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.