After throwing together several of our own observations, we bethought ourselves of examining into the ideas and experience of recent writers on the same subject. Having taken notes of the more prominent matter contained in their pages, we believe we shall do the public a service by printing these notes, accompanied by slight remarks. This may be the more useful, especially as almost every author has his own particular mania, which few common readers have sufficient knowledge of the subject to discriminate from the saner matter: and as, from the nature of hobbies—from some shrewd enough guesses by the owner that they are his own undoubted property—and, perhaps, from some misgivings, that what he advances on these is not perfectly self-evident, he is thence the more disposed to expatiate upon them, and embellish. The {139} credulous and inexperienced, partly from this, and partly from the fascination of the very improbability, rush at once into the snare; bring the speculations or assertions to practical test; get quickly disenchanted by realities, and ever after are disposed to treat all written directions on material science with contempt. We bring forward these authors in the order of perusal. We have found several remarks similar to our own; this was to be expected. {140} I. THE FORESTER’S GUIDE, _by Mr Monteath_. This volume is the work of a man of some experience, and of considerable observation and ingenuity, not much assisted by botanical or physiological science or literary attainment, which he, indeed, disclaims. His principal forte, and what he seems to have been most engaged with, is oak-coppice—his besetting sin, cutting and cropping. His directions on rearing and cutting coppice may be sensible;—those who wish to practise the sacrilege of destroying young oak-forest, we refer to him, as we have always had a horror at seeing a beautiful sapling untimeously cut down, like an American bullock for its hide. At present, and while peace continues, it is very easy to obtain plenty of foreign bark, and also oak-timber, for consumption, at a very cheap rate, for this reason—_and also, because, in the event of war, the price of these articles would be nearly doubled—we would request the holders of coppice, and, indeed, of all growing oak-timber, to pause in their operations of cutting, and not to sacrifice their property so unprofitably, to their own ultimate disadvantage, and also to the detriment of {141} the national resources; but immediately to set about converting their coppice-hags into oak-forest, by careful thinning and selection_. For performing this, we refer them to Mr Monteath in person, who seems to comprehend the utility, and to be pretty well versed in the practice, of thinning; only we would desire him, in pruning, to attend to the functions of the leaves; that the more abundant the covering of healthy foliage, the tree will progress the faster; and that the repeated cutting down of a young plant, year