584 



ON USEFUL AND 



BOOK I. 



overdone, and the trees are trained up like so many may-poles, 

 or lopped over as pollards. Trees and undergrowth, in many 

 places, are cut down before they arrive at a proper size. On the 

 other hand, many gentlemen, having formed mistaken ideas re- 

 specting the annual increase of timber in full grown trees, suf- 

 fer them to remain until they give evident signs of decay; thus 

 losing both the trees, the interest of their value, and the rent 

 of the surface which they stand upon. But it deserves particu- 

 larly to be remarked, that in each of these ways there is some- 

 thing that is either good, singular, or recommended by some 

 author, which makes them pass with superficial observers for, 

 rational management 



The direction of plantations, I am afraid, is too generally 

 submitted to gardeners and foresters, who, though highly pro- 

 per in their own place, cannot be expected to have a sufficiently 

 comprehensive view of the subject. But supposing that they 

 had, these men are so frequently changed from one place to 

 another, that the one often, unknowingly, undoes or counter- 

 acts the labours of his predecessor. This consideration obliges 

 me to confess, that I am not so sanguine as may be imagined 

 in my expectations of the good which will result from these 

 hints. The following mode, or something similar, appears to 

 several planters and authors, as well as myself, to be the 

 most complete that can be adopted by noblemen and gen- 



