SYSTEMATIC FORESTRY 105 



climate is the ruling principle of agriculture, 

 the law which governs the productions of 

 different countries ; and he who yields the most 

 enlightened obedience obtains the largest re- 

 ward." Whitley, " On the Climate of the 

 British Islands in its Effect on Cultivation," 

 Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, vol. xi., 

 p. 1. ' 



Some woods are successful, possibly in many 

 cases as the result of chance. An investigation 

 into the causes of success is the commencement 

 of a scientific art. The first step in this in- 

 vestigation is that all the facts relevant to the 

 subject are accurately observed, recorded, and 

 classified. 



The observations which an individual can 

 make for himself are much fewer in number 

 than those which he can learn from others, but 

 they have the advantage that they are known 

 to him to be perfectly trustworthy. It is un- 

 likely that any responsible person will inaccu- 

 rately report a fact within his own observation; 



1 Methods of Observation and Reasoning in Politics, by G. C. 

 Lewis, vol. ii., chap, xviii., p. 136. This chapter has a section 

 dealing with the following point, namely, the necessity of Umita- 

 tions does not deprive a subject of a scientific character. In 

 chapter six. there are sections on the different sorts of art and 

 the relation of art to science. 



