GROWING GOLDc 111 



that oak is not of so slow a growth as it has 

 been generally considered. It is however 

 desirable to have all the evidence that can be 

 obtained on the point, and it is therefore 

 natural to desire the testimony of My Lord 

 of Leicester," who, it appears, can give positive 

 evidence as to the fact, but the wish is vain. 



Enough, however, has been stated to show 

 the importance of the proper management of 

 this kind of property. Some large land- 

 owners have two or three thousand acres of 

 wood lands, game covers, &c. and perhaps 

 more : it is, therefore, most material to them 

 to know whether the trees in those woods and 

 plantations which are reserved solely for the 

 profits to be derived from the growth of 

 timber, will, in the same period of time, be 

 worth eight pounds or thirty-five pounds each : 

 more particularly when it is remembered 

 that the probability, if not the certainty, 

 is, that to have trees of the latter value, the 

 crop should be four times the number of the 

 former, and that the larger is the natural size. 



