124 English Timber and Underwood. 



and Scotch, we find spruce, sycamore, Douglas fir, oak, or other 

 species together, the comjilications in management and the 

 disappointment on sale may be imagined. 



Almost every district has its special trees or system of 

 forestry, and, provided the production is on proper lines and 

 there is a proper and satisfactory^ market for the produce, few- 

 persons would advocate a general change except for really good 

 reasons. The mistake more often lies in the methods of pro- 

 duction than in the varieties grown. 



Whatever variety of trees and systems of forestry may be 

 suitable for large schemes of State aff:orestation of waste land, 

 different conditions rule in estate forestry. Proposals relating 

 to estate forestry should always, if possible, err on the side of 

 simplicity, early return and adaptability. Again, in existing 

 woodlands, proposals will usually apply to better or deeper soils 

 than those of the waste land used for State planting. As a 

 general rule, not to be applied too strictly to any given locality, 

 but taking all the conditions of estate forestry into considera- 

 tion, hardwoods are more suitable for estate planting than the 

 majority of conifers, larch excepted. Surely our much longer 

 experience with hardwoods, their general suitability for pur- 

 poses of sport, and for English as distinct from Scotch estates, 

 as well as their greater freedom fi*om fungi, insects, &c., &c., 

 should give them general preference over conifers. Further- 

 more, many of the demands of our best markets are for hard- 

 woods, and while we remain a manufacturing country the 

 respective importance of hardwoods will probably increase 

 rather than diminish. 



After the questions of soil and special local conditions have 

 been considered, one should select for general planting on an 

 estate a tree which possesses some of the following advantages : — 



1. Early maturity, giving a short rotation. 



2. Valuable thinnings, saleable at any age. 



3. Timber of high intrinsic value, with a wide range of uses. 



4. Valuable for game, ornament and other important estate 

 features. 



5. Saleable in small lots, and, if possible, suitable for local 

 uses. 



6. Easily produced and managed, thinnings, &c., included. 



7. Indigenous, or of a kind of which we have had con- 

 siderable experience in this country. 



8. Comparative freedom from liability to damage by insects, 

 fungi, frost, drought, gales, &c., &c. 



Another advantage would be immunity from damage by 

 rabbits, but scarcely any tree is entirely rabbit-proof, and 

 precautions must be taken with all. 



