VARIABLE EFFECTS OF THINNING. 151 



the operation too long. It does much good if done 

 early enough, and equally much harm if done too 

 late. 



An important example of the good effects of thin- 

 ning is recorded in ' Eraser's Magazine ' for September 

 1879 by Mr J. A. Froude, in his account of Woburn 

 Abbey and surroundings, in which he incidentally re- 

 fers to the celebrated wood called the "Evergreens." 

 Though a mixture of other trees was planted along 

 with the oak, it was yet intended for a true and pure 

 oak plantation. At that time, as well as now, there 

 had evidently been differences of opinion about thin- 

 ning, for the historian Froude says : " Four remark- 

 able books, now scarce and costly, two of them by 

 the Duke himself, and the others by his famous gar- 

 deners, Sinclair and Forbes, testify to the useful pa- 

 tronage which the owners of Woburn have long ex- 

 tended to the arts of agriculture, forestry, and botany. 

 John, Duke of Bedford, the great patron of agricul- 

 ture, was also famous as a planter. The park owes 

 to him the ' Evergreens,' a plantation of 205 acres on 

 the Woburn and Ampthill road, which he planted 

 in 1745-46, and thinned at the proper time, in spite 

 of his gardener, who, on receiving directions as to the 

 thinning, replied, ' Your Grace must pardon me if I 

 humbly remonstrate against your orders : but I can- 

 not possibly do what you desire, since it would de- 

 stroy the young plantation and seriously injure my 

 reputation as a planter.' The Duke replied, 'Do as 

 I desire you, and I will take care of your reputation ; ' 

 and as soon as the thinning had been effected, he had 

 a board fixed by the roadside on which the following 

 notice was written : ' This plantation was thinned by 

 John, fourth Duke of Bedford, contrary to the advice 



