had 

 visited many so-called " natural " forests in the four quarters of the world, but 

 never one from which man was not taking toll. But there was this difference , 

 that whereas, generally, man removes the best or the most applicable to his pur- 

 pose, in Epping Forest only that is removed which is unsightly or injurious. 



A vote of thanks to the President for presiding was cordially passed at the 

 instance of Mr. Gellatly and Mr. F. C. Gould, and brought the meeting to 

 an end. 



[I feel that no apology is needed for presenting my readers with a nearly 

 verbatim report of the above meeting, in order that the true position of the Club 

 in this matter may be put fairly before the public. The tone of some of the 

 newspaper correspondence could only be paralleled in the lower kinds of political 

 controversy-, and it was evident that many of the writers were quite ignorant of the 

 history and condition of the Forest. One or two did not scruple to take the name 

 of t!ie Club in vain, and attempt to father upon it or upon members (either 

 individually or collectively as "founders of the Club'") opinions which these 

 members have for years strongly repudiated. They further attempted to support 

 their views by a kind of reckless assertiveness of statement which the real lovers 

 and students of the Forest knew to be either simply untrue, or often ludicrously 

 exaggerated and unfair to the Conservators, and 1 feared that the Club was 

 getting seriously compromised. Were it not from unwillingness to stand in the 

 way of more important speakers, I should (as the " Founder of the Club ") have 

 repudiated, as Prof. Meldola did, the absurd charge of inconsistency. My 

 opposition to some of the proceedings of the Conservators years ago had reference 

 either to a totally different subject {e.g., railway or tramway schemes) or to fears 

 that they were adopting a policy of artificialisation with regard to the Forest, 

 wliich further experience and observation has in most cases (excepting with 

 regard to deep drainage) -proved to be unwarranted, or it originated in lack 



