Waste in Trees. 7 



is seldom found in any but those who cultivate 

 some or all of the Natural Sciences. 



It is the want of this trained observing 

 power which brings about the serious loss 

 arising from waste in our timber trees. If 

 we walk through areas of woodland we see 

 it all round us, even in well-managed tracts ; 

 we see it in ground rot, in broken limbs, in 

 holes in the stems full of water, in over- 

 crowding, in the presence of lichen, in partially 

 uprooted trees, and in the creeping ivy, so 

 dear to those who judge beauty from the 

 artistic standpoint. This waste is silent but 

 insidious, hence the calm indifference mani- 

 fested ; if it were more rampant or more 

 perceptible it would be remedied. Land- 

 owners have not now the excuse of inability 

 to fell, for even tenants for life with impeach- 

 ment of waste may, under statutory powers, 

 fell and sell timber that is ripe and fit for 

 cutting. What we want in our management 

 is to prevent disease, and where we cannot 

 prevent it nor cure it, to fell and dispose of 

 the timber before the disease has attacked 

 the stem itself. But this, I am afraid, is an 



