THE GARDEN BEAUTIFUL. 



225 



the house on the stormy side, and its 

 frequent cutting was disfiguring, so the 

 piece of rough ground was grubbed and 

 planted with Holly, Cedars of Lebanon, 

 Corsican Pine, Giant Arbor- Vitae, and 

 the Nootka Cypress, all in free groups. 

 These took well and in a few years gave 

 shelter and a fine evergreen grove effect 

 from every point of view, far before those 

 resulting from the ups and downs of the 

 underwood crop. But treating wood- 

 land in this way is a costly labour, and 

 only worth facing where there is a real 

 gain in effect by the change from ordi- 

 nary woodland to the forest evergreen 

 growths. 



Renewing Woods from Underwood 

 Growths. — If underwood has been well 

 planted and it is not too old, it is often 

 easy to get a great many young trees in 

 it, if we avoid the common way of cutting 

 too much. In some districts the under- 

 wood is mixed and we find clean sapl ings 

 of good native trees which will thrive if 

 freed from their neighbours. All under- 

 wood should be carefully marked before 

 sale and every " teller " worth saving 

 singled out and the number in each piece 

 written down. If this is not done serious 

 loss to the wood often occurs. Even if 

 it be done, in many estates where the 

 woodland is neglected and there is no 

 resident agent or owner caring for it, the 

 trees may be destroyed, not only the 

 marked " tellers " being taken by the 

 buyers but even young Ash and other 

 trees of value ; some woods are spoiled in 

 this way. In a large piece of underwood 

 cut this year by my own men, and not 

 sold in the usual way, I was able to leave 

 so many stout saplings of the underwood 



that the wood now looks almost fur- 

 nished. Ash, which when planted small 

 is so quickly destroyed by rabbits, may 

 often be saved in carefully cut under- 

 wood, young trees soon arising from 

 healthy stubs. Nor should we fear to 

 leave them pretty thick on the ground 

 (6 to 8 feet is not too near if they so 

 occur), as Ash is a wood useful in many 

 states and thinning should not be done 

 until the trees close together overhead. 

 Even Alder may be left for the sake of 

 its leaf-canopy. If patches of Hazel or 

 Withy are here and there, then replant 

 with stout Oak or Sycamore saplings 

 about 1 2 feet apart. These trees resist 

 rabbits the best of all that I have tried. 

 Underwood buyers should be carefully 

 watched, and where pieces of under- 

 wood are old, of little value, and not 

 great in extent, it is often better not to 

 sell, but to keep every " teller" that is 

 worth keeping even as close as 8 to 1 o 

 feet apart, as useful thinnings will come 

 in the following years — thinnings more 

 valuable than underwood. Small pieces 

 come in as faggots for home use, and the 

 men have then no motive for destroying 

 the most valuable part of the wood : but 

 outside what is needed for home use any 

 large cutting of underwoods is sure to 

 end in loss by owners. Such tall saplings 

 as are spoken of above must be sought 

 for in nurseries for forest trees or raised 

 at home. I have planted thousands of 

 them every winter of late and have not 

 lost five per cent, from any cause. Any 

 smaller trees will not fight the under- 

 wood growth ; but these keep up with 

 it and, after some years, begin to meet 

 overhead and then soon settle with the 



R 2 



