BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ARBORICULTURE OF THE NEW FOREST. 33 
excuse, because authority had been given to replant, and every 
wood as it was cleared was replaced by a young plantation, which 
is in most cases now producing a crop of oak that, at an equal age, 
will vie with or surpass the older wood which it has replaced. 
The pendulum had, however, swung too far. Before the whole 
of the power obtained under the William III. Acts was fully 
exhausted, or very soon after that given by the Deer Removal 
Act had commenced to be put in force, it was apparent that the 
effect of the measure was to gradually cover the whole of the 
Forest with wood. The idea of this filled the commoners with 
apprehension, for they feared that, in spite of the removal of the 
deer, the amount of pasture, as the Jand became planted up, would 
be much decreased. Moreover, the new Act authorised the 
planting of trees other than those for navy use, so that the 
inferior land became available for the growth of Scots fir, while 
a provision inserted at the instance of the commoners to guard 
against good land only being taken, compelled the formation of 
enclosures not less in extent than 300 acres in each case, so that 
the inconvenience to the inhabitants was increased. Another 
important factor in the situation arose in the increasing apprecia- 
tion shown by the public of the beauties of the New Forest, and 
its value as a recreation ground. Perhaps most important of all 
was the change that occurred in the building of ships, whereby 
iron was substituted for wood, and British oak, from being of para- 
mount national importance, became a drug in the market. When, 
therefore, but 5000 acres out of the 20,000 acres authorised by 
the Deer Removal Act had been planted, and as soon as the deer 
had been removed and the register of the commoners completed, an 
agitation of the most active kind was instituted by the commoners 
against the further carrying out of the bargain of 1851. The public 
was led to believe that the enclosures, which were made against the 
cattle of the commoners for the protection of the young trees, were 
really intended to exclude it from the Forest altogether, and though 
nothing could be further from the truth, the idea caught hold, and 
the press were loud in their support of the commoners, and in their 
deprecation of the policy which Parliament had so lately ordained. 
There was much to be said in favour of an alteration of that 
policy. With the cessation of the needs of the dockyards for oak 
timber, the pressing necessity for a continuous supply came to an 
end. As population increased, the wants of more open spaces 
became more and more felt, and it was a reasonable thing for the 
VOL. XIV. PART I, Cc 
