VOL. xviii. (i) THE DEAN FOREST SCHOOL OF FORESTRY 65 



This is even more striking than the part already referred to. 

 The Ermine Way, Fossway, Icknield Street, and other famiUar 

 trackways long macadamised and utilised — first for stage coach 

 and other horse traffic, and now rendered even more perfect 

 for motors — serve to remind us of the Roman legiop and the 

 forced labour which made the original roads possible. They 

 are always interesting, but not to the same extent as this bit 

 of primitive Forest track— abandoned long ages ago, as the 

 iron workings of our southern conquerors were abandoned 

 when the call from Rome drew them off for service at home. 



From the valley we proceeded upwards in the direction 

 of Viney Hill. This was to enable us to see the work in 

 forestry which is being accompHshed by regeneration. The 

 old oaks and beeches have, for the most part, been cut down, 

 and now self-sown acorns and beech-nuts have produced fine 

 plantations of trees. Here we saw evidence of that struggle 

 for existence which Mr Hanson spoke about at Gloucester, and 

 obtained information from our guide about the general prin- 

 ciples underlying forestry. From the Keeper's lodge the walk 

 to Soudley took us through some romantic country. Past a fine 

 belt of spruce, which is soon to be felled, down a long and 

 winding descent commanding a view of the Severn on the 

 right, with here and there a majestic oak or beech, with under- 

 growth of bracken, now sere and suitable for fitter, masses of 

 ■fibrous wood of Clematis vitalba depending from branches, and 

 patches of the white cottony seed still bidding defiance to 

 autumn winds. Before reaching the valley in which Soudley 

 village and its small railway halt are situated, we saw a plan- 

 tation of strong, sturdy oak, forty years old, claimed by Mr 

 Hanson to be the finest of its kind in England. The impres- 

 sion we gained was that forestry in Dean Forest is being 

 carried on with all the skill and scientific knowledge which 

 such an important industry requires. By natural planting or 

 regeneration provision is being made for future needs, and 

 although our Navy no longer makes demands on the Forest 

 of Dean for ship-building purposes, it is evident that the rear- 

 ing of trees is a profitable as well as interesting industry. 



