196 FORESTRY IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. 



worth while enquiring, in which cases and under what conditions 

 the one or other class of wood is indicated. 



As to the question of taste, it is impossible to evolve any 

 rule. Some proj^rietors prefer pure, others mixed woods. If 

 we ask Nature the answer no doubt will be that in by far the 

 majority of cases mixed woods are the rule, though the species 

 may be arranged in groups of greater or smaller extent, 

 according to the character of the locality and the require- 

 ments of the several species. Many people think that the old 

 woods here and there found in this country are natural woods, 

 but there can be no doubt that many of them are nothing of 

 the kind. Indeed, there is, perhaps, not a single wood in 

 England which does not owe its present condition to inter- 

 ference by the act of man, not even the so-called natural 

 woods in the New Forest and in Epping Forest, about which 

 so much has been written. As they appear to us now, they 

 are the result, if not of actual sowing or planting, of the 

 cutting-out of certain species which Nature had introduced, of 

 coppicing, pollarding and other violent interference, not to 

 omit the effects of cattle-grazing and fire. 



Proceeding now to the economic aspect of the matter under 

 consideration, the case may shortly be stated thus : — The 

 object in view should be to manage woodlands so as to 

 secure, j^ermanently, the best possible results, whether 

 measured by quantity and quality of produce, or by net 

 cash receipts, or the interest which the invested capital 

 yields. Stress is laid on the word " permanently." No doubt, 

 a proprietor can, for a certain period of time, realize large 

 returns from his woods; but in doing so, he may seriously 

 injure the future yield-capacity of the land. Eeturns are 

 legitimate only, if by their realization the property is not 

 reduced in value, as measured by its yield-capacity. On 

 thoroughly fertile soil and under a favourable climate the 

 danger is, perhaps, not great ; but where such conditions do 

 not exist, and this occurs in the majority of cases at any rate 

 80 far as the soil is concerned, woodlands should be stocked 



