THINNING AND PRUNING 127 



tion, which sylviculture endeavours to exterminate, was not 

 looked upon as a detriment to the growth of the crop. 



Before condemning these older methods of thinning off- 

 hand, it may not be amiss to investigate the origin of the 

 prevaiUng ideas which were held so universally and for such 

 a lengthened period on the subject. Amongst our forefathers 

 were many men who possessed equal powers of observation 

 to those possessed by the present generation, and it seems 

 certain that general practices and customs did not arise 

 without some just cause or reason. The most probable 

 causes of overthinning seem to us to be connected with 

 several matters associated with forestry in the early part 

 of the nineteenth century, and may be summed up as 

 follows : — 



1st. The sylvicultural requirements of oak suitable for 

 the navy. 



2nd. The influence of Scotch foresters and Scotch forestry 

 upon English wood management. 



Srd. The influence upon British forestry exercised by the 

 extensive planting of larch. 



4:th. The influence of intensive game preserving in 

 plantations. 



That the sylvicultural requirements of oak affected 

 English forestry practice to a considerable extent, we know 

 from the constant reference made to the cultivation of this 

 tree in all the older works on forestry. Until the intro- 

 duction of iron ship-building, about the year 1850, the 

 supply of oak timber was considered of vital importance to 

 our naval and commercial supremacy, just as the supply of 

 English wheat was looked upon as our chief source of food. 

 The cultivation of oak was the concern of all English planters 

 on good land, not only on account of its suitability for heavy 

 soils, but because it was regarded as the cream of English 

 timber for all important purposes, while its bark was of 

 great value for tanning. Thus we find this tree planted 

 in all situations where its growth was at all possible, 

 and both in the Crown woodlands as well as on private 

 estates land was planted, if not entirely with oak, at least 

 with the idea that this tree should ultimately become the 

 main crop. As the value of the oak for ship-building lay 



