io6 EPPING FOREST. 



merciless treatment in the past, we can afford to 

 look back leniently on this ancient right, unique 

 in its way, on account of the important part which 

 it bore in the preservation of the Forest (see p. 20). 

 It is now abolished for ever, and those who exer- 

 cised it were compensated under the orders of the 

 arbitrator. Henceforth it is one of the most im- 

 portant duties of those who have the control of 

 the Forest, to see that the restoring power of 

 nature has fair play as soon as possible. 



In most of the Forest groves a fair number of 

 "spear" or straight -grown trees, especially oaks, 

 have been suffered to grow unmutilated, and 

 though the finest have been removed by those 

 who had the right to do so in bygone times, there 

 are many left, of varying ages, up to 150 or 200 

 years, which, with proper attention, will make fine 

 timber trees for those who come after us. A new 

 danger, however, now threatens the woods, and 

 one which can only be averted by timely care and 

 foresight. Throughout nearly the whole of the 

 wooded portion of the Forest the pollards stand 

 far too closely for healthy development. In some 

 parts the stems are ranked so thickly that 3000 

 have been counted to a single acre. When the 

 branches were cut back to the stem every few 

 years, this was of little consequence. They had not 

 time to spread and spoil one another before they 

 were again ruthlessly " lopped." The operation 

 of lopping, though very disfiguring for the time, 

 had, at least, the effect of letting in light and air, 

 and encouraging a splendid undergrowth of hollies, 

 thorns, bramble, and bracken, as well as seedling 

 trees. To leave the whole to grow would be 

 a fatal mistake, which would result in a weak 



