51 



Here, then, is a two-fold disadvantage, — no cover for game 

 on the one hand, and on the other the trees are not ar- 

 riving progressively at timber, whereas by the contrary 

 management both would have been obtained. When a wood 

 is thinned, having been previously neglected, the trees that 

 are left standing being suddenly exposed to the blast, often 

 give way : if they do not fall, they are wind-shaken : the owner 

 might at once take them down, since there is not any way to 

 support a tree of thirty or forty years' growth effectually. 



A certain portion of underwood is considered of great 

 utility to trees, by facilitating their growth, keeping them 

 fresh and healthy, and their roots moist and warm ; and should 

 a tree be destroyed by lightning, or in any other way, another 

 may be reared. I have observed often that where the bole or 

 stem of a tree had previously been covered with moss, and 

 some neighbouring trees were taken away, some leaves then 

 came from the stem : could any one doubt this being a signal 

 of improved health ? A clean skin is most essential to health 

 either in vegetable or E^^imal. When a plant breathes it 

 makes use of its skin, since it has not any mouth, and through 

 all parts of its skin where it is green, air is flying off and 

 rushing in incessantly. All that a plant wants is a little food 

 which is supplied by water with a small quantity of common 

 soil, and plenty of light. A plant rejoices in the light ; it 

 feeds fast, it digests, and a thrill of delight, as it were, passes 

 through it when the sun's beams first strike it in the morning 

 after a long night's rest. Compare only the rich green leaves 

 of the forest glade with the weakly slender starvelings that 

 are stretching upwards in the gloomy shadows of choking 

 plantations ! I think it the most beautiful thing in nature to 

 see the sun glimmering through the trees full of life, splen- 

 dour, and joy ; the underwood, even to the fern, apparently 

 participating in the genial influence. Trees should not be 

 nearer to each other than to allow the underwood to grow up 



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