30 ANCIENT WOODS. 



flagrant outrage against the principles which ought 

 to rule in selecting, than is usually committed, but 

 the work is hardly ever done as it ought to be. 



But whatever difference of opinion may arise 

 among practical men, upon the points now under 

 consideration, and on whomsoever the blame may 

 rest, it is unquestionable that the actual state of 

 a large proportion of our Ancient Woods is very 

 bad indeed : they are either crowded with inferior 

 oak timber, along with the most miserable rubbish 

 as underwood ; or, if they contain any thing valu- 

 able in either the one or the other, no principles, 

 or rules of any kind, are applied in the manage- 

 ment of them ; and, consequently, they are, on 

 some account or other, and of course more or less 

 rapidly, passing through the stage of deterioration^ 

 and are annually losing to their owners, a heavy 

 per centage on their value. In many cases, the 

 oak, from ages of "mismanagement," is stunted in 

 growth, and of a form, and shape, totally unsuited 

 to the place where it stands ; and the underwood 

 consists of that alone which is indigenous to the 

 soil, and which, therefore, no neglect can destroy, 

 nor any culture improve : in addition to all this, 



