ARBORICULTURE IN HAMPSHIRE. 25 



III. On the Present State and Prospects of Arboriculture in Hamp- 

 shire. By Andrew Peebles, Highclere Castle, Newbury. 



Arboriculture in the south of England bears little resemblance 

 in many of its primary operations to that prevailing in Scotland. 

 This has been attributed to various causes, such as scarcity of fuel, 

 and consequent value of firewood ; the increasing demand for a 

 peculiar description of sheep-hurdles ; the easy access to hop- 

 growing districts ; the prevalence of brush, rake, and bobbin fac- 

 tories ; and the home and continental trade in hoops and " small- 

 ware." All these circumstances exert a powerful influence on the 

 local demand for the produce required in each case. In the vicin- 

 ity of brush, rake, or bobbin factories, it pays better to grow 

 underwood, required for these purposes, than to produce a crop 

 involving considerable expensive transport to a favourable market. 

 It serves no good purpose, however, to plant a particular kind of 

 underwood, merely because there is a ready market, unless the 

 soil and situation are calculated to produce a vigorous growth. 

 The adaptation of the crop to surrounding circumstances is one of 

 the chief points to be attended to by the forester. No mistake so 

 certainly leads to unsatisfactory results as that of attempting to 

 grow a particular crop under unfavourable conditions. In such 

 cases, the only remedy is to grub up the whole crop and replant. 

 The longer this is deferred the more apparent the mistake becomes, 

 and the unhealthy symptoms are annually more strongly developed. 

 Numerous instances of negligence in this matter have come under 

 my observation, and one extreme case is worth relating. 



In South Berkshire stood a very unpromising larch plantation, 

 on a poor, thin soil, with a hard substratum of red gravel. At 

 twenty-five yeai's old, this enclosure was thinned for the first time, 

 and many of the poles were already discoloured in the heart-wood 

 or rotten in the core. After being thinned, the trees assumed 

 a more unhealthy appearance, were prematurely loaded with cones, 

 and it was considered advisable to clear the crop and replant. 

 The larch poles being too small for general purposes, were sold at 

 a sacrifice ; the ground was trenched, and a local nurseryman con- 

 sulted as to the future crop. The only trees he had in stock at 

 the time were hazel and alder, and the proprietor did not en- 

 courage hazel-planting, on account of the depredations of tres- 

 passers in search of nuts. The contractor, therefore, was obliged 



