THE TREATMENT OF TIMBER CROPS UP TO MIDDLE AGE. 21 
4. The Treatment of Timber Crops up to Middle 
Age, more especially with reference to Mixed 
Woods. 
By mew! 
Of late I have observed various statements with reference to 
the above subject; and having had a long experience in the 
management of mixed woods and plantations, I am glad to 
have the opportunity to state some of the deductions which I 
have drawn from that experience, whether they be in accordance 
with the recognised theoretical teaching of the present day 
or not. 
Recently it was stated by a lecturer on forestry in one of our 
English universities, that the teaching of the old school of Scottish 
foresters, as to the thinning of woods, related to the welfare of 
the individual trees rather than to that of the wood as a whole. 
I should myself prefer to put it, that the welfare of the wood is 
best attained by the careful treatment and development of the 
individual trees. On that principle I have acted for forty years, 
and, I think, with success. 
So far as my own views of the matter go, the heading of this 
note is a misnomer. There should be no middle age in well- 
managed mixed deciduous woods. A beginning there must be; 
but the end should be such a remote contingency as practically 
not to be taken into account in considering their duration. 
Their motto ought to be— 
‘* Men may come, and men may go, 
But I go on for ever.” 
Let anyone go into a large city at a busy time of the day, 
when men are hurrying to and fro, and take note of the size and 
build of those passing along, and he will at once be struck by 
their diversity. The same thing is found in all animals of the 
same species. With these facts in his mind, let him inspect any 
plantation of a given age, taking note more especially of the 
length and girth of the various trees, and he must inevitably 
arrive at the conclusion that there is no such thing as a standard 
of equality in the units which go to make up any community in 
the animal or vegetable kingdoms. Upon this premise I con- 
sidered I had a safe foundation for the system of management I 
