Present CoiuJ'dion of Woodla7ids 69 



local uses of tlie country side, the timber for building, 

 furniture, carts, farm implements, tools, etc., tlie coppice- 

 wood for firing, fencing, hurdles, stakes, hop-poles and 

 the like. The great majority of the existing woods, and 

 especially the oak-woods of the south and east and of the 

 adjoining midlands, still remain in this form, and are 

 still used for these purposes, but the primary object for 

 which their owners now usually maintain them is the 

 preserving of pheasants. 



The woods of the west and north, with local exceptions, 

 are mostly in the less artificial condition of " high forest," 

 and many of these are properly forested, i.e. exploited for 

 their timber. This is especially the case in parts of the 

 north of England and of Scotland, where modern scientific 

 forestry is to some extent pursued, and extensive planting 

 experiments are carried on. There are also of course wide- 

 spread plantations in the south, very largely of conifers 

 (such as larch), that are not native to the country, also of 

 oak, ash, beech, etc., and in some cases planted coppices ; 

 but there is good reason for believing that the great 

 majority of the English woods are essentially semi-natural 

 plant-communities, the remnants, modified mainly by 

 coppicing, sometimes by partial replanting, of the original 

 forests which once covered the country. As we shall see 

 in the sequel the different existing types of wood are very 

 closely connected with the soils on which they occur. 



In the British Isles generally, but more especially in 

 the south of England, the practice of forestry 

 Backward jg ^ g^^ extremely backward condition. This 



forestry. i^ largely due to the fact that very few of the 



woodlands are owned by the State. The great 

 majority are in private hands, and their owners nearly 

 always prefer the preservation of game to the proper 

 economic development of their estates. Further, the large 

 amount of capital that has to be sunk in the development 

 of forests for many years before a return is forthcoming, 



