376 OBSERVATIONS ON THE DISEASES, &C. 



wants of the public, must be evident to every 

 man's reflection ; nor need it be observed that 

 numberless large trees, in the woods, parks, and 

 forests, of this kingdom, are from various causes, 

 rendered unfit for use, and the timber so much 

 damaged as to occasion a considerable diminution in 

 its value. This evil arises, in some instances, from 

 unskilful management, and in others from ex- 

 ternal accidents : among which are, the ruinous 

 effects of hurricanes and high winds, when the 

 trees are generally left, in their wounded and 

 disfigured state, to the accelerated operations of 

 inevitable decay. It also not unfrequently hap- 

 pens, that the heirs of large estates, on coming to 

 the possession of them, order great numbers of 

 trees to be promiscuously felled, before they have 

 attained a state of maturity, without paying the 

 least attention to provide a succession of young 

 trees to supply their place ; by such inexcusable 

 negligence defeating the ends proposed by the 

 provident care and wisdom of their ancestors, 

 depriving the public of a valuable source of 

 timber, either for domestic purposes or national 

 use, and reducing their country to a dependence 

 on foreign produce for supplying the demands of 

 her fleets and manufactures. 



I shall esteem myself most happy, if, in giving 

 this tribute of information to the general stock of 

 public improvement, I should promote an influ- 

 ence that may excite noblemen and gentlemen, and 

 proprietors of land of every denomination through- 



