PKEFACE. Vll 



In the final section, which treats of forest offences and mis- 

 demeanours, on the other hand, I have taken the liberty of 

 omitting certain matters relative only to German conditions of 

 forestry, and which could be of no practical use in the manage- 

 ment of woods in Britain. 



I have intentionally omitted the citations of authorities often 

 occurring in foot-notes in the original, as those to whom alone 

 they could be of use do not require the assistance of any trans- 

 lation to open for them the treasure-house of German literature 

 with regard to Woodcraft. 



It is true that with our comparatively mild insular climate, 

 free from either the intense cold or the great heat of the con- 

 tinental winters and summers, our Woodlands are not nearly so 

 much threatened with external dangers as those in many parts 

 of the Continent ; but, for all that, a thorough knowledge of the 

 leading points in the Protection of Forests must be of great 

 advantage from a purely financial point of view, as well as 

 regards the technical value of the timber produced. 



That our Woodlands have not hitherto suffered to any calami- 

 tous extent, except intentionally from reckless clearance, and 

 from fires, I ascribe mainly to the fact of their being in great 

 part mixed forests ; and the formation, retention, and reproduction 

 of such in preference to pure forests, as recently recommended 

 by Sir Herbert Maxwell, Bart., in his article on " Woodlands " 

 in the Nineteenth Century for July 1891, will continue to be the 

 best natural protection against many of the inorganic and organic 

 dangers by which the cultivation of forest growth on an extensive 

 scale is threatened. Pure forests, particularly those formed of 

 Scots Pine and Spruce, have throughout Germany led to enormous 

 calamities (from insects especially) ; hence wherever soil and situa- 

 tion permit of it, consistent efforts are being made to bring back 

 the forests to their original form of mixed woods, which long 

 experience now shows to be in general that best suited for 

 obtaining the safest and most remunerative permanent returns 

 or sustained yield from the soil they occupy. 



