40 THE NEW FORESTRY. 



had no importance in his eyes, if we may judge by his practice. 



From his frequent thinnings a regular and constantly aug- 

 menting revenue was expected and a profitable realisation antici- 

 pated at the end ; but that did not happen, because the thinnings 

 were unprofitable, the ultimate crop too light, and the timber of 

 the worst quality.* Dr. Adam Schwappach, professor of fores- 

 try, Eberswalde, Prussia, in his report of a visit to the forests of 

 Scotland, in 1896, comments adversely on Scottish forestry 

 culture as practised in the past. Writing in the transactions 

 of the Scottish Arboricultural Society, 1896, about what has 

 hitherto been considered one of the finest examples of Scottish 

 forestry, he says •. — " The trees were showing vigorous growth, 

 and one can only regret that the ground was not more fully 

 stocked, as would have been the case under a different system, 

 of management, and which would have resulted in the pro- 

 duction of finer and more valuable stems." Summarising the 

 points having the most important bearing on the future of 

 forestry in Scotland, he goes on, "the woods should be 

 managed on sylvicultural principles, and not in the park-like 

 manner at present so much in vogue ; " and, " The operation 

 of thinning should be conducted in a more rational manner,, 

 and with more regard to the future of the wood." 



In Chapter XIV. of " The Forester," fifth edition, at the 

 beginning, Brown lays down his principles on the " nature 

 and necessity of thinning plantations " in the following vague 

 words, slightly abridged, which give the reader no idea what he 

 actually means : — " Thinning is one of the most indispensable 

 operations in arboriculture. The object which ought to be 

 aimed at by the forester in the act of thinning, is the regulating 

 of the trees in a plantation to such a distance, one from 

 another, and that in such a manner as is known to be favourable 

 to the health of each tree individually, as well as to the general 

 welfare of the whole plantation. In order to grow any plant 

 to that size which the species to which it belongs is known to- 

 attain under favourable circumstances, it is necessary that it 

 have space of ground and air for the spread of its roots and 

 branches in proportion to its size at any given stage of its 

 growth. Upon this the whole nature and intention of thinning 

 plantations rest." As a non-committal exposition of principles 

 the foregoing would be hard to beat ; but elsewhere, in the 

 same chapter, these principles are over-ruled by quite another 

 set of conditions, occupying about forty pages. Under eleven 

 separate sections he distinguished between thinning plantations 

 * See Parliamentary Report : Mr. Dundas's evidence. 



