118 ENGLISH WOODLANDS 



that the woods on the property may in fairly 

 equal proportions be divided into young, middle- 

 aged, and mature. 



Every one would admit that the management 

 of woodlands does not differ in essentials from 

 the management of farm lands. The aim of 

 both farmer and planter should be to preserve 

 the fertility of the soil and to obtain the highest 

 possible financial return by allowing none of the 

 land to remain idle. In both cases, so long as 

 the area remains unchanged, a fresh crop can 

 only be raised on land from which a previous 

 crop has been cleared. It follows that the most 

 useful tool in woods is the feller's axe, and it is 

 the necessary forerunner of the planter's spade. 

 If on an estate the feller's axe is not often heard 

 it may be assumed with great probability that 

 planting is being neglected. It is possible that 

 the axe is not used because the estate has been 

 previously cleared of all mature timber, or that 

 there are only young woods with no tree fit to 

 fell, but these are exceptional cases. In most 

 cases where felling is not done regularly, there 

 are some woods which are over-ripe and should 

 be, under proper management, felled and the 

 ground replanted. 



Systematic forestry means that an owner 



