NOTICES OF FOREST TIMBER. 593 
prune them. Tliis will always show, when that is the case, by their 
breaking into numerous unnatural branches, but it may not be so 
soon observed in the fir tribe, which, however, have generally a 
stunted appearance for some years afterwards, and sometimes it 
occasions their death. Perhaps the expense may, with some persons, 
be the objection to the annual operation ; and it is true that all trees, 
in the course of their growth to perfection, will require very many 
prnnings ; but the oftener they are pruned the less they will need at 
one time, and their value will be always increasing. Dodona. 
KnutsJ'ord, 1832. 
P, S. — When an old hedge is splashed, the labourer should be 
allowed one penny for every young tree he saves, by which means, 
the estate will soon be covered with fine growing timber at a very 
trifling expense. Experto Credo. 
ARTICLE XI. 
NOTICES OF FOREST TIMBER.— By An Arborist. 
The profits of plantations on the borders of fields are very great in 
Flanders — yielding the value of the cultivated, as well as planted 
soil in forty years. The shelter afforded improves the climate, pre- 
vents evaporation, and the moisture occasioned greatly jjromotes the 
growth of herbage. It is laid down as a maxim, " that small gains 
and quick returns make the dealer rich; but long credit ruins him." 
It is a rule, therefore, with that view to cut down the ivhole coppice 
as soon as it is saleable. The loss of the interest of the money, and 
the damage which the underwood receives from the drops of the 
standard, are favourable to this system. 
Ash, growing from a level, is generally worth in forty years, from 
forty shillings to three pounds. Gilpin, in his work on Forest 
Scenery, calls the Oak the Hercules of the forest, and the Ash, the 
Venus. The chief characteristic of the one is strength — of the other, 
elegance. The ash carries its principal stem higher than the oak ; 
its whole appearance is that of lightness, and the looseness of the 
leaves corresponds with the lightness of the spray ; its bloom is one 
of the most beautiful appearances of vegetation. 
The Beech is the most lovely of all forest trees, whether we con- 
sider its smooth rind or bark, its glossy foliage, or graceful pendu- 
lous boughs. For fuel, it is the best of any wood we have in this 
climate, and it is foimd by far the most powerful to contend with 
VOL. I. no. 13. 4 A 
