226 ENGLISH ESTATE FORESTRY 



said of silver fir, although this tree is rarely ornamental 

 when standing alone in later life, and is best grown in 

 thick clumps. 



Individual Fbatuees. 



The most important features of an ornamental wood 

 are the lines followed by the rides, and the disposition of 

 the trees or shrubs at or near their margins, the grouping 

 or arrangement of species or mixtures, the shape and 

 character of individual trees and clumps, and the amount 

 of variety produced by the above details, combined with the 

 slope and contour of the ground. 



The line followed by the roads or rides in a wood, as 

 well as their width and the condition of their margins, 

 have a great deal to do with the picturesque appearance 

 of the latter. The modern methods of laying out rides 

 are invariably based upon the ideas and convenience of the 

 sportsman, the result being that broad rides intersect each 

 other at right angles about every 300 yards or so through- 

 out the entire wood. This system may be all right when 

 formed for shooting purposes alone, but it certainly does not 

 add to the picturesque appearance of the wood, nor in many 

 eases to the utility of the rides for timber removal. On un- 

 dulating or hilly ground it is often advisable, if not necessary, 

 to lay out shooting rides quite independently of those used 

 for carting, and in such cases the right-angled systeni may 

 possibly be the best. But where rides are used for both 

 purposes, and the picturesque is worth studying at all, it 

 must be admitted that absolutely straight lines are to be 

 deprecated. Shooting rides are of course made straight for 

 convenience and safety combined. Beating can be done 

 more easily when the distance between the outsides of a 

 beat remain the same throughout, as is the case when 

 the rides are parallel, than it can when the ground is con- 

 stantly varying in width between circuitous rides. From 

 the safety point of view, again, straight rides enable each 

 gun to see his right- and left-hand neighbours, and the 

 chances of accidents are thereby reduced. But, in spite of 

 the advantages which may be claimed for straight rides, 



