THE FOREST OF DEAN : AX OBJECT LESSON. 231 



Abies grandis and Pieea Sitchensis vfith. ma.rked success. He 

 raises the larch pure, and cuts out all diseased trees before 

 underplanting, leaving from 300 to 500 of the best larch. 



On the Continent, the Scotch pine is also underplanted with 

 beech, as the accompanying illustration will show. In this 

 way, the finest Scotch pine is produced worth a shilling a foot 

 and more. 



4. TJie Forest of Dean : An Object Lesson. 



In the previous paragraphs on The Production of High- 

 class Oak, Ash and Larch Timber, special attention has been 

 drawn to the importance of raising these light-demanding 

 and thin-crowned timber-trees in mixture with a full-crowned, 

 shade-bearing species, such as beech or silver fir. This 

 method of rearing valuable trees has for its principal object 

 to secure a continued fertility of the soil. As some readers 

 may raise the cry of " theoretical speculation " — a cry so 

 frequently heard, when people do not understand a subject, 

 or do not care to face the inconvenience of a new departure — 

 it will be useful to fortif}' what has been said by producing 

 an example in point. It is, alas ! a negative example, but it 

 will serve its purpose. The example is the " Forest of Dean." 



Any person with a pair of eyes, who visited the Dean ten 

 or twelve years ago and made his way across the several 

 woods, found on by far the greater part of the area a thin 

 crop of oaks from eighty to ninety years old of poor height 

 growth, with rounded or flat tops and the branches coming 

 down low, so that only clear boles of small length were 

 formed. Looking down on the ground, our observer would 

 see the soil covered with a matting of grass and weeds, 

 overrun with brambles, etc. Presently, the wanderer would 

 probably come across a solitary old oak or two of magnificent 

 dimensions, towering high over the eighty to ninety years old 

 crop ; the idea would at once cross his mind that the flat- 

 topped younger generation could never grow to the height of 

 the few remaining old trees, and he would be sure to ask 

 "What has brought about this change?" The answer is, 



