Workers in Woodcraft. 281 



growing timber, and all trees which they attack 

 are marked out for the axe. Often on the 

 outside the boles are apparently sound, and it 

 is hard to believe that the heart-wood is decayed ; 

 but the winged wood-prophets never err. 



It matters not what living thing crosses our 

 path, the old man names it, even to the insects. 

 He tells how these are instrumental in pro- 

 ducing the oak-galls, and points out the insidious 

 attacks and borings of weevils. Of all trees the 

 elm has most enemies. He tears off a bit of 

 bark from a still growing tree, and reveals a 

 labyrinth of channels radiating on two sides 

 from a central line. The Scolytus he simply 

 calls " elm-borer," though from his conver- 

 sation it is plain that he is a close observer, and 

 knows the whole life-history of the insect. And 

 thus, in addition to his special knowledge of 

 woodcraft, he knows the time of the coming of 

 the birds, of the retiring of the insect hosts, and 

 the habitats of the flowers. 



The woodman lives in a stone hut, near the 

 confines of what was once an extensive forest, 

 through which trooped vast herds of deer, both 

 red and fallow. His weather-beaten face, which 

 in colour resembles a ripe russet apple, tells of 

 long exposure to summer's sun and winter's cold. 

 His hair is white, and his form as yet but slightly 

 bowed. The only other occupant of the hut 



