HIGHWOODS, COPSES, ETC. 257 
this in the most thorough manner possible, 
and the system of cropping selected, whether 
highwood, copse, or coppice. If the crops are 
too thin, whether this be caused either by wide 
planting or by premature thinnings, as is only 
too often the case throughout Britain, then the 
productiveness of the soil is not utilised to its 
full extent, which means that the income de- 
rived is not so large as it might be, while there 
must also exist the danger that the soil is 
not being so well protected against the deterio- 
rating effects of sun and wind as would other- 
wise be the case with crops forming closer cover. 
And these two factors mutually act and re-act 
on each other. On the other hand, if the 
crops stand too thick, that is to say, if ade- 
quate thinning be neglected, then the crops are 
exposed to the danger of becoming weakly in 
growth and very injuriously affected as to their 
ultimate value when mature and ready for the fall. 
In this latter case, the greater density of the crop 
adds nothing appreciable to the capital value of 
the land; onthe contrary, it rather depreciates it if 
judged by the practical standard of its productive- 
ness in growing woodland crops for the market. 
R 
