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ON THE MANAGEMENT OF FOREST TREES. 
proportion to his capability, may enhance the beauty and value of an estate to a great extent, 
or soon inflict upon it irreparable injury. He should possess a mind capable of appreciating 
beautiful forms, and should understand the principles of the art of landscape gardening, 
which will enable him to trace the beauty of design, order, fitness, and utility ; he will not 
mar the plan of a great artist by not understanding its object ; nor will he, in thinning a 
mass of wood, leave the marginal Trees in equidistant lines ; but while regularity reigns 
within, on the exterior he will leave here bold projecting masses, there receding glades, and 
know how to produce artistically that charming intricacy and variety which prevails in natural 
forests ; thus he will combine the production of great picturesque beauty with the production 
of straight and valuable timber, by giving to each interior tree space and air to ensure its 
ample and healthy development. 
The competent forester then should be a well educated man, well versed in practical, 
structural, and physiological Botany. He should possess an inquiring mind, and be a keen 
observer of the phenomena of vegetable life. I seek not to condemn the shrewd, calculating 
man of business, who values trees only for the cubic feet they contain, the tons of bark, or 
the number of faggots they yield, but “ I would not enter on my list of friends ” the man 
who, to his practical acumen, did not unite the qualifications I have mentioned. 
Let not the paltry consideration of an increased amount of salary be a barrier to the 
employment of the skilful forester as compared with the ignorant labourer. Certain it will 
be that the small additional investment which secures talent and good management, will 
yield a per-centage of profit and satisfaction far exceeding the saving of a moderate stipend. 
Let but there be a demand for such men, and it will create a supply of them ; while 
grateful Sylva will repay with greater beauty and more ample profits the consideration 
she receives. 
Sndly. The Necessity and Importance of efficient Drainage . — Drainage is admitted on 
all hands to be the sure basis of good cultivation. The abstraction of water from the soil 
(when in excess) facilitates the entrance of air, thereby rendering soluble those substances 
which the earth contains as food for plants, and which but for such agency would not be 
available. It also raises the temperature of the soil, and places the trees in a condition 
to be supplied with food by their roots as soon as their buds feel the invigorating influence 
of the warm, sunny days of spring. Early growth is of much importance to all trees in a 
climate so uncertain as that of Britain ; by it we secure the full development of the plant 
under our brightest skies and greatest amount of solar influence, and the consequent 
ripeness and induration of that growth, while it will have the greatest amount of organizable 
matter stored up for future development. 
Covered drains are, however, not suitable for woods, because they soon become choked 
by the tree-roots, which find their way into them in search of moisture, rendering them 
very soon useless. Open trenches are best suited for this purpose, and their depth, 
direction, &c., must be regulated by circumstances. Let those who intend to plant regard 
this as an indispensable provision. The depth of the drains being open, is not material, 
but would be regulated by the water proceeding from a spring, or being only what is called 
surface. 
