98 ENGLISH WOODLANDS 



It may be assumed that the intended wood will 

 not be more successful than the most successful 

 wood of the same class which is known to have 

 grown within one or two miles of it. And, 

 taking this known wood as a maximum, from a 

 consideration of site, soil, situation, and exposure, 

 a fair guess may be made about the final crop 

 of the intended wood. 



Planting a piece of land which is not known 

 to have previously produced a successful crop 

 of trees, and is more than a few miles distant 

 from any similar piece of land which has pro- 

 duced such a crop, is experimental. 



The difficulties which a planter has in attempt- 

 ing to forecast the result of planting may be 

 realised by comparing his position with that of 

 a farmer. The advantages which the farmer 

 has are very great. He knows the average crop 

 that the field has yielded and the time of harvest, 

 the only important point which is in doubt is 

 the market-price of the produce. 



In case of planting trees which, like oak, 

 take at least a century to mature, it is useless 

 to make any forecast about the result of the 

 planting. The changes which a century will 

 bring are incalculable. Oak planting is justified 

 by considerations which cannot be expressed in 



