1885.] WOODLANDS IN SUSSEX AND KENT. 343 



following autumn the dead plants are replaced, and the coppice 

 then stands till nine years old, when it is sold by auction. " In 

 the Weald of Sussex," says Mr. Tallant, " I have to deal with clay 

 and water ! " and liere, with careful ditching, he plants chestnut 

 and ash alternately, and alder in swampy places, for powder 

 makers. 



The cost of fencing must evidentl}' vary with the shape and area 

 of the plantation ; hut if a large square block of fifty acres be 

 planted, 1960 lineal yards of fencing will be required, and the 

 cost of wire fencing, 4 feet high, or of a stone dyke, will be Is. 6d. 

 jjer yard in either case, or £2, l7s. 9d. per acre. The cost of ' 

 fencing one acre in a square block, at the same rate of Is. 6d. per 

 yard, would be £.5, 14s. Trencliing, under ordinary circumstances, 

 at Is. per rod, adds £8 per acre. The cost of planting must 

 obviously vary widely, according to circumstances. In some situa- 

 tions, where large tracts are planted, the cost per acre of the 

 fences would be greatly reduced, and in many cases the outlay 

 under this head would be altogether avoided ; as, for example, when 

 the planting is effected on an unprofitable farm, or on land that is 

 already fenced. 



The following estimate of the maximum cost per acre of planting 

 underwood may be usefully examined : — 



4840 plant.^, 3 feet apart, at 30.s. per acre, 



100 yanla of open drains, at 2d., 



4840 pits, at Is. per 100, 



Planting, at lOd. per 100, 



Fenoinsr, ...... 



Under certain circumstances, an experienced forester would 

 imdoubtedly reduce this estimate considerably. As moorlands are 

 inexpensively planted with fir by " slitting," so I have known 

 coppices of hardwood to be very successfully planted on the same 

 system, the land having been cropped with corn, and plants being 

 set in the grassy stubble without ploughing. Mr. Baty, Sir F. 

 Graham's wood manager, has planted on that system, and prefers it 

 to ploughing or pitting, since he finds that the grass forms a 

 mechanical support to the plants, and prevents them from sagging 

 in the wind, and thus forming holes at their necks. Young trees 

 will certainly come away faster on ground that has been carefully 

 gardened for them ; but nature sows the seeds of trees in very 

 rough seed-beds sometimes, and yet they produce fine timber. 



The underwood on the Cowdray estate is sold by auction, the 

 annual sales embracing 350 acres, which bring an average price of 

 £8 per acre for the fastest-growing eight-year-old wood, and for that 



