INTRODUCTION Ixix 



economic revolution, accomplished through the subsequent 

 discoveries of the great uses to which steam and iron are 

 now put, were not then dreamed of. 



This Quarterly Review article was an appreciation of 

 Evelyn, and not the only one made by that celebrated peri- 

 odical, as we shall see presently. It traced the history of 

 the work, showing how Charles II. * was too sensible a man 

 to think of compelling his subjects to plant, by fines and 

 forfeitures for the omission. Example he knew would do 

 something, and he had scope enough for the purpose in his 

 own wasted forests ; but an animated exhortation from the 

 press, in an age when the nobility and gentry began to read 

 and to reflect, he knew would do more. A proper person 

 for the purpose therefore was sought and found ; a man of 

 family, fortune, and learning ; an experienced planter ; a 

 virtuoso, and not a little of an enthusiast in his own walk. 

 Such was Mr. Evelyn : and to this occasion we are indebted 

 for the Syfoa, which has therefore a title to be regarded as a 

 national work... It sounded the trumpet of alarm to the 

 nation on the condition of their woods and forests.' 



The re-publication of the Syha by Dr. Hunter, coming 

 at an appropriate moment, revived the ardour which the 

 work had excited about 60 years previously, and * while forests 

 were laid prostrate to protect our shores from the insults of 

 the enemy, the nobility and gentry began once more to sow 

 the seeds of future navies. ' 



Previous to 1812, planting on any large scale whether for 

 profit or ornament seems to have been confined chiefly to 

 great estates, and * if a private gentleman, in the century 

 preceding, planted an hedgrow of an hundred oaks, it was 

 recorded, for the benefit of posterity, in his diary. ' The 

 trade in the supply of plants had previously been in the hands 

 of a few nurserymen, but on the appearance of Dr. Hunter's 

 new edition many private nurseries were established. This 

 was more especially the case in Scotland, where the Scottish 

 nobility took the lead f in this national and patriotic work, ' 

 which promised to be very profitable, owing to the recent 

 introduction of the larch. The well-deserved eulogy given 

 in the Quarterly Review article to the rapid growth of fine 

 timber of this valuable forest tree was the direct cause of 



