378 



authority of the Commissioners, for planting the forest of Dean. This 

 worthy person is then completely shown up. His ignorance, his arro- 

 gance, his weakness, his self-delusion, are all depicted in glowing co- 

 lours ; and certain statements in his book,* which, to say truth, are 

 neither the most able, nor the most luminous, are very adroitly turned 

 against himself. In fact, they are made to prove, that by means of 

 trenching, he might have executed the work much cheaper, than by 

 what is pertinaciously called " the Scotch system," and thus have gone 

 over the entire eleven thousand acres of Dean Forest ! Flushed with 

 this supposed advantage, Mr. Withers forthwith returns to the charge 

 against the great author. " Why, Sir Walter (says he), his opinions 

 are more erroneous than yours, which is saying a great deal, and may be 

 some comfort for you to know.****This surely beats every thing that 

 was ever put into print !" At last, he sums up his argument with great 

 eloquence and energy : " If I were to cite all the authorities, urge all 

 the arguments, and state all the facts, which could be brought forward 

 in support of my position, that trees planted on prepared land will grow 

 faster, and come much sooner to maturity than trees planted on 'the 

 Scotch System,' the present pamphlet would extend to as many vol- 

 umes as your Life of Napoleon," May I be permitted to observe, with 

 great deference to Mr. Withers, that, indeed, this does beat every thing 

 that was ever put into print ! 



Having proved, to his owti satisfaction and that of his friends, that the 

 trenching system of planting is not only better, but also much cheaper 

 than the pitting system (which he still persists in calling " the Scotch"), 

 and the only one proper to be adopted by men of sense, the next point 

 to be examined is : Is it a system of general application, as alleged by 

 Mr. Withers, and fitted for " the planting of Waste Lands," the object 

 of Sir Walter's able Essay ? — As I conceive, it certainly is not. The 

 most judicious critics, and those most conversant with Woods, (such as 

 the Editors of the Gardener's and the British P^'armer's Magazines), 

 have fiilly decided the point, in their reviews of Mr. Withers's pamphlets. 

 All experienced planters will agree with them in thinking, that in wild 

 and mountainous regions, preparation must be out of the question ; or 

 wherever it would be obstructed by rocks, bogs, inaccessible steeps, or 

 unstable surfaces ; all of which regions being nearly useless, might, at 



■ A series of Facts, Hints, Observations, ami Experiments on the different modes of 

 raising Young Plantations of Oak, for Future Navies, &c. &.C.— By Williani Billington, 

 Member of the Calrd. Hurt- Soc, Superintendent of Planting 11,000 acres of land in 

 the Forest of Dean, fee— London, 1S25. 



