THE ENEMIES OF ENGLISH WOODLANDS 311 



are declining in health, or lacking in vigour. Certain 

 individuals, of course, will be in such a condition in every 

 plantation, and when these are attacked, the obvious course 

 to adopt is their speedy removal ; but, outside this course, it is 

 doubtful if the forester is justified by results in going to any 

 great expense in fighting insect or fungoid pests on a large 

 scale. His most strenuous efforts are so futile, and the 

 numbers of his foes so enormous, that he is almost impotent 

 in any work he may undertake in this direction. The disease 

 or the attack invariably wears itself out, or, if it does not, the 

 crops attacked must disappear, and in either case the loss 

 sustained is usually inevitable. By taking all reasonable 

 precautions in the various ways indicated in this chapter, 

 he not only does as much as can be expected of him, but 

 he is also exercising true economy in the interests of his 

 employer. 



WIND, STORMS, AND FROST. 



Of all the enemies of English woodlands, probably no 

 class is more familiar to the average individual than that 

 which includes storms, gales, and late frosts. In each of 

 these cases the effect on trees of all sizes is well marked, and 

 is brought forcibly home to the dweller in both town and 

 country. Our severest gales usually come from the south- 

 west, and, as the winds during the greater part of the year 

 also come from that quarter, it is not surprising to find their 

 effect on all woodlands exposed to that point of the compass. 

 Such effect cannot, of course, be altogether avoided by any 

 method which can be adopted by the forester. The flat and 

 more or less leaning stem, characteristic of all trees growing 

 on an exposed westerly site, are general features of both 

 isolated and plantation trees, but they are much more pro- 

 nounced in the case of the former. In a thick wood one 

 tree shelters the other, the plantation grows up as a solid 

 mass, and every inducement is given it to produce as tall 

 and straight trees as the situation will allow ; but when gaps 

 occur in an exposed plantation, either by natural decay or 

 artificial felling, the remaining trees, if lanky and drawn up, 

 suffer severely, and may be swept down by the acre. 



