276 A FARMER'S YEAR 



idleness and curiosity, they will not rest till they have destroyed 

 them. These particular trees might have survived to grow quite 

 big, but sooner or later a horse or an ox would have got a taste of 

 the bark, and then the end must have come. Plantations to suc- 

 ceed should be in places quite apart, where no four-legged creature 

 can enter. Horse stock and donkeys are especially destructive 

 in this respect, as they will gnaw any smooth-barked trees, even 

 after these have attained the size of timbers. I know of nothing 

 more melancholy than to see, as more than once I have seen, 

 park-lands which have been carefully planted by some owner and 

 subsequently let, in which the tenant has allowed the tree-rails to 

 be broken down, and the beautiful growing chestnuts and beeches 

 to be gnawed to death by colts and cattle. 



These losses, however, vexatious as they may be, are trivial 

 compared to those to which planters are exposed in other lands. 

 Thus, in Cyprus, the forests upon thousands and thousands of 

 acres have been destroyed by the ravages of that iniquitous 

 animal, the goat. In South Africa land of pests and plagues 

 it is the same story, for there, in addition to other dangers, grass- 

 fires have to be guarded against. There are few things sadder to 

 see than a fine plantation of red or blue gums, the result of the 

 care and cultivation of years, withered up in a single night, pro- 

 bably through the neglect of some drunken man or Kaffir. Here 

 is an extract from the recently issued report of an African company 

 in which I am blessed with shares. It speaks for itself. 



'The directors much regret to state that the tree-planting 

 venture has, owing to local mismanagement, locusts, white ants, 

 drought and frost, turned out a total failure. The whole cost to 

 date stood in our books at 9,01 2/. 5^. 3</., of which 7,oi2/. 5^. 3^. 

 has been written off as a loss. ' 



After this it seems foolish to be vexed at the destruction of a 

 few willows. 



Willows, by the way, if of the proper sort, are now about the 

 most valuable timber that can be grown in England. Not only 

 do they meet with a ready sale for manufacture into cricket-bats, 



