THE MANAGEMENT OF PLANTATIONS. 



89 



amble, but I think it necessary to look at things as they are before 

 discussing things as they should be. No one, probably, denies 

 the need of improved methods of rearing plantations, but many 

 are apt to lose sight of the fact that lack of knowledge is not the 

 only cause of the bad condition of many English woods. So 

 long as proprietors prefer game to good timber, so long will the 

 gamekeeper exert a greater influence upon wood management (or 

 mismanagement) than the forester. Some, I know, are sanguine 

 enough to predict that forestry has a future before it in this 

 country, but it is as well to remember that permanent changes 

 are usually gradual ones, and that past methods cannot be dis- 

 carded instantaneously. Bearing this, then, in mind,- we will 

 proceed with the subject proper. 



I think it quite unnecessary to go into the details involved in 

 fencing, draining, and other preliminaries connected with the 

 formation of a plantation, as they vary in every locality, and all 

 that could be said concerning them has been repeated over and 

 over again by various writers. Assuming, then, that these have 

 been attended to, the first thing we have to deal with is 



The Selection of the Species. 



In selecting the most suitable species for any given piece of 

 ground, an amount of knowledge is required that few are happy 

 enough to possess. If properly selected, the species will show a 

 healthy and normal growth at all stages of life ; will be able to 

 withstand the climatic changes and vicissitudes common to the 

 locality, such as winter, spring, and autumn frosts, wind, rain- 

 fall, and summer drought ; will produce timber of good specific 

 quality ; in short, will yield by good management the largest 

 financial return that the soil is capable of producing when 

 under timber. The naming of a species which will fulfil all 

 these conditions is attended with as much uncertainty as the 

 preparation of a weather forecast for next month, and this fact 

 being recognised by planters, has led to the mixed plantation 

 being so popular. While no objection can be made to a proper 

 mixture of two or three species, with due regard to their habit 

 and rate of growth, the disadvantages of a miscellaneous mix- 

 ture are manifold, and will be referred to later on. I believe, 

 however, that the species which is found to be most suitable for 



