44 THE NEW FORESTRY. 



is a strong family resemblance running through the principal 

 works on forestry since Evelyn's time. 



Brown's system, in its most important aspects, was to plant 

 the permanent crop thin, fill up with an extravagant number 

 of profitless and often useless nurses, and thin early and 

 often, until the final crop was reaped, if that ever happened ; 

 for rotation, which determines how long capital shall be locked 

 up in standing timber and regulates successional planting, 

 had no place in his system. Neither was density nor the 

 shade-bearing capacity of different species regarded as factors 

 in the production of good timber, nor, so far as we know, 

 are they even mentioned in his book. Crowding, of course, 

 he regarded as an unmitigated evil, and the protection of the 

 soil in forests, according to the species, and over-head canopy, 

 had no importance in his eyes, if we may judge by his practice. 



From his frequent thinnings a regular and constantly 

 augmenting revenue was expected and a profitable realisation 

 anticipated at the end ; but that did not happen, because the 

 thinnings were unprofitable, the ultimate crop too light, and 

 the timber of the worst quality.* Dr. Adam Schwappach, 

 professor of forestry, Eberswalde, Prussia, in his report of a 

 visit to the forests of Scotland, in 1896, comments adversely 

 on Scottish forestry culture as practised in the past. Writing 

 in the transactions of the Scottish Arboricultural Society, 1 896, 

 about what has hitherto been considered one of the finest 

 examples of Scottish forestry, he says : " The trees were 

 showing vigorous growth, and one can only regret that the 

 ground was not more fully stocked, as would have been the 

 case under a different system of management, and which would 

 have resulted in the production of finer and more valuable 

 stems." Summarising the points having the most important 

 bearing on the future of forestry in Scotland, he goes on, 

 " the woods should be managed on sylvicultural principles, 

 and not in the park-like manner at present so much in vogue ; " 

 and " the operation of thinning should be conducted in a more 

 rational manner, and with more regard to the future of the 

 wood" 



In Chapter XIV. of " The Forester," fifth edition, at the 

 beginning, Brown lays down his principles on the " nature 

 and necessity of thinning plantations " in the following vague 

 words, slightly abridged, which give the reader no idea what 

 he actually means : " Thinning is one of the most indis- 

 pensable operations in arboriculture. The object which ought 



* See Parliamentary Report. Mr. Dundas's evidence. 



