ON THE MANAGEMENT OF FOREST TREES. 
57 
physiology, dreaming that plants absorb food by their roots, or breathe by their leaves, or 
know that light exercises an important influence on vegetation. Sorry I am to say, that 
such managers are but too numerous, “ their name is legion,” and the few exceptions I know 
are mostly those who, from their education as Gardeners, have learned that plants possess 
an anatomy as intricate and delicate as that of animals ; men who have learned that, if the 
crowding together of the human species in rooms without sufficient ventilation is deleterious 
to them, the over thickness of Trees in plantations is equally fatal and suffocating in their 
case, and who know that it is equally an effort of nature for the stiffled sufferer to be sup- 
posed to exclaim, “ Give me air , or I die.” 
Whether we regard the adaptation of Trees to the locality they are to be planted in, the 
preparation of the soil for them, the planting, the season, or the subsequent attention (or 
rather want of it) in pruning and thinning — there is much indeed to condemn in general 
practice, as those who understand the subject must be convinced of when travelling through 
the country ; and how usual is it to see tracts of wet land planted with Larch or other 
Trees, which grow naturally in dry sandy soils ! How often do we see all the refuse of 
some provincial nursery crammed into narrow holes like stake at so much per thousand, 
without any regard to its future use or effect, or a thought as cO what shall be ultimately 
left to produce timber ; or afford, by periodical cuttings, covert for game, or profitable under- 
growth ! How often do we see this chaotic mass left untouched for twenty or thirty years, till 
on some occasion, the keeper or the woodman, finding that “there is nothing to hold the 
game,” sagely tells the proprietor “ that it ought to be cut;” the hint is acted upon, it is 
cut ; but 0 tempora ! 0 mores ! at one fell swoop, the cold winds are admitted, the etiolated 
trees are exposed to the full action of intense light, the wind w 7 aves their long and ill- 
balanced stems, the increased amount of light and air cause excessive perspiration, and the 
roots, injured by the action of the wind, cannot absorb sufficient food for the increased 
demand. The ill-matured tissue contracts, vegetation languishes, and it is henceforth a 
region of naked poles and scanty brushwood, by a modern misnomer termed a Plantation. 
Painful as is the picture I have drawn, it is not overcharged. What, then, is to be done ? 
Would that the attention of our great landed proprietors could be directed to the importance 
of the subject ; that they would consider how much they lose, how much is lost to the 
community by committing the care of extensive “ woods and forests ” to mere “ hewers of 
wood.” TIappy should I be if, by raising my humble protest against the course pursued, 
I should be instrumental in leading those into whose hands these remarks may fall, to think 
seriously on the subject. 
Having glanced at the mal -practices which are but too frequently seen, it may naturally 
be expected that one who has assumed to be (what some may deem) hypercritical, should 
offer some hints on the proper course to pursue. I will endeavour to do so in a general 
way, taking for my guide those universally acknowledged principles [and those only), which 
have been sanctioned by scientific investigation, and proved by successful practice. In 
furtherance of this plan I will consider — 
1. What are the requisite qualifications for a forester. 
2. The necessity and importance of efficient drainage. 
3. The importance of trenching, or well loosening the soil. 
4. The season best suited for planting. 
5. The manner in which planting should be performed. 
6. The adaptation of the kinds of trees to the soil. 
7. Pruning. 
8. Thinning — for profit and effect. 
1st. What are the Qualifications for an intelligent Forester. — When we consider the 
individual heauty and grandeur of Trees, and the important position they occupy in 
our arts, manufactures, agriculture and commerce, from their collective uses and 
products, Arboriculture is brought before us in an important point of view. Its value 
as a science must be apparent ; and the necessity for competency on the part of its 
practitioners is obvious. The manager of woods holds an important post ; and, in 
vol. i. — NO. II. i 
