Caiuidldii Forestry Joiinuil. June. 1020. 



289 



Restocking the Woods of Rural 



England 



B}) John Parkin, M.A., F.L.S. 



The beauty of Rural iMic^land has 

 suffered in no light manner through 

 the wholesale felling of plantations, 

 chie to the exigencies of the war. Svl- 

 van features, familiar and ]:)leasing to 

 several generations. ha\e vanished. 

 The old landed arist(icrac\- and cmm- 

 try squires loved their woods and 

 well-tind)ered ])arks. regarding them 

 more as amenities — game and sport- 

 ing preserves — and the remov- 

 al en bloc of fine stretches of wood- 

 land would have perturbed them 

 greatl}-. Little did they who planted 

 these woods imagine what value they 

 would one day be to old England. The 

 love of sport and the love of trees for 

 their own sake have largely proved 

 the salvation of the country with re- 

 spect to its timber requirements. Gov- 

 ernments in the past have ever neg- 

 lected to take up practically the c[ues- 

 tion of afforestation. It has been left 

 in private hands — those of the much 

 maligned landowners ; and. however 

 faulty their forestry may have been, 

 if it had not been for their efforts, 

 (ireat Britain would ha\e been sorely- 

 tried to sujiply her needs. Experts, in 

 fact, never thought these Lslands 

 could have furnished the quantity of 

 timber required to keep going the 

 mines and other essential industries 

 for so long a pcrio(L The amount 

 forthcoming from tlie pkantalions and 

 covers the smaller wuods giMicrally 

 — was uiuh'rcstiniattMl. 



A WAR TIME GAIN. 



Though our >(|uirearch\ in the past 

 were, as a whole, great arboricultnr- 

 ists and trcc-lo\ers. with few t-xci-p- 

 tions thc\- could hardh be s.aid to bi' 

 sylvicullurists in the modern sense, hi 

 fact. \i('wc(l frinn tlu' ct-inioinic sland- 

 ])oint, the clearing awa\ in w holesac' 

 fashion ol nian\ (d inn" wihkIs was the 

 best treatment that conld be ajiplied 

 to llu'ni. I'liderstdeked, po inii--(-nou^ 

 1\' mixed with trees often short and 



rough in bole, they would in pre-war 

 times hardly have paid for the felling 

 and haulage. No\v, the ground being 

 clear, there is the chance of their be- 

 ing jdanted on the most approved svl- 

 vicultnr.al ])rinci])les. 



W hate\cr cjefects these woods ma\- 

 have had in the eyes of the trained 

 forester, no one can dcnv that the\- 

 were eminently ])ictnres(pie .and beau- 

 tiful. The ])romiscuous mixture of 

 species, the abhorred of the svhicul- 

 turist. lent charm and varietv. Un- 

 derstocking allowed glades to arise 

 and prevented a too severe repetition 

 of boles of the same type. How differ- 

 ent appears a wood grown on up-to- 

 date forestry lines — a closely grouped 

 mass of trees of the same kind and 

 pattern with no relief to cheer the eye. 

 Hence one is led to exclaim how often 

 does the picttiresque clash with the 

 utilitarian, and how often does gain 

 in usefulness entail loss in beauty ! It 

 would seem that some compromise is 

 ever necessary to prevent our drifting 

 into ugly efficienc\- and soul-killing 

 monotou}-. 



ENGLAND'S PARKS 



Our wd( ids, parks and hedgerows 

 have made Rnral bngland the .admira- 

 tion .and the en\ \ of the foreigner. 

 Mow tame an<l nnintt're>ting doe^- tlu' 

 C'ontiiuMit ai>]iear in contrast. 1 ;nn 

 nut thinking of scenerx ni the coiivcn- 

 tion.al sese : but of the plains — the 

 agricnltnral are.as — of tlu' two when 

 compared. .\ow the tear m.i\ be that 

 in re]i]anting (inr war-felled woods, 

 w I' niay go t<i the other extreme .and 

 sacrifice be.int\ wholh in the altar ^A 

 ntilit\. Heaut} in our >nrroMndin^s 

 h.is iloubtless a subtle effect on our 

 gent'ral w (.'ll-benig. We know ili;it t'' 

 repair the ra\,ige> mI war, production 

 on -.(lund economic liiu's is e-^ential 

 but in tlu' strenuous times ahead. let 

 Us ha\e some thought alw.iys for tlu' 

 be.intifnl in our reconstrncting 



