CHAPTER IX 



UNDERPLANTING 



In the present state of our woodlands, when through 

 the decay of the trade in underwood and the neglect of 

 the trees many woods are thin and worn out, 'under- 

 planting' should be thought of. Pines, that in youth 

 might have covered the earth with their branches, have 

 grown and shed most of their boughs, and Grass has 

 begun to invade the ground, bringing in its train starva- 

 tion to the trees, the sun and drying winds completing 

 the ruin of the unsheltered woodland. Now this cannot 

 happen if a wood is managed in the best forest way, 

 which never allows the overhead canopy to be broken. 

 The thin, scraggy plantations, so common by British 

 roadsides and fields, are more open to the attacks of sun 

 and drying winds than the broad, natural woodlands in 

 the best planted counties and estates. The remedy for 

 the stale woodland is * underplanting '. That means, 

 when woods get thin from any cause, the introducing of 

 young trees, usually of other kinds and what are called 

 ' shade bearers '. 



In replanting old woodlands we must choose trees 

 which will thrive in partial shade ; and as in old wood- 

 land it is difficult to protect young trees from rabbits, we 

 must, if we can, choose those that are not so loved of 

 that pest. Where the nakedness of the wood occurs in 

 large patches we can plant and wire, but in large wood- 

 land areas we must plant the young trees singly near 



