Far otherwise is it with the plantations where the oaks are
artificially cultivated for timber. These are planted close together
on purpose to draw each other upwards in the struggle for air and
sunlight, which prevents their branching so near the ground as the
natural trees, the object being to produce an extended length of
straight trunk that will eventually afford a long and regular cut of
timber, free from the knots caused by the branches. All round the
plantations Scots-firs are planted as "nurses," to keep off the rough
winds and prevent breakage; these also help to lengthen the trunks by
inducing upward development. As the trees get nearer together they are
repeatedly thinned out, and, eventually, only those left which are
intended to come to maturity. Under this artificial, though necessary
system, the trees lose all individuality, and they never regain it
because they are all more or less controlled when growing, and so
become uninteresting copies of each other.
The motto of the natural oak is _festina lente_, mindful of the
proverb, "early maturity means early decay." It is well known that
oak, slowly and naturally grown on poor soil, is far more durable than
that which is run up artificially or produced on rich land. The
branches of oaks rarely cross or damage each other by friction, like
those of the beech, they are obstinate and will sooner break in a
gale, than give way.
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