476 Of Woods. 



as 11 to 7, and bark, as 15 or more, to 8 ; and other arti- 

 cles, the produce of such woods, in nearly the same propor- 

 tion ( 538 ). 



In the neighbourhood of our naval arsenals, however, the 

 case is now different. Formerly, while the Navy Board 

 availed itself of the monopoly of large timber, which it in a 

 great measure enjoyed, to keep down the price, it became a 

 maxim with timber growers, on account of that debased 

 price, that it answered better, for the sake of the quickness 

 of the return, to cut down an oak, before it reached the 

 value of 40s. or even 20s. ( 539 ) than to suffer it to remain, 

 till it acquired a large size. The highest price, 30 or 40 

 years ago, did not exceed five guineas per load : the same, 

 or even inferior timber, has recently sold for L.15 per load. 

 A good price being of late obtained, there is a much better 

 prospect that oak timber will be permitted to reach a large 

 size ; and if a greater difference of price were allowed for tim- 

 ber of the largest dimensions, compared to that of inferior 

 sizes, the growth of large timber would be essentially pro- 

 moted. Under a proper system, therefore, it can scarcely 

 be doubted, that Great Britain could with ease furnish the 

 utmost quantity of oak timber, which can ever be required 

 for her military and commercial shipping, without any ma- 

 terial interference with other branches of land produce ( 54 ). 



2. In Buckinghamshire, the Chiltern districts of Oxford- 

 shire, in some parts of Hampshire, and generally where the 

 soil is chalky, or incumbent upon limestone, beech is the 

 most abundant wood. In Buckinghamshire, they are drawn, 

 or thinned annually, by certain portions, the young trees 

 being left for succession, and the large single stems, at 30 

 or 40 years' growth, being cut down, sawn into lengths of 

 about four feet, converted into billets for fire wood, and 

 conveyed by the Thames to the London markets. Good 

 beech woods, on this system, will, it is said, pay about 20s. 

 per acre, clear of all expenses ( 54I J. It requires some judg- 

 ment to thin these woods, so as to prevent the standards 

 from hanging too much over the young seedlings ; and in 

 southern aspects, to prevent the injury that may take place, 

 if the soil is too much exposed to the sun ( 54 *). Mr Fane 

 of Oxfordshire, pays great attention to the training of his 

 beech trees, to lead and keep them as erect as possible, that 

 a spreading growth may not drip on and check the young 

 succession ( 543 ). The Bishop of Durham at Mongewell, 

 possesses beech woods, which are managed on the thinning 

 system, at 20 years' growth, and pay about as well as letting 



