Home woods 27 



apart from its cost, is that it pollutes the air of the 

 country as well as that of the town, and many good 

 gardens and country houses are defiled by it. I have 

 placed in cottages a wood-burning kitchener which 

 answers well, and people are grateful for the cleanliness 

 and the good cookery and baking done with it. The fuel 

 we use is such as may often be had in old shrubberies 

 and underwoods— batwood it is called— of slight value 

 in the district. Some simple means of cutting it up is 

 all that is needed for economy. 



As some of the Pines grow three feet a year in soil 

 too poor for any agricultural use, few words are needed 

 to give an idea of the enormous amount of firing that 

 might be grown in this way, even from the mere thinning 

 of the woods. And here it should be said that we must 

 in all cases follow the true forest way of close planting, 

 only thinning when the thinning will pay for the labour, 

 and when the trees to remain are close enough to keep 

 the shade canopy overhead. 



Where to plant. The next thing to consider in our 

 evergreen wood is where to plant, and this will differ 

 a good deal according to the ground and district. For 

 the country house it is often desirable to have a sheltered 

 retreat and shade in all weathers, and nothing will give 

 this so well as the evergreen wood, free from labours of 

 all kinds after planting, unlike most underwoods, which 

 are the scene of much labour and delay. A house on 

 high ground, with open land to the north or the east, offers 

 one of the most tempting situations to plant a hardy Pine 

 wood in, not merely for the sake of effect, but also for 

 shelter from the north and east. I have planted such 

 a wood, and raised it in ten years to dignity and beauty. 



A true Pinetum. A simple Pine wood with rides cut 



