190 THE FORESTS OF ENGLAND. 



" Howbeit thus much I dare affirme, that if woods 

 go so fast to decaie in the next hundred yeere of Grace, 

 as they haue doone and are like to do oin this, . . . 

 it is to be feared that the fennie bote, broome, turfe, 

 gall, heath, firze, brakes, whinnes, ling, dies, has- 

 sacks, flags, straw, sedge, re'ed, rush, and also seacole, 

 will be good merchandize euen in the citie of Lon- 

 don, whereunto some of them euen now haue gotten 

 readie passage, and taken vp their innes in the greatest 

 merchants' parlours. ... I would wish that I 

 might liue no longer than to se'e foure things in this 

 land reformed, that is: the want of discipline in the 

 chnrch : the couetous dealings of most of our merchants 

 in the preferment of the commodities of other countries, 

 and hindrance of their owne: the holding of faires and 

 markets vpon the sundaie to be abolished and referred to 

 the wednesdaies : and that euery man, in whatsoeuer pa.rt 

 of the champaine soile enioieth fortie acres of land, and 

 vpwards, after that rate, either by fre'e deed, copie hold, or 

 fee farme, might plant one acre of wood, or sowe the same 

 with oke mast, hasell, be'ech, and sufficient prouision be 

 made that it may be cherished and kept. But I feare 

 me that I should liue too long, and so long, that I should 

 either be wearie of the world, or the world of me/' 



Again, in the time of Charles II., the importance of 

 conserving and replenishing the woodlands in the forests 

 as a means of saving timber for the navy was perceived, 

 and measures were adopted accordingly. And in 1664 

 was published the first edition of Evelyn's Silva, a work 

 which contributed much to the extension of arboriculture 

 in England. 



Hitherto it was chiefly the demand for wood for naval 

 purposes which excited the anxiety of statesmen; but 

 several authors in the sixteenth century expressed fears of 

 serious evils following the wasteful destruction of woods 

 for domestic fuel, and meanwhile there was gradually 

 manifesting itself a new source of danger. In the Forest of 



