Plantations and Home Nurseries Competition, 1911. 295 



The second prize fell to the Earl of Leicester, Holkham, 

 where the woodlands occupy 5 per cent, of the area. The most 

 outstanding feature on this property from the forester's point 

 of view is the planting of sand dunes on the sea coast. This 

 difficult piece of work, carried out by the late Lord Leicester 

 forty or fifty years ago, is not paralleled in the United Kingdom, 

 The plantations extend for about three miles along the coast and 

 comprise an area of 200 acres. The Corsican pine is the prin- 

 cipal species used, and so well has it taken to the land that it is 

 reproducing itself abundantly on some of the unplanted ground. 

 As regards the plantations, many of them are good, the rapid 

 growth of both the larch and Corsican pine being noted. 

 Attention has also been given to various conifers such as do 

 not usually occur in large quantities. Particular mention may 

 be made of numerous fine specimens on the Fulmerston 

 division of the estate. These include Abies nohilis glauca, 

 Thuya plicata, Ficea sitkaensis, Pseudotsuga Douglasii, Liho- 

 cedrus decurrens, Tsuga Mertensiana, Cupressus nootkatensis, 

 and Abies magnifica. The groves of Quercus Ilex commanded 

 attention as being the best in our countrj'. The younger 

 plantations had been rather expensively formed and could 

 not be said to have much economic value. 



The Judges awarded a special bronze medal to Mr. E. G. 

 Pretyman, M.P., for his Orwell estate. About 10 per cent, of 

 the area is under trees, and some of the plantations, such as the 

 Brookhill Park plantation already commented upon, have been 

 particularly well managed. The treatment, too, of the coppice 

 with standards is of considerable merit. As on most estates, game 

 preservation has modified the system of forestry to a consider- 

 able extent. The ground is well adapted for the growth of 

 Spanish chestnut, and much has been made of this species, 

 especially in coppice. The treatment of the young plantations 

 ha^ been less systematic than at Westwick, and fewer particu- 

 lars were forthcoming regarding expenditure upon formation. 

 Near the Hall individual trees had been well cared for, some 

 Pinus insignis being splendid examples of their kind, and one 

 evergreen oak giving a measurement of no less than 15 ft. girth 

 at 5 ft. from the ground. 



Among so many woodland estates, where minute attention 

 has been given to forestry. Lord Hastings' fine property. 

 Melton Constable, could receive no award. The estate extends 

 to lOfOOO acres and the woodlands to 1,500 acres, so that 

 although the percentage is good it does not approach that of 

 the Westwick property. A gi-eat deal of attention is given to 

 game preserving, and this has had its effect on the manage- 

 ment to such an extent that the woods have suffered from a 

 silvicultural point of view. The provision of sporting facilities 



