PERIOD OF MATURITY. 77 



time the forester must watch for the period when full 

 maturity is reached, as there can be no question that 

 when this point is reached the whole should be felled. 

 The rule is a universal one, that the proprietor in 

 possession when timber arrives at maturity is entitled 

 to the crop ; the harvest period has been reached, and 

 he who holds his hand is not fulfilling the laws of 

 good forestry. The exception applies, of course, to 

 ornamental trees ; these, though they have reached 

 their full growth, are still "things of beauty," and 

 must remain. Dryden realised this when he wrote of 

 the oak : 



" The monarch oak, the patriarch of the trees, 

 Shoots, rises up, and spreads by slow degrees ; 

 Three centuries he grows, and three he stays 

 Supreme in state, and in three more decays." 



It may be asked, When is maturity reached ? How 

 are we to know when trees are no longer profitably 

 developing ? 



There are signs which it is difficult to describe, 

 and yet are visible to the experienced eye. The 

 shoots thrown out each year indicate by their weak- 

 ness or vigour the state of the tree. If long and 

 vigorous, there is no doubt whatever that wood is 

 being formed ; if short and weak, the wood laid on is 

 too slight to be appreciable, and the tree may be 

 looked upon practically as dormant. When shoots 

 show themselves on the limbs and trunk ; when 

 branches die ; when the leading branches show signs 

 of decay ; when moss and lichen take possession, and 

 so on ; these all indicate that the period of ripeness 

 has passed. 



