Country Life
BY IAN NIALL
Comm down a tree is such a positive thing —the tree cannot be put back, nor can it be replaced in much less than thirty years—that anyone who is fond of trees feels that the harvesting of timber should be carefully con- sidered before it is embarked upon. Timber must, of course, be thinned and cut down when it is ripe for cutting. Old wood is a danger to other trees and the forester never allows it to remain. A great deal of timber was cut in my part of the world round about the end of the war. Most of it was scrub oak and elm that was rather aged. Planting since then has in the main consisted of conifers. A carpet of green cloaks a distant hill and one realises that the forestry scheme is progressing. In a few years even rock faces are hidden. Today the Snowdonia Park joint advisory committee see something in this cloaking of mountains that was not too obvious to some of us before. Planting all of every mountain hides the grandeur of the range, and a sug- gestion is made that some parts of some of our mountains and valleys should be excluded from forestry schemes and their general opera- tion. Much as one likes to look upon a wooded scene, it must be admitted that a complete covering of conifers is not always pleasing. We must see the hills to appreciate the woods and it is possible that we might not be able to see woods for trees.
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