390 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER 
August 22 
WOODS AND FORESTS. 
THE OAIv. 
(Continued from page 258.) 
At page 258, we left the young plantation, or forest 
I of Oaks, thinned out to eight feet apart, and supposed 
I to be all young, vigorously-growing trees, probably from 
; eight to ten feet high. 
' It now becomes a question whether there is to be any 
underwood, or are the Oaks to be the only crop. The 
large plantations of the Oak, at Welbeck, have no under¬ 
wood ; and I agree with Mr. Robson, that it is much more 
practical and wise to let the forest be a forest, and the 
j coppice a coppice (this latter is a place in which are 
grown rods, stakes, hop-poles, &c.), keeping the two 
quite distinct. In this I am borne out by the Duke of 
Portland s practice. He would have no underwood in 
his plantations ; and where it is grown, or permitted to 
grow, the gamekeeper puts in his verdict that it is 
necessary, as a protection to the .game; the hare and the 
pheasant. Now, I am no sportsman, as will be evident, 
when I say I wish there was no game allowed to exist 
j at all. There has been more bloodshed and ill will 
engendered by the game than all the game is or has 
been worth. I fear, however, that the pleasure or ex¬ 
citement of shooting game will, for generations to come, 
prevent the repeal of the game laws, and, therefore, let 
the keeper have his cover of underwood, but let it be'by 
itself, separate from the timber-growing plantations. 
In the National Woods and Forests this consideration 
about game need not, of course, enter a moment into the 
forester’s mind. He is appointed and placed there to 
produce, as quickly as possible, good Oak timber, and not 
hares and rabbits. These he ought to have positive 
orders and ample powers to destroy, to prevent them 
from barking and cropping the young trees. It is in 
these forests that my system of sowing acorns, trans¬ 
planting seedlings, keeping them regularly thinned year 
by year, and clear from choking weeds and overtopping 
underwood, could be carried out in a regular, certain, and 
clock-like system, so that a crop of good, sound timber 
would be as certain to be produced as our excellent 
coadjutor, Mr. Robson, could produce his crop of 
Asparagus or Peas; only, instead of two or three years 
for the Asparagus, and a few months for the Peas, our 
Oaks would require at least a hundred years before the 
main crop could be gathered. Though that is quite true, 
ought we to be at a stand still and say, “ I will not plant 
for generations to come.” Who will be so hardy as to 
say this? But though it is not said, yet it amounts to 
the same thing, if the wqods are mis-managed so that the 
timber, instead of increasing in value and producing a 
fair return, is yearly growing like the cow’s tail, down¬ 
wards; that is, becoming of less value every year. Let 
these woods that belong to the nation be fairly examined 
by competent men ; their state reported truly ; and the 
needful operations adopted which are required to put 
them into a progressing and repaying condition, though 
it may be a hundred years hence; and then, the best 
method of growing timber, whether of the Oak or any 
other tree, might be exemplified; and the question I 
started with, whether it is desirable to have the forest 
clothed with undergrowth or not, answered practically 
and demonstratively. 
I have mentioned the Oak plantations at Welbeck 
as being examines of the successful raising of trees 
Irom the acorn. No doubt, there are many others in 
the kingdom, and even some in the national forests. 
Those at Welbeck have no nurse trees nor underwood, 
but there the soil is good, and the situation sheltered by 
older plantations ol Oak trees, and the underwood is 
j Jormed by the Oak itself, previously to the thinning 
i operation. By being so thick, the trees are drawn up 
| with straight stems, to afford good plank timber. The 
only thing that struck me as being difficult in this J 
matter, is the exact time when the most profitable time 
for thinning should take place, assuming that the sowing 
method is the best, and that the Oak should be its own 
nurse. ’To solve this question requires considerable 
thought and experience. I have thinned woods that 
have been planted when the branches just began to 
interlace each other; and that, I am pretty sure, will be 
found a good principle to act upon as a guide; and with 
regard to underwood, I would, most decidedly, banish it ; 
from the Oak forest, even when young. In very exposed 
places, I would plant a belt or strip of the Scotch Pine, 
and the Spruce Fir, in preference to any other, but, in 
all situations, already sheltered, I would use no nurse 
trees at all. T. Applebv. 
(To be continued.) 
BIRMINGHAM HORTICULTURAL 
EXHIBITION. 
On Thursday, the 10th inst., I had the pleasure of 
witnessing an Horticultural Exhibition in the Botanic 
Gardens, at Birmingham. I was so much gratified with 
it, that I took a few notes on some of the leading points, 
and will write them for The Cottage Gardener, and 
hope my remarks may be useful. These beautiful 
gardens I have mentioned and described lately, and, 
therefore, I need only say, that they were, on this 
occasion, in very good order, notwithstanding the un¬ 
avoidable derangement they suffered from the influx of 
upwards of four thousand of the working classes on the 
Monday previous. I would also observe, that gardens 
like these are by far the most proper place for an ex¬ 
hibition of this kind,—far superior to a room, however 
large. The day was fine and the company numerous 
and respectable. In consequence of the fiueness of the 
day, the ladies graced the grounds with their presence 
in the gayest of dresses, and in all the colours of the 
rainbow, looking healthy and happy, and enjoying the 
sight provided for them by the exhibitors, as well as the 
adjuncts of the music and the scenery around. At the 
time when the garden was the fullest of company, I 
stood on the noble terrace walk in front of the con¬ 
servatories. Directly in front, the ground falls rapidly, 
and then rises again, forming a valley clothed with the 
softest and greenest turf. In the centre of this valley 
an excellent brass band was placed, and a host of garden 
chairs set in irregular masses arrouud them. These 4 
seats were, as soon as the band commenced playing, 
immediately occupied by the company. The scene, then, 
was really very pleasing; the sun gently shining, a 
summer breeze sweetly blowing, the band sending forth 
sweet strains of music, and the gay company listening 
and enjoying it, altogether forming one of those happy 
combinations of pleasurable sensations that one can 
only see and enjoy on such occasions. 
The horticultural and floral productions were exhibited 
in tents, in a retired part of the garden, and the show 
was, upon the whole, a very respectable one. At this 
season of the year, stove and greenhouse plants are 
generally out of bloom, therefore it is the more creditable 
to the exhibitors when they bring so goodly a number 
of plants in bloom as they did on this occasion. I will 
briefly notice a few of the most striking and best grown 
specimens. 
In Orchidaceous plants, a good specimen of Saccola- 
bium Blumei major, with two fine spikes, came from A. 
Kenrick, Esq., who lives near here, and has a very large 
and select collection of these singularly beautiful plants; 
also Stanhoj/ea oculata, with many spikes of its curiously- 
spotted flowers, and a specimen of the rare Aerides 
flavum, a pale yellow-flowered species, very rarely seen. 
