The wood n 



brought to bear upon even the very simplest matters 

 of everyday life, and always to their bettering. 



So it was in the wood of young seedling trees, where 

 Oak and Holly, Birch, Beech and Mountain Ash, 

 came up together in a close thicket of young saplings. 

 It seemed well to consider, in the first place, how to 

 bring something like order into the mixed jimible, 

 and, the better to do this, to appeal to the little trees 

 themselves and see what they had to say about it. 



The ground runs on a natural slope downward to the 

 north, or, to be more exact, as the highest pbint is at 

 one comer, its surface is tilted diagonally all over. 

 So, beginning at the lower end of the woody growth, 

 near the place where the house some day might stand, 

 the first thing that appeared was a well-grown Holly, 

 and rather near it, another ; both older trees than the 

 nlore recent seedling growth. Close to the second 

 Holly was a young Birch, the trunk about four inches 

 thick and already in the early pride of its silvering 

 bark. That was enough to prompt the decision that 

 this part of the wood should be of silver Birch and 

 Holly, so nearly all other growths were cut down or 

 pulled up. A hundred yards higher up there were 

 some strong young Oaks, then some Beeches, and 

 all over the top of the ground a thick growth of young 

 Scotch Fir, while' the western region had a good 

 sprinkling of promising Spanish Chestnut. 



All these natural groupings were accepted, and a 

 first thinning was made of the smallest stuff of other 

 kinds . But it was done with the most careful watching, 

 for there were to be no harsh frontiers. One kind of 



