124 ENGLISH WOODLANDS 



of trees of the largest size. Woods will be cut 

 down on the first favourable opportunity, after 

 it is obvious that the value of the annual incre- 

 ment is considerably less than the interest which 

 the selling price would produce if invested. 

 The amount of wood annually added by growth 

 to a tree continuously diminishes after a certain 

 period in the life of the tree, and is very slight 

 for many years before it ceases. The greatest 

 possible size can be attained only if the life of 

 the tree lasts as long as there is the power of 

 making even the smallest additional growth. 



The systematic forester has other objects 

 than the production of the picturesque and 

 grand. In the natural woodland there is much 

 unoccupied ground, glades, thickets of under- 

 wood, many coarse ill-formed trees, and a few 

 trees of exceptional size. When systematic 

 forestry takes charge of the woodland these 

 elements of the picturesque and grand disappear, 

 except where a few escape as the result of accident 

 and neglect. Well-formed trees are themselves 

 so beautiful that they give a beauty to the most 

 uninteresting scenery, but plantations are dull and 

 heavy, except as seen from a distance in spring 

 and autumn, when the varying tints enable the eye 

 to dwell on separate parts of the whole mass. 



