Part 3

Fourthly: 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; although it is manifest that, whenever a wood is opened, these important operations should claim the very particular attention of the proprietor or his woodman. But they do not receive it; and hence one cannot wonder at the stunted, unhealthy appearance, which many woods exhibit. They are almost always without any effective drainage, it being generally thought quite sufficient to open out a few paltry drains, which the falling leaves of the first Autumn will choke up. It will indeed very seldom be found, that even the outside ditches are well looked after: whereas it should always be the anxious concern of the woodman to provide, as well as he possibly can, for the effectual drainage of a wood after being felled, not only during a year or two, but for the term of the whole cycle. Of course I am aware that the leaves must fall, and, consequently, that the free egress of the water must, in some degree, be impeded, but, nevertheless, it is in the power of the woodman to provide, in a great measure, if not wholly, against this contingency, by making a sufficient number of ditches, of ample capacity, and by putting them in the best direction. But instead of this, it will very rarely be found, as I have just now said, that even the outside ditches are properly attended to. The consequence is, that the oaks, and our best underwood, the ash, not liking too much moisture, become diseased, and make comparatively slow progress: in fact, their existence is shortened by it, as the former will be found upon cold clay land, having a strong subsoil, to be very stunted and sickly in their appearance, and ultimately to die at the top, when, of course, they must be cut down; while the latter will much sooner become hollow, and they too, will finally perish. A small outlay in draining, if judiciously expended, would, in most cases, prevent these effects, and as it would only require to be done once in fifteen or twenty years, it could not lay more than a trifling charge upon the land.

Pruning is also a very necessary operation in Ancient Woods, both of the oak and of the underwood. I shall not here enter upon an inquiry into the general question of pruning, but, continuing to treat my subject practically, venture to remark, that, as our woods are now circumstanced, pruning, of some kind or other, is, as far as the oak is concerned, quite indispensable. Whether it should be by fore-shortening, close pruning, or some other method, must be determined upon an examination taken, but I do not hesitate to express my belief, that the pruning of oak trees in woods, may be almost wholly dispensed with, after the few first years, if they are well trained from the beginning; but that being the case with very few, pruning must be resorted to. And as to the underwood, the question has still less difficulty in it. When a wood is well stocked with underwood of the right sort, the object to be aimed at by the woodman is to bring it to maturity as soon as possible, and one means which he possesses, if he will make use of it, is pruning; which he should commence, after one year’s growth, and occasionally repeat—say on the fourth and sixth years, allowing the intervals to pass without interfering with it. If this operation be performed as it ought to be, the stools will have a number of poles proportioned to their size and capacity of supporting them, and the poles themselves will not only be more of an uniform size, but they will be much straighter, and on every account better adapted to the use for which they may be intended. But if a wood be stocked with nothing but rubbish, such as hazel, birch, alder, &c. it will not be worth pruning, and the best course to take with it, would be to stub it up, and get rid of it altogether.

Finally, on this point, and more particularly with reference to timber, if the pruning be judiciously done, it will tend greatly to improve the health of the wood, but the indiscriminate use of the pruning knife might do much harm, it should, therefore, only be done under the most careful direction.

Stubbing up rubbish, such as thorns, briers, birch, and, in many places, hazel, is much to be recommended, as by this means, light and air will be admitted more freely, and the health of the wood promoted, and, of course, its growth facilitated. It is perhaps just possible, that there may be a few cases where the demand may be such for birch, hazel, or alder, as to warrant a woodman in keeping them as a part of his stock; but I have generally found, upon inquiry, that they have fetched such a miserable price, as to yield very little more than would pay expences.

The absolute necessity of filling up with young plants must be universally admitted, although in practice, it is very rarely done, or, if done at all, it is very generally so ill done, as to produce no perceptible improvement in the stock.

It too often happens that sufficient care is not bestowed in selecting the plants. They are frequently put in too small, and when they are long enough, they are often deficient in thickness. All plants put into old woods, should be of good size, stiff, and well rooted. Again: it will be admitted, that they are often planted in a most slovenly and careless manner.—The following is a specimen of what I have seen. The workman takes his spade, and inserts it in the ground as far as it will go, in a sloping direction; he then raises it to a perpendicular position, which, of course, produces a “nick,” into which he thrusts the plant, and having put his heavy foot upon it, there and thus, he leaves it to its fate, and pursues his ill-directed labour, without a gleam of light breaking in upon him, as to the possibility of his being more usefully employed, or doing his work in a more effective manner! In this way, or in some such way as this, thousands of acres of Ancient Woods are treated every year; but it must be clear to every one, that such a practice is a disgrace to those who pursue it. If the workmen are asked their opinion of it, they will, in most cases, assure you, that the plants will “all grow,” but the misfortune is, that experience is against them. Both theory and practice are directly opposed to their view. But independently of facts, which every where condemn such methods, no one acquainted with the rudiments of the subject, needs to be told, that it is utterly unlikely that either an oak or an ash plant should grow, under the manifest disadvantages in which it is placed, when its roots are thus jumbled together, and forced into a “nick” fit only for a willow set; and when, moreover, it has to commence its course in competition with other underwood, which has already possession of the ground. It is absurd to suppose that it should succeed.

I do not presume to say that some woods do not receive different treatment, in all respects, to that which I have denounced: that would not be true; but these are the exceptions, and even where the management is best, there is much to complain of.

In commencing the subject of Planting, I am impressed with a sense of the importance which should be attached to it in such a work as this. I mean planting by way of filling up, in Ancient Woods. I am quite aware that it demands such a largeness and comprehension of view, that it might well be supposed likely to discourage one of stouter nerves than mine. It is important because, first, every wood in the kingdom ought to be well planted, whether it is or not: It is so, secondly, because there are very few that are properly planted.

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 return must be small, because the oaks will have been planted thickly, in order that they may acquire great length of bole: and this being the case, whatever underwood may have been put in, it will be treated with direct reference to the health and prosperity of the entire class of timber trees. After the expiration of the first cycle, that portion of the stuff put in for underwood will be cut over, and such pruning of the oak as may be required (which will be very slight) will be done, care being taken never to lose sight of the principle of classification of the oaks, into certain families of larger or smaller size, according to the term which a skilful woodman will allot for their entire existence. This is of immense consequence, and will embrace calculations, and a knowledge of the habits of trees, which can only be acquired by “close observation and long experience.” Where a sufficient number of oaks have been introduced, the underwood will yield very little return per acre, even at the end of the second cycle; but if the wood has been well managed, it will have been kept alive and tolerably healthy; and when it is cut, at the end of forty years, a considerable number of oaks of a useful size for farmers, wheelwrights, &c. will be taken down: this will admit light and air, and in a slight degree, perhaps, improve the position of the underwood during the course of the third cycle.

I need not pursue the subject farther here, having, I trust, succeeded in opening to the reader a general view of the plan which should be pursued. But there are other woods where a larger portion, both of oak and of underwood, will be found, and where, consequently, it will be more the object of the woodman to improve by less extensive measures than would be adopted in such a case as the one just referred to. It will mostly be best to do this by pruning, stubbing, and planting—always supposing that an effectual drainage has been secured—and here I would remark, that whenever planting is done in a wood, it should be as well done as circumstances will possibly allow. Instead of the “nick” system, or any similar plan, the woodman should dig holes for the underwood in the Autumn, and plant in February, or early in March. For oak, he should dig a larger hole, in the Autumn, give it a Summer fallow, and put in a vigorous, stiff plant, the Autumn following, or in the February next but one. If some such plan as this were pursued, there is not much fear but the plants would grow, and in this way woods may be gradually brought into a prosperous state, instead of their being, as they now are, in the aggregate, a comparatively valueless property to their owners.

I may here illustrate my view by a reference to a particular case, which came under my professional notice. It was a wood held on lease by a gentleman, under an ecclesiastical body, the lease being for a certain number of years, renewable upon the payment of a fine every seven years. Some dissatisfaction was felt by the lessee at the amount of the fines demanded, and the lease was permitted to lapse, at which time the intrinsic value of the stock, whether of timber or underwood, was literally nothing. The oak was all gone, as it was quite natural that, with a lease so framed, it should be, and the underwood, instead of being usefully and beneficially occupying the ground, of which it then had entire possession, was not worth the trouble of cutting! How different would have been the position of the lessors in this instance, I need not say, if, during the two last cycles, when the oaks were becoming very thinly scattered, the underwood had been cherished, as it most undoubtedly ought to have been. The neighbourhood was one where there was plenty of demand for the produce of woods; the particular wood referred to, would have been, on every account, as good a cover, and all parties would have been alike interested in the continuance of the lease.

But as I must now very shortly bring such of my “Remarks” as refer to “Ancient Woods,” to a close, it may be as well just to run over the whole subject in a recapitulary form, so as to present it to the reader in a sort of bird’s-eye view.

I have, then, endeavoured to show, that the present state of the Ancient Woods of this kingdom is very far from what it ought to be, and fully proves that their owners have paid little attention to them: that they are almost valueless to them, simply and only for want of better management: that they are capable of such a degree of improvement as would insure from them a fair, reasonable return: I have endeavoured to show this by contrasting the plans of woodmen, if they can be said to have any, with those which, in my judgment, ought to be pursued; and I am not aware that I have, upon any one point, exposed the errors of their course, without suggesting that which I conceive would be the right one. It is quite impossible, however, to lay down in a book like this, or in any other, specific rules or directions which shall constitute a sufficient guide for the manager of woods, out of the difficulties of a false position, or enable him to reform the errors of a vicious practice: for, first, not one woodman in fifty would be convinced, by any process of reasoning, that the present state of woods is so bad as I have described it to be; and if they would not admit the existence of the evil, they would not be likely to perceive the value of any remedial measures that might be recommended. Next: a difficulty would every where present itself, if woods were improperly treated, from the woodman feeling that the introduction of any new plans would, necessarily, involve the condemnation of his own. Besides all this, as I have remarked before, so many things have to be considered as to the state of a wood, before a safe opinion could be given as to the best course to be taken with it, that nothing less than a minute examination, affording the opportunity of duly weighing all the circumstances of each particular case, would justify any man in suggesting a specific course.

In proof of this, I would offer the example of a wood which I will suppose to be of forty years standing, and to have been started with as many oak plants as would suffice to insure a sufficient number of timber trees, possessing ample length of bole, or stem. Upon the plan of management which I have suggested, there would be, at the second cutting of the under wood, a certain number of oaks to cut out also, and from the stools of these, there would start young shoots, which, if properly dealt with, would, with those which would spring from every subsequent cutting, furnish a succession of timber trees; but if no care were taken in nursing them, the probability is, that they would be unfit for timber, and that it would therefore be necessary, occasionally, to introduce a small number of maiden plants, even as early as the expiration of the second cycle.

CHAP. II.

PLANTATIONS.

In order to afford some facility to the reader in perusing what I may write, I shall divide what I have to say into several distinct heads; and, first, as to the

Present Modes of Planting.

Much may, and probably ought, to be said, on the errors of bad planters: it is indeed a prolific, as well as an important subject; and if there were any solid ground on which to rest a hope that an exposure of all the mistakes which are made in planting, would lead to the abandonment of such plans and practices as would be shown to be wrong, it would be a duty worthy the exercise of talents of the highest order. It does not, however, absolutely require the aid of brilliant talent, or fervid eloquence, to place these matters in their proper light before those who are most concerned; a plain reference to facts will be quite sufficient for that purpose.

The case of an Ancient Wood in an unthrifty and unprofitable condition, does not stand out so prominently—it is not so glaringly discreditable to its owner, as is a Plantation in the same state, which has been made by himself; for as to the former, the fact that “it always was so,” is, to a certain extent, an excuse for bad management; and in truth, it will generally be found a very difficult affair, as I have hinted before, to establish a new system where the prejudice of ages, in favour of an old one, will meet the person who may attempt it, at every turn; but it is not so as to Plantations; when, therefore, a gentleman decides to plant, and has himself to do with the work from the beginning, both his interest, and his duty, point out the necessity of his seeing that it be well done; but the very reverse of this, is the average of the general practice, as I shall presently show. It would be quite foreign to my purpose, to refer to the minor shades of difference which exist in the practice of planters: such difference indeed may be met with, between plans which are each in themselves excellent; I shall content myself, therefore, with referring, and that in general terms, to the most glaring mistakes which are committed, giving a few examples.

To an eye that can take in the whole, it is lamentable to see the effects of ignorance and neglect, in the original formation, as well as in the subsequent treatment, of Plantations! 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; and the blighting effects which must result, and which do result, from the absence of early attention, are to be seen quite as strongly marked in the last, as in the other two.

In numerous instances—and this I shall call mistake the first—the trees are put in without any previous preparation of the soil. It is not possible, in the ordinary run of cases, to commit a greater error than this. It is, emphatically, to build upon a bad foundation, and it is very rarely indeed that Plantations, so commenced, ever make any thing out. When I say this, I do not mean to assert that they never become trees of any size: unfortunately they do, in some situations, and men are so ignorant—there is so little real scientific knowledge of the subject to be met with anywhere—that the most erroneous conclusions are drawn from this fact. The question as to what a Plantation might have done, or what it would have done, if it had been properly treated, is never thought of! No one ever dreams of instituting a comparison between such a Plantation as it is, and as it ought to have been. And yet this is the very first question which should be asked, or rather which should be anticipated.

But the majority of Plantations, which are commenced without any preparation of the soil, are complete failures, as may be seen by any one who chooses to take the trouble to examine for himself.

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. The method usually adopted, when planting is done in this way, is, to dig small holes at fixed distances, into which the plants are put by the workman in the best manner that he can, and they are left to fight their way as best they may.

Mr. Withers, of Holt, in Norfolk, has ably, and indignantly, denounced the hole-digging system, and has shown, most clearly, the advantage of “the highest degree of culture,” for raising timber, whether as a pecuniary question, or where it is wanted for merely ornamental purposes. It is true that an opinion at variance with his, has been given by some, but every practical man will, at once, perceive where the truth lies; nor will he be at any loss, whether, in the preparation of a field for planting, to follow the directions of Sir Henry Steuart, or those of Mr. Withers.

It was the practice of the latter gentleman, to trench his ground from “fourteen to eighteen inches deep,” and on poor land, to “put on as much manure as if turnips were intended to be sown,” and to hoe and keep clean the land, for seven years after planting. The results were, extraordinary rapidity of growth, and a consequent early and ample return upon the capital invested, in addition to the full accomplishment of an object, which is, of course, ardently desired by every planter: viz.: the pleasure of seeing rapidly rise up before him, a healthy and most promising race of trees.

The second mistake which I shall notice is a very common one; and is committed by those who prepare the land well, but, by a bad selection of plants, either as to age, or kind, or both, render success impossible. The error as to age consists, most frequently, in their being too old: that as to the kind, in not choosing such as are adapted to the nature of the soil.