190 THE OPEN AIR. 



where it mouldered, and all the bulk of the timber 

 converted into fertile earth. It was in this way 

 that the American forests laid the foundation of the 

 inexhaustible wheat-lands there. But the modern 

 management of a forest tends in the oj^posite direc- 

 tion — too much is removed ; for if it is wished to im- 

 prove a soil by the growth of timber, something must 

 be left in it besides the mere roots. The leaves, even, 

 are not all left ; they have a value for gardening pur- 

 poses : though, of course, the few cartloads collected 

 make no appreciable difference. 



There is always something going on in the forest ; 

 and more men are employed than would be supposed. 

 In the winter the selected elms are thrown and the 

 ash poles cut ; in the spring the oak timber comes 

 down and is barked; in the autumn the fern is cut. 

 Splitting up wood goes on nearly all the year round, 

 so that you may always hear the axe. No charcoal- 

 burning is practised, but the mere maintenance of 

 the fences, as, for instance, round the pheasant 

 enclosures, gives much to do. Deer need attention 

 in winter, like cattle ; the game has its watchers ; and 

 ferreting lasts for months. So that the forest is not 

 altogether useless from the point of view of work. But 

 in so many hundred acres of trees these labourers are 

 lost to sight, and do not in the least detract from its 

 wild appearance. Indeed, the occasional ring of the 

 axe or the smoke rising from the woodman's fire 

 accentuates the fact that it is a forest. The oaks 

 keep a circle round their base and stand at a majestic 

 distance from each other, so that the wind and the 

 sunshine enter, and their precincts are sweet and 



