CHAPTER X. 

 TREES AND GROUND GAME. 



AFTER planting, the work of the forester is not com- 

 plete ; constant attention must be given, as will be 

 hereafter described. Between the planting and first 

 thinning there are many dangers and causes of failure, 

 which must all be met and combated. Perhaps the 

 most serious of these is caused by the presence of 

 ground game. 



It is a fact beyond dispute that ground game and 

 young trees cannot live together. If landlords decide 

 upon improving their estates by planting and thereby 

 incur a heavy expenditure, it is not unreasonable to 

 suppose that they have at the same time decided to 

 reduce or exterminate their hares and rabbits. If 

 they have not, they have, of course, decided upon 

 wasting their money. If they desire to do so, they 

 cannot possibly choose a more satisfactory method of 

 achieving it. Nothing is more disheartening than to 

 plant with great pains and to have all destroyed by 

 these pests. 



We lately visited an estate, not 300 miles from 

 London, the owner of which had shortly before his 

 death developed a passion for coursing, and had 



