56 



THE GAMEKEEPER AT HOME. 



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almost an affection for them. A branch ruthlessly torn 

 down, a piece of bark stripped from the trunk with fio 

 possible object save destruction, a nail driven in — perhaps 

 to break the teeth of the saw when at last the tree comes 

 to be cut up into planks — these things annoy him almost 

 as much as if the living wood were human and could feel. 

 For this reason, he too, like the members of the hunt, 

 cordially detests the use of wire for fencing, now becoming 

 so frequent. It cuts into the trees, and checks their growth 

 and spoils their symmetry, if it does not actually kill them. 

 Sometimes the wire, which is stout and strong, is 

 twisted right round the stem of a young 

 oak, say a foot or more in diameter, 

 which is thus made to play the part of 

 a post. A firmer support could not be 

 found ; but as the tree swells with the 

 rising sap, and expands year by year, 

 the iron girdle circling about it does 

 not ' give ' or yield to this slow motion. 

 It bites into the bark, which in time 

 curls over, and so actually buries the 

 metal in the growing wood. Now this 

 cannot but be injurious to the tree itself, and it is 

 certainly unsightly. 



One wire is seldom thought enough. Two or three 

 are stretched along, and each of these causes an ugly scar. 

 If allowed to remain long enough, the young wood will 





DIAGRAM TO SHOW DAM 



AGE DONE BY IRON 



WIRE-FENCING. 



