THINNING PLANTATIONS. 



soil, generally becomes " pumped,'* or rotten at the core. 

 In thinning this particular plantation, it would have been 

 very unwise to cut away the chestnut and the oak and leave 

 the larch, and this had to some extent happened before the. 

 proper system of management and adaptability of soil to 

 tree was thought of. Larch may look healthy enough, un- 

 fortunately, and show but small indications of disease, even 

 when growing on gravel, for from 20 to 30 years of age, so 

 that it is with difficulty that the inexperienced become aware 

 of the pending doom that usually awaits the larch when 

 planted on such a soil. This example is merely given to 

 point out how carefully thinning should be gone about, and 

 that in all cases it is wise policy to study soil in relation to 

 the future crop of timber before an axe is laid to the tree. 



At the outset of these remarks on thinning plantations it 

 should be distinctly borne in mind that there are two chief 

 objects for which trees may be grown, each requiring a 

 special mode of management, in order that the best results 

 may be obtained. 



The first is the management of trees in a purely economical 

 sense or with a view to profit ; the second, their manage- 

 ment with a view to ornament. There is also a third object 

 that is well worthy of consideration, and that is the grow- 

 ing of timber in one and the same wood, both for ornament 

 and utility combined, and this is very frequently the case 

 with woodlands that are visible from park roads and drives, 

 with strips bounding parks or pleasure-grounds, and on small 

 properties. 



To produce ornamental trees of natural appearance is by 

 no means difficult, as by allowing the individual specimens 

 ample room for branch development, the desired effect is 

 gradually brought about. Far greater difficulty, however, 

 attends the production of the greatest quantity of the most 

 valuable trees on a given space of ground. Here many 

 questions of the greatest moment, and on which great differ- 

 ence of opinion exists, crop up : such as at what age 

 thinning should be commenced, to what extent should it be 

 engaged in, what time should elapse between each thinning 



and which trees should be removed. 



133 



