296 Plantations and Home Nurseries Competition, 1911. 



and ornamental effect were duly taken into account in judging, 

 but timber production was regarded as the main consideration, 

 and in this respect Melton Constable is lacking. Efforts are 

 now being made to rectify matters, but it will be many years 

 before the results are seen, for at present the majority of the 

 woods are very thin or consist of poor standards over coppice, 

 both being of low productive capacity. Drainage has not 

 always been well attended to, and there is no proper gradation 

 of ages or any attempt at a working plan. On the other hand 

 there can be no doubt about the arboricultural beauty of the 

 woodlands, particularly those in the neighbourhood of the park, 

 which has been laid out with marked skill. 



Other proprietors who entered their estates under Class VI. 

 were Sir Ailwyn Fellowes, Mr, Thomas Barrett Lennard, and 

 Mr. J. H. Gurney. Although possessing many features of interest 

 and having a considerable indirect value, the plantations on 

 these estates do not, in the opinion of the Judges, compare 

 favourably with those that gained prizes. At Honingham there 

 was no home nursery, and the trees used in forming new 

 plantations were much too large for safe removal, while the 

 thinning of the older woods had been too severe. Mr. J. H. 

 Gurney had not many woods to show, so that the work on his 

 estate could hardly be compared to that on the larger properties, 

 but in some respects the management has been exceptionally 

 good. The system of coppice with standards, for example, has 

 been well carried out and some natural regeneration of conifers 

 seems likely to yield valuable results. Some of the plantations 

 have been over-thinned, however — rather a common weakness. 

 On Mr. Barrett Lennard's estate there are considerable areas 

 under Scots pine, but there is only a very small nursery and the 

 woods have not been treated systematically. In this case, also, 

 too many trees have been removed from the young plantations 

 in the thinnings, and there is a lack of heavy timber on the 

 estate — a fact for which the poor soil is largely responsible. 



Home Nurseries. — Keen competition was the result of the 

 numerous entries under this head. On several estates very few 

 faults could be found with the material presented. Taking 

 everything into account, the nursery at Culford, which was 

 awarded a silver medal, is a good type of what is required. 

 It is 7 acres in extent, and plants in all stages may be seen, 

 from the newly germinated seedlings to the ordinary type of 

 transplant ready for the woods, while there are also saplings 

 of larger size. Mr. Hankins, the forester, has given a great 

 deal of care to the fine stock of plants. His seed beds are of 

 special interest, not only on account of their large extent, but 

 because they bear such a large variety of seedlings. The 

 Culford nursery was adjudged as being the best managed 



