308 OUR FORESTS AND WOODLANDS 



wise easily be obtained ; and every penny of differ- 

 ence this makes per cubic foot aggregates over ^4 

 per thousand cubic feet. This forms, of itself, an 

 item of over ^200 per penny per cubic foot thus 

 sacrificed on any estate where the annual fall 

 amounts to a thousand loads. But the buyer has 

 every inducement to keep to a low offer, as he 

 knows the timber must either be cleared out of 

 the woods before nesting time or else it will have 

 to be kept over for another year, and then 

 similarly rushed on the market. Again, February 

 and March are not the proper time for carrying 

 out thinning operations in young woods though, 

 of course, in many of these rabbits render thinning 

 quite unnecessary, and often, on the contrary, 

 make blanks that can only be filled up at con- 

 siderable expense. May and June are the most 

 suitable months for thinning in the young woods 

 and plantations, after the late frosts are over for the 

 year and before the midsummer shoots are flushed. 

 Planting has also to be hurried on without ade- 

 quate preparation of the soil ; and sowing, often 

 a very much cheaper way of regenerating a wood- 

 land crop than planting, is almost out of the 

 question, because the woods must not be disturbed 



