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; and, consequently, they are, on some account or other, and of course more or less rapidly, _passing through the stage of deterioration_, and are annually losing to their owners, _a heavy per centage on their value_. In many cases, the oak, from ages of “mismanagement,” is stunted in growth, and of a _form, and shape, totally unsuited to the place where it stands_; and the underwood consists of that alone which is indigenous to the soil, and which, therefore, no neglect can destroy, nor any culture improve: in addition to all this, they are often, nay almost always, on clayey, retentive soils, _ruined with water_: they are periodically _shut up_, for from eighteen to twenty-five years, during which time, it is impossible to do any thing at them; and, when they are cleared of the underwood, instead of the opportunity being gratefully seized, for the purpose of effecting those operations which can only be carried on at such a time, they are _shut up again_, and left in their original state—except indeed they may have been despoiled of some of their oak—nothing being _done at them_, or, if any thing, probably so little, or so _ill_ done, that no good result is produced. But what ought to be the course pursued at such a time? Why, as it is only during the year of “hagging,” and the following season, that any work of magnitude, any improvement worth mentioning, can be carried on; a proprietor should more carefully examine his woods when they have been cut, than he would any other description of property: he should himself, if he understand it—which, however, is very seldom the case—or if he do not, by a person who is conversant with such matters, make a most rigid, and particular survey, in order to satisfy himself _as to what ought to be done_; and this he must do _immediately when the underwood is cut_, or rather, as soon as any considerable portion is done, so that he may have before him _all the time which he can possibly command_, for carrying on, and completing, his improvements. He must not be deterred from commencing them by any consideration of _the remoteness of the prospect of return upon his outlay_; but, instead of visiting the sins of his fathers upon the generations following him, he must, if the case demand it, make a _present_ sacrifice, for the benefit of his posterity: I say if the case _demand_ it, but this will not very frequently happen, as there are very few instances of “mismanagement” where _the fear of cutting