9, THE FOREST LANDS OF FINLAND. 
of the trees: had begun to choke the erops of the half-. 
subdued soil, the ground would be. abandoned, for new 
fields won. from the forest. by the same means, and. the 
deserted plain or hillock. would. soon. clothe itself anew 
with shrubs and: trees, to be again subjected; to the same. 
destructive process, and again surrendered. to.the restora- 
tive powers of vegetable nature. This rude economy 
would be continued for generations, and, wasteful as itis, 
it is still largely pursued: in Northern Sweden, Swedish 
Lapland, and sometimes even in France and the United 
States.’ . 
In a foot-note he adds :—‘In many' parts of the North 
American States the first white settlers. found extensive 
tracts of their woods of a very park-like character, called. 
“oak openings,” from the predominence of different species 
of that tree upon them. These were. the semi-artificial. 
pasture-grounds of the Indians, brought into. that state,. 
and so kept, by partial clearing, and by the annual burn- 
ing of the grass. The object of this operation was to 
attract the deer to the fresh herbage which sprang up after 
the fire. The oaks bore the annual scorching, at least for 
a certain time ;. but if it had been indefinitely continued, 
they would very probably have been destroyed at last. 
The soil would have been much. in the same condition, 
and would have needed nothing but grazing for a long 
succession of years to make the resemblance perfect. 
That the annual fires alone produced the peculiar char- 
acter of the oak openings, is proved by the fact that as 
soon as the Indians had left the country young trees of 
many species sprung up and grew luxuriantly upon them.’ 
For a very interesting account of the oak openings, he 
refers to “ Dwight’s Travels,” vol. iv., pp. 58-63. 
Leaving the prehistoric times of North America, and 
taking up the present, the case is more clear. 
And in the British Dominion of North America the 
same operation, there designated clearing, may be seen 
carried out systematically, ruthlessly, and recklessly, in a 
