AMONG THE OAKS 95 



recognised in Britain, and changes will naturally 

 take place in the treatment of woodlands. In 

 many cases, however, the changes must occur 

 slowly if at all ; for the praiseworthy conservative 

 feeling which regards the woods of large landed 

 estates as sacred ancestral heritages will natu- 

 rally only yield gradually, when it is seen that 

 the removal of old trees and their replacement 

 by younger stems of more vigorous growth is no 

 wanton desecration of the beauty of 'the wood- 

 lands wild.' Churlish, indeed, would be he who 

 could wantonly, whether for his own profit or 

 otherwise, remove the aged, storm-battered oaks 

 still flourishing here and there in the woods or at 

 the edges of the forest as historical records, reach- 

 ing perhaps in their own life back to the ancient 

 times when they still bore their original name of 

 Aik^ now surviving only in the word * acorn,' 

 and in names of places like ' Acton,' ' Akenham,' 

 and the like. But, happily, by natural regene- 

 ration of oak in copses and highwoods, and 

 sowing of acorns, the old crops of timber can 

 be renewed without the eye being offended by 

 the rigid regularity of lines in plantations. 



Where long stems of oak were obtainable, in 



