FORESTRY 147 



that the woods do not spring up now as 

 beech woods, but of mixed oak and beech, where 

 the soil is suitable for hard woods, and of 

 Scotch fir where it is not. In fact, the oak 

 predominates therefore certainly the same thing 

 took place four hundred years ago, and the 

 question arises where are the oaks? 



Where should those oaks have gone, but to 

 the Royal Dockyards to play their parts in the 

 sea fights of the nation and the protection of 

 the realm? For that purpose they were grown, 

 and for that they were properly used. 



In all surveys and reports on the Forest, the 

 growth of timber especially for the use of the 

 navy was the first question considered, and that 

 encouragement to planting of oak was needed is 

 shown by the returns. 



In that of 1608, there were shown as trees 

 fit for the use of the navy 123,922, but in 1783 

 there were shown only 32,611. 



The planting authorised by the Act of 1698 

 was doing what it could to remedy this state 

 of things, but it could have produced no navy 

 timber as yet. The great sacrifice of timber, 

 shown by the drop from 123,927 trees to 32,611 

 came out of the old woods I am speaking of, 

 converting them from mixed plantations to 

 somewhat sparse beech woods. 



