Forest 



twigs and branches ; but these together do not supply 

 more material to the soil than is annually abstracted 

 by the extensive roots of trees, of bushes, and by the 

 fern. If timber is felled, it is removed, and the bark 

 and boughs with it; the stump, too, is grubbed and 

 split for firewood. If a tree dies it is presently sawn 

 off and cut up for some secondary use or other. The 

 great branches which occasionally fall are some one's 

 perquisite. When the thickets are thinned out, the 

 fagots are carted away, and much of the fern is also 

 removed. How, then, can there be any accumulation 

 of fertilising material ? Rather the reverse ; it is, 

 if anything, taken away, and the soil must be less 

 rich now than it was in bygone centuries. Left to 

 itself the process would be the reverse, every tree 

 as it fell slowly enriching the spot where it mouldered, 

 and all the bulk of the timber converted into fertile 

 earth. It was in this way that the American forests 

 laid the foundation of the inexhaustible wheat-lands 

 there. But the modern management of a forest 

 tends in the opposite direction too much is removed; 

 for if it is wished to improve a soil by the growth of 

 timber, something must be left in it besides the mere 

 roots. The leaves, even, are not all left; they have 

 a value for gardening purposes: though, of course, 

 the few cartloads collected make no appreciable 

 difference. 



There is always something going on in the forest; 

 and more men are employed than would be supposed. 

 In the winter the selected elms are thrown and the 

 ash poles cut; in the spring the oak timber comes 

 down and is barked; in the autumn the fern is cut. 

 Splitting up wood goes on nearly all the year round, 

 so that you may always hear the axe. No charcoal- 

 burning is practised, but the mere maintenance of 

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