At present some preserves simply exclude the public, ou the
ground—not wholly unjustified—that it is not to be trusted: The Oxford Preservation Trust, for example, which has done admirable work in a very energetic fashion, has recently acquired a wood enjoyed by a fair number of people for many years. The public is now severely excluded by strong and not inexpensive fencing. If such a policy is a per- manent policy, it is a had policy. It would be better for a number of people to enjoy the wood and a few flowers to be picked than for no one beyond a privileged two or three to have traffic in the wood and for the flowers to perish unseen. It has been a cause of rejoicing that more and more land each year hata corm into the hands of Trusts; but it will be a cause for *egre'. if the guardians adopt a too narrowly exclusive
attitude. " Enter these enchanted woods, ye who dare " is not the right sort of threat for a Trust. The sternly fenced wood at Shotover is a good test case, a focus for discussion of the rival policies.
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