ITS MANAGEMENT
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should the lower forms of life be forgotten, for
these also offer a wide field for profitable research
to those who inquire into their secrets ; e.g. let
us leave intact those moist places which teem
with life invisible to the passer-by, and in which
some budding Hervey or Lister may find his first
inspiration.
Experience has taught me to be less hopeful of
the flora of the Forest. I have seen the prim-
roses ruthlessly eradicated till there is scarcely a
plant left between Epping and London. There
is one area where they remain. Let a watchful
eye be kept on the Primrose League. Again, the
polypody ferns, which used to crown the pollards
in Loughton Manor with graceful tracery, have
nearly disappeared. I almost despair of a remedy.
Some have suggested surrounding portions of
woodland with a fence, but let me remind them
that such a barrier must be absolutely im-
pregnable. Let those who think the London
gamin to be a degenerate animal, watch him, in
his leisure moments, climbing, for a pastime, the
unclimbable paling which surrounds St. James's
Park. Now we want no St. James's Park palings
in Epping Forest. We must look to the vigilance
of the keepers.
(3) Removal of the Artificial.—The most
important and wide-spread interference with the
natural aspect of the Forest in the past has been
the practice of pollarding. The result, in many
parts, is an extremely monotonous condition
extending over wide areas. In Loughton Manor,
as I have already said, every tree has thus been
disfigured. By letting in light and air here and
there, we are giving a chance to young trees of
recent growth, which will quickly break the
smooth outline. I must not be understood to
desire a complete removal of all the pollards.
Many of them are curious and picturesque, besides
which they have a history, and tell of a system of
forest management which has had an important
place in the centuries past.
To give another instance of the formalities