144 Fencing for woodland 



glade of about a dozen acres set in the woods of the 

 Bohemian hills. Falling gently to the west it is em- 

 bosomed in close-set young trees Spruce, Birch, Scotch 

 and Silver Fir ; there is no hard line to be seen ; the 

 glade is fringed as it might be in a natural forest. It is 

 as easy to mow as it would be if fenced in the stiffest 

 way, and it could be grazed without danger, as there is 

 no underwood near. The work of the woodman around 

 the glade (and there is a good deal of winter work in 

 woods where tall trees are set close) is far more simple 

 than where, as in many parts of Britain, access to every 

 copse and wood is barred with fencing. For days we 

 pass through such woodland and never see a fence, and 

 when we leave the massed mountain woods, and go into 

 the open plain, with smaller woods here and there, 

 cresting a hill or making the best of a vein of poor land, 

 it is just the same ; there is no fence ; cattle or men 

 may take shelter or shade ; and as the margin of the 

 plantation is often free and' varied, the effect is far 

 better than when the wood is held fast within a fence. 

 Certainly many of these are old woods; and when 

 planting in an open country, with cattle grazing on all 

 sides, we cannot hope to get free at once from a great 

 evil ; but if we plant only vigorous trees, a few years' 

 good growth will make them safe, and tall trees do not 

 tempt cattle as the shoots of the underwood do. If 

 there be grazing creatures about, why should not the 

 cool shade of the wood be free to them on hot days 

 and its warm shelter on wintry ones, if no harm come 

 from it ? 



What to do with iron fencing. When our eyes are 

 opened to the ugliness and danger of iron fencing, the 

 question arises as to how it can be turned to account in 



