J. West

“ For instance: if I assert, as I do without any hesitation, that many Noblemen and Gentlemen suffer their Hedge-row Timber to stand much too long—where is the admirer of the beauties of landscape scenery, who will not instantly, and perhaps indignantly, throw down my book, and charge me with being the most presumptuous of grumblers, and, as to taste, a very heretic! ”

“ When a Plantation is made in this barbarous manner, and left in this state for twenty years, or even less, no subsequent efforts, however sound the judgment which is exercised may be, can wholly repair the mischief which is done. By this mistake, an immense loss of property accrues to the proprietor, and the worst of all is, that the trite consolation is not left him, that what is “his loss, is another’s gain,” for here nobody is benefitted; while to himself there is superadded the mortification of a loss of time, “which no man can restore.” ”

“ An inquiry into the natural history of Hedge-row Timber, if I may so speak of it, would furnish a field for highly interesting remark, and it would assuredly remove any doubts that might remain in the minds of those who have gone no farther than to suspect that the management of it has been bad. When it is considered that the Timber of our Hedges is the product of chance, or even worse than that, that it has grown to what it is, notwithstanding that it has been subjected to the most barbarous treatment ”

“ Influenced by a most mistaken notion of economy, many persons plant their trees on land which is already fully occupied—it may be, by ling, by bracken, or by long grass, or twitch—and in most cases of this sort, the greater number die; but there may probably remain a few which sustain a feeble existence, so as just to make a show of a Plantation, and the owner seldom gives himself the trouble to attempt to ascertain why it is no better. ”

“ A very little consideration will convince any one, who does not resist conviction, that such ought to be the state of a wood so circumstanced as to oak; but nevertheless the actual condition of most woods is widely different from this: instead of there being a full crop of underwood, where there is a deficiency of timber, or a full crop of timber, where there is little or no underwood, it too frequently happens that there is neither the one nor the other, even on land which is, as was remarked before, capable of yielding a handsome revenue! ”

“ I shall not, in this place, “remark” more particularly on this point, than to say, that I have often seen the oak in this relative position, with the alder, the birch, the poplar, the larch, and other trees.
To imagine that a comparatively slow-growing tree can be placed in near contiguity with another whose rate of progress is much quicker, without receiving injury, is to manifest a want of knowledge of the habits of trees, which may be excused in an amateur planter, but which cannot be overlooked in a practical man, who is well paid for his services. ”

“ But whatever difference of opinion may arise among practical men, upon the points now under consideration, and on whomsoever the blame may rest, it is unquestionable that the actual state of a large proportion of our Ancient Woods is very bad indeed: they are either crowded with inferior oak timber, along with the most miserable rubbish as underwood; or, if they contain any thing valuable in either the one or the other, no principles, or rules of any kind, are applied in the management of them ”

“ While professionally employed, and while passing from one part of the country to another, my surprise has often been great, when I have witnessed, from its effects, the indifference which many gentlemen manifest, as to the state and management of this description of property: there appears, in comparatively few instances, to be any thing worth the name of an effort to rescue them from that state of wild unproductiveness in which they have been for ages! ”

“ The great reason why the produce of woods does not earlier come to maturity, is the gross “mismanagement” to which they are subjected: but when the time shall arrive that they shall be deemed worthy of as much “care, attention, and culture,” as any other part of an estate, then will they be found, probably, to yield quite as good a return for it; and the present no system management will be exploded. ”

“ As I have stated before, the infancy of a wood, or plantation, is the only time when it cannot be expected to pay. After it has arrived at a certain age, say from fifteen to twenty years, it ought to begin to make some return. In woods, if they are properly planted, it will necessarily be small during the first two cycles of twenty years each. It must be observed, that I am here speaking of the first forty years of an Ancient Wood, supposing it to have been thoroughly purged of its rubbish, retaining all the valuable stock, and to have been re-planted. ”

“ The reckless extent to which the abominable practice of pruning, lopping, or snaring—whichever it may be called—is carried, renders the conversion of timber a very hazardous speculation, and should long since have taught the growers of it, to avoid the commission of such an error themselves, and to impose a heavy penalty on all those belonging to them, who should be found guilty of it. ”

“ I trust I may now conclude that I have satisfactorily proved, not only that the “magnitude of the sacrifice which the present practice involves is disproportionate to the good resulting,” but that “the embellishment of a landscape does not necessarily include the perpetuity of any one race of Trees.” In handling the remaining proposition, and in endeavouring to prove that the present treatment of Hedge-row Timber is “a perpetual offence against good taste,” I shall at the same time, be accumulating evidence in support of the other two. ”

“ But such is the ignorance on the part of many, who call themselves woodmen, and the carelessness of their employers, that there is a total negation of forethought and calculation, instead of every step that is taken having reference to a remote period.
A nobleman, or gentleman, or his agent, may calculate what will be the effect upon a farm at the expiration of a lease of twenty-one years, if it be not cultivated as it ought to be, and, by introducing certain clauses into the lease, he may secure himself against the certain and serious loss which would accrue to him from bad management ”

“ But when Plantations on a large scale are desired, and when the planter considers his posterity more than himself, there can be no doubt at all, that, on certain qualities of soil, tolerably thick planting is best. And if it be desired to have a race of fine noble Oaks, they must be put in very thick, and the planter must not expect, during a life of average duration, any profit at all; for, in order to secure his object, he must, first, prepare the ground well: and next, he must either sow acorns, or he must put in an immense number of plants—and, in either case, he will incur a heavy outlay. ”

“ But whatever they may be—whether the Oak alone, or along with some other species, the trees intended for timber will demand the peculiar, the unremitted, attention of the planter: his object must ever be to deal with all the rest, with distinct, direct, and positive reference to the careful nursing of those: and it must always be borne in mind, that whatever be the fate of the nurses, those which I will again distinguish from the rest, by calling them the standard trees, must, if possible, be kept in vigorous health. ”

“ If Hedge-row Timber has been “mismanaged”—and who can doubt it—on whom shall the blame fall? As I have more than once said before, not on a class of men who, from their education, must necessarily be limited to the mechanical duties connected with their office, but on the Owners of Timber, from whom either directly, or through the agency of persons duly qualified, such rules and regulations ought to proceed, as would insure a better system of management. ”

“ But when a gentleman coolly makes up his mind to allow his Timber Trees to go to decay without ever intending, or wishing, to make any thing of them, why then, in that case, nothing can be advanced, but to suggest the means of protracting their existence to the longest possible period. ”

“ Upon a suitable soil, the Spruce Fir has always appeared to me, to be decidedly and incomparably the best nurse of the Oak. I have, for instance, often seen, on a clay soil, a Spruce Fir, and an Oak of twenty-five years growth, flourishing admirably, in close proximity with each other—even within a foot and a half. ”

“ In a Wood, or a Plantation, trees will draw up each other to a certain length, and many of the lateral branches, from the exclusion of light and air, will die, and some of them will fall off; this is, of course, natural pruning: but in a Hedge-row, they have no such help, they will, therefore, require artificial pruning; which should commence at the time of planting, and continue until it can be seen that they will assuredly acquire ample length of bole. The kind of pruning which is here advocated cannot possibly do any harm, if it be well done, and done at a proper season. ”

“ With many, it seems to be expected that they will thrive and prosper, no matter how they may be put in, whereas the very contrary is the fact. With many planters there is a vague, indefinite notion—of course there is no calculation—that when once they are planted, trees will grow, not only without labour or culture, but under such adverse circumstances as at once convince the experienced planter of the utter impossibility of their doing so. As I have elsewhere said, a young child, a young animal, and a young tree, all require the greatest possible attention, and the tenderest treatment ”

“ To the absence of early training, may be attributed much of what is seen to be wrong in the present condition and quality of Hedge-row Timber, but much more to the vile practice of mutilating the trees, which almost every where obtains. There is, indeed, in some quarters, such perfect indifference manifested about the well-being of the trees, that free licence is allowed to the tenants of the land to do as they will with them: and free use they make of it, as may well be supposed, and as is abundantly evident in all such places. ”

“ Without speculating further as to the precise cause, it is certain that the amount of property which is thus wasted, absolutely wasted—and in almost every case without any advantage to any party whatever—is enormous, as it would be easy to show by statistical details and calculations, applying to any estate where this horror of felling timber may have existed for half a century. ”

“ No [Pg 128] matter what the expense may be, if a gentleman determines to have Hedge-row Timber, he must guard it well. It stands more in need of the watchful eye of the Wood Manager than almost any thing else: in fact, it is of little or no use planting at all, if a good and sufficient guard fence be not immediately put down: but, having put in good plants, and effectually protected them, I say again, I know of no reason why Hedge-row Timber should not thrive and prosper, and, ultimately, turn out as sound, as any other. ”

“ But even here, nothing should be done, nothing should be attempted, which is not in strict consistence with those general laws which the principles of vegetable physiology impose, alike on a Gentleman who removes a large tree upon the plan recommended by Sir Henry Steuart, and on the practical Planter, who is professionally employed to plant a large tract of country. ”

“ It is not too much to say, that if this Plantation were the property of a private gentleman, the Scotch firs would be extirpated as speedily as possible, and a systematic plan, providing that a certain number of acres should be stubbed and re-planted every year, would at once be laid down; but public bodies are not so easily moved, and it is therefore to be feared, that, in this case, the public will not, for some time to come, derive that benefit from the property, which would certainly be the result of proper management. ”

“ I might, indeed, have passed it over in silence, and still have fulfilled the requirements of my Title-page; but inasmuch as the planting of Hedge-row Timber, must form a part of an improved system of management, however it may be left out of the present practice, it does not seem quite right to overlook it altogether.
If Hedge-row Trees are to succeed at all, they must have a good start; and if they are to have a good start, there must, of necessity, be some trouble bestowed in the preparation of the site on which they are to be planted. ”

“ A work of that magnitude ought not to have been intrusted to any one who, either from mercenary motives, or from limited views, was capable of falling into such a gross error, as to the interests of his employers. It is no exaggeration to say, that if the Skellingthorpe Plantation had been planted, as it ought to have been, with oak and larch, together with a few spruce firs, and if Pontey had left suitable instructions with those who had to take care of it, after his superintendence had ceased, it would now have been, at the most moderate computation, fifteen hundred per cent. ”

“ A great increase of revenue may be derived from a better mode of managing the stock, both of timber and underwood: the latter may, by timely and judicious pruning, by a proper attention to draining, &c. be brought to maturity at a much earlier period than it has hitherto been done in many places, and thus, of course, be made to return a greater rent.
It is incredible how little is done to Ancient Woods compared with what ought to be done, in the way of draining, pruning, stubbing up rubbish, and filling up with young plants ”