THE NEW FORESTRY. 7 



can be depended upon to give a correct account of their extent 

 and value, and it is an amazing fact that on private estates 

 owners and their agents have seldom more than a vague idea 

 on that head. 



In discussing this part of the subject in the following 

 chapters, Brown, author of " The Forester," has been chosen 

 as representing British opinion and practice up to the present 

 time. Probably his " Forester " (original edition), which has 

 seen five editions, has exerted more influence than any other 

 work of the kind, and there is not much difference between 

 his teachings and that of his contemporaries, and those who 

 have followed him as writers on forestry. " The Book of 

 Landed Estate," by Robert E. Brown, and well-known in 

 private libraries, is, in the portion devoted to forestry, but a 

 re-echo of James Brown's "Forester" ; "Grigor's Arboriculture" 

 is much the same ; while as late as the year 1 898, we 

 have a Professor of Forestry in one of our most noted agri- 

 cultural colleges publishing a work on forestry in which 

 principles are laid down and practices advocated that are 

 identical with those of the writers just named above, and 

 who are now regarded as wrong by all competent authorities. 



The new system advocated starts with the advantage that 

 it is based upon rational and intelligible principles that the 

 student can understand and appreciate, whereas the writings 

 of exponents of the old system may be read through without 

 finding any clear exposition of the principles on which that 

 system is based. What the result of the latter system has 

 been may be gathered from the opinion of Professor Schlich 

 in the preface to the third volume of his Manual. He says : 

 " In the first place, British timber cannot compete with the 

 imported timber, because, as at present grown, it is of inferior 

 quality, being generally shorter and less clean of branches and 

 knots. Moreover, conifers generally grow much too quickly 

 in Britain, because the woods are too heavily thinned while 

 young ; hence the individual trees increase too rapidly, and 

 produce timber inferior to that of the same species imported 

 from the Baltic, and grown in crowded woods. Secondly, 

 the home-grown timber is brought into the market in fluctuat- 

 ing quantities, so that neither a regular timber trade nor 

 superior methods of working up the material, nor forest 

 industries have a chance of developing and thriving ; in short, 

 the whole business is far too haphazard." 



The author has acknowledged the sources of any quota- 

 tions he may have given from writers on forestry. For most of 



