The Thinning of Woods. 



297 



It seems strange that the advantages of growing timber so 

 as to produce fine long boles free from knots were not sooner 

 realised, and it is only reasonable to suppose that aesthetic 

 and sporting considerations were of far greater importance 

 in the eyes of British landowners. The value of such timber, 

 and incidentally also the accidental means by which it had 

 been produced, are thus quaintly described in the following 

 extract from Gilbert White's "Natural History of Selborne 

 (Letter II.) : — 



" On the Blackmoor estate there is a small wood called 

 Losel's, of a few acres, that was lately furnished with a set 

 of oaks of a peculiar growth and great value ; they were tall 

 and taper like firs, but, standing near together, had very 

 small heads, only a little brush, without any large limbs. 

 About twenty years ago the bridge at the Toy, near 

 Hampton Court, being much decayed, some trees were 

 wanted for the repairs that w^ere fifty feet long without 

 bough, and would measure twelve inches diameter at the 

 little end. Twenty such trees did a purveyor find in this little 

 wood, with this advantage that inany of them answered the 

 description at sixty feet. These trees were sold for £20 

 apiece." 



The requisite density of crop having for some time been 

 assured, the object of thinnings is to stimulate the further 

 development of the crop without any such interruptions of the 

 canopy as may prejudice either the continuation of growth in 

 height of the young trees or the productive capacity of the soil ; 

 while the extent to which thinning should be carried out 

 depends on various factors. The crops most in need of thin- 

 ning are those in which the individual plants are all of about 

 the same age<s\^., in plantations, as the struggle for individual 

 existence is then keener than when some plants gain an 

 advantage in height over others from the very start. The age 

 ot the crop is also a factor of importance ; for the need of thin- 

 ning is greatest during the pole-forest stage of growth, when 

 assistance given to nature in the work of elimination of the 

 dominated and suppressed stems is of immense advantage to 

 the dominating and predominant poles. The kind of tree 

 must also be considered, as light-demanding genera require 



