542 WOODLANDS IN SUSSEX AND KENT. [March 



of Surrey, Kent, and Sussex for the Bath and West of England and 

 Southern Counties Association. Part of the woodlands are on the 

 chalk downs, where ash and hazel underwoods are grown ; part in 

 deep land below the hill, suited for oak ; and part on the sand-hills 

 around Midhurst, where chestnut is the most valuable coppice-wood 

 on the best land, though it does not flourish on the birch-pro- 

 ducing poor sands. You may read some good lessons on forestry in 

 the two largest woods at Cowdray, one of which is chiefly in oak, 

 the other in chestniat and mixed wood. 



Mr. Tallant describes the planting of 9 acres of " deep land," a 

 close, retentive clay, below the hill, as follows : " Watercourses or 

 ditches are first made, to allow of as good drainage as can be 

 obtained. It is of the utmost importance to let off the standing 

 water. Holes are then dug at lid. per hundred, 18 in. square 

 and 12 in. deep, and the wood is planted with well-rcoted ash, 

 from 2^ feet to 3 feet plants, which may he bought at from 25s. to 

 30 s. per thousand. Twenty thousand plants were required for the 

 9 acres, there being some underwood on the ground. The cost of 

 planting is lOd. per hundred." 



In an excellent editorial article on " I'lanting Strong Land," 

 which appeared in TIic Field, Feb. 9, 1884, p. 199, the planting of 

 ash was described in detail. The writer recommended that the 

 land should be summer-fallowed and well-gripped, and the holes 

 dug 18 in. deep with a 9-in. bottom, the cost of digging the 

 pits and of planting being together from £1 to 30s. per acre. 

 The cost both of plants and planting is greatly affected by the 

 distance at which the plants are set from eacli other, and by their 

 age and price. I'lanters will consider whether the plants can be 

 obtained at less cost by raising them in tlieir own private nurseries, 

 ov by purchase. Mr. Tallant, of Easebourne, Midhurst, is an 

 experienced planter, and liis figures are reliable. He says of 

 chestnut, ash, or mixed coppice, on land worth 10s. an acre: "If 

 the soil is very poor, I plant 3 feet apart, in better soil 3 feet 

 6 in. apart, each way. Holes 18 in. square, 12 in. deep, where 

 the rock will allow (this in a sandy loam on the greensand), 

 cost Is. per 100. Planting costs Is. per 100, or on stiffer soil or 

 stony land Is. 3d. per 100/' The 4840 plants or 355G plants, 

 required respectively at 3 feet and 3^ feet apart, cost — chestnuts, from 

 30 in. to 42 in. high, 30s. to 35s. per 1000 ; ash, from 3 feet to 

 5 feet, 30s.; birch, ditto, 2*78. 6d. ; willow, ditto, 25s.; alder, ditto, 

 30s.; hazel, ditto, 25s. Mr. Tallant prefers plants 3 feet high to 

 larger. The coarse weeds and briars are cut down between the 

 rows for three seasons after planting ; the fourth year's growth 

 of the young plantation is cut down to the stem ; and in the 



