AMONG THE OAKS 111 
development of the oak is apt to be unsatisfactory 
and disappointing. 
This is, however a very different matter from 
the far heavier thinnings made in olden times for 
the express purpose of growing trees of branching 
habit to yield crooks for the naval dockyards and 
for shipbuilding in general. Though the market 
demand for timber has long since changed, yet the 
old method of thinning, now excessively heavy 
for the production of what must prove the most 
remunerative description of oak, is still adhered 
to. This system seems easily capable of improve- 
ment, and it stands in need of immediate change. 
Simultaneously with heavier thinnings, when 
the main growth in height has been attained, or 
with partial clearances to stimulate the rapidity of 
growth in girth, attention will have to be paid to 
protecting the soil against the deteriorating in- 
fluences of wind and sun. The strong demand 
made by the oak for light, as evidenced by the 
comparative thinness of its crown of foliage, is of 
course accompanied by inability to shade the soil 
from the exhausting effects of sunshine and 
dry winds; while the now open condition of 
the canopy of foliage overhead, caused by the 
