154 THE NEW FOREST 



of the magnificent oaks in the fields of Hereford- 

 shire, Staffordshire, and a dozen other counties 

 of the elms of Berkshire and Dorsetshire, stood 

 aghast at the saying, coming as it did from such 

 a distinguished authority. 



But I took heart when he explained to me 

 that what he meant was that all these trees, 

 beautiful objects as they were to the sentimental 

 forester a being he described as altogether out- 

 side the pale and not worthy of consideration ! 

 were to his mind all of the wrong shape for the 

 production of timber. That they occupied five 

 times the space they ought to cover, if the grow- 

 ing of timber on proper lines was the object, and 

 further, that in any case they shaded and spoilt 

 a certain area over which the farmers crops ought 

 to be the sole consideration. And no account 

 need be taken of the beauty of the country or 

 of the estate of the landlord, who after, all, let it 

 to the farmer, or cultivated it himself, on terms 

 which had been previously considered with regard 

 to the existence of the trees. 



Well, everything that my distinguished pundit 

 said was perfectly true, but for all that, and for 

 all his immensely superior science, gathered in 

 various parts of the Empire, I dared to disagree 

 with him, and was thankful to believe that even 

 yet there are thousands of English landowners 



