AMONG THE OAKS 95 
recognised in Britain, and changes will naturally 
take place in the treatment of woodlands. In 
many cases, however, the changes must occur 
slowly if at all; for the praiseworthy conservative 
feeling which regards the woods of large landed 
estates as sacred ancestral heritages will natu- 
rally only yield gradually, when it is seen that 
the removal of old trees and their replacement 
by younger stems of more vigorous growth is no 
wanton desecration of the beauty of ‘the wood- 
lands wild.’ Churlish, indeed, would be he who 
could wantonly, whether for his own profit or 
otherwise, remove the aged, storm-battered oaks 
still flourishing here and there in the woods or at 
the edges of the forest as historical records, reach- 
ing perhaps in their own life back to the ancient 
times when they still bore their original name of 
4ik, now surviving only in the word ‘acorn,’ 
and in names of places like ‘ Acton,’ ‘ Akenham,’ 
and the like. But, happily, by natural regene- 
ration of oak in copses and highwoods, and 
sowing of acorns, the old crops of timber can 
be renewed without the eye being offended by 
the rigid regularity of lines in plantations. 
Where long stems of oak were obtainable, in 
