Woodlands In Sussex. 



By H. T. UPTON, FORESTER, PETWORTII PARK, SUSSEX. 



The cultivation of underwood as a source of annual income and 

 profit has probably been carried out to a greater extent in Sussex and 

 the surrounding counties of Kent, Surrey, and Hampshire than in any 

 other part of England ; therefore some account of the system pursued 

 may be of interest. 



Plantations here are formed almost invariably for the growth of 

 underwood, and but seldom for that of timber, oak beiug indigenous 

 to the soil, freely reproducing itself from self-sown acorns ; care in 

 preserving the tillers as they come up, and their proper thinning as 

 they increase in growth, being nearly all that is necessary to ensure a 

 crop of timber. 



The woodlands may be divided into three classes : 1st, land wholly 

 under timber ; 2nd, lands partly under timber and partly underwood 

 and 3rdly, plantations wholly underwood, the second class forming 

 the principal portion. The underwood on these lands being formerly 

 composed almost entirely of hazel, has of late years been much 

 improved by filling up the bare and vacant spaces with ash, birch, or 

 Spanish chestnut. Plantations that are of comparatively recent date 

 are formed, in some cases, altogether of Spanish chestnut, where the 

 soil is found suitable to its growth, or of a mixture of ash, birch, and 

 chestnut ; willow and alder are also planted in damp or boggy 

 situations. 



The underwood is sold chiefly by public auction, the sales taking 

 place from the middle of October to the end of November in each year 

 in lots of about two to six acres, although frequently larger and smaller 

 lots may be put up, depending on the size of the plantation or the 

 quality of the wood ; the price being generally at so much per statute 

 acre, but sometimes by the piece. The age at which the underwood 

 is cut varies from eight to twelve years' growth, plantations being cut 

 at an earlier age than underwood grown beneath timber. Good planted 

 stuff will fetch from £2 to £4 per acre per year's growth ; £30 to £35 

 per acre being generally the highest price made, average planted stuff 

 of eight or nine years' growth selling at from £16 to £25 per acre. 



