CHAPTER I. 



If ever there was a period when attention to 

 the cultivation of oak timber was imperiously 

 demanded, it is the present ; inasmuch as that 

 which is now growing in our forests and woods, 

 can bear no comparison with the produce in 

 times gone by. The whims and fancies which 

 have distinguished the planters and managers 

 of timber, during the last hundred years, have 

 sadly operated against the production of a store 

 to supply any future deficiency. The number 

 of acres reserved for the growth of wood in 

 these kingdoms is considerable, and capable 

 of producing an immense quantity of the best 



B 



