76 OUR FORESTS AND WOODLANDS 
At the time of the Restoration the forests of 
Britain still supplied all the timber and other 
wood required by the country. But the supply 
of oak for the king’s navy and for the growing 
mercantile fleet had run so short, that those in 
authority were much concerned about future 
supplies. So much so was this the case, that 
the necessity for doing something to encourage 
the growth of timber, and especially of oak, 
was pressed upon the king’s notice. The plan 
resolved on was to get his then recently-founded 
Royal Society to select some one of light and 
leading to discourse upon the pleasures and 
profits of growing timber. The man selected 
for this purpose was John Evelyn, a younger 
son of the Squire of Wotton, in Surrey, one 
of those taking a chief part in the foundation 
of the Royal Society, the Presidentship of which 
he thrice subsequently refused. He had all the 
requisite qualifications for the task proposed. 
Filling various offices as a Commissioner of the 
Crown, he was well known and liked in the best 
society of the town, where he was also already 
recognised as somewhat of an authority on mat- 
ters of rural economy. Besides these essential 
