8 Reproduction. 



ideal. We shall still have to fell grand old 

 oaks rotten at the base or defective above, or 

 elms with nothing but a shell — all of which 

 might have been cured or realised. 



We have not, however, uncontrolled power 

 over the trees under our charge. We may do 

 much to prevent disease and much to minimise 

 the loss accruing from it, but we are not 

 infallible. 



That man is the best forester who succeeds 

 in bringing to maturity the greatest amount 

 of saleable timber in a given space, with a 

 corresponding natural or artificial reproduc- 

 tion. If we grow and realise timber without 

 maintaining a future supply, we are spending 

 capital, and this is contrary to the true 

 principles of forestry. I am of opinion, and 

 I always endeavour to practise it, that healthy 

 timber until ripe should never be felled, that 

 the moment it is ripe it should be felled to 

 make room for the young beside it ; that 

 trees in any way impaired or diseased, wind- 

 lifted, or causing injury to better trees, should 

 be removed. This, however, only indirectly 

 bears upon the subject of disease ; let me now 



