ARBORICULTURE OF THE COUNTY OF KENT. 153 



XV. On the Arboriculture of the County of Kent. By James 

 Duff, Wood Manager, Bayham Abbey, Tunbridge Wells. 



The county of Kent, the extreme south-eastern corner of Eng- 

 land, 64 miles in length from London to North Foreland, and 38 

 miles in breadth from North Foreland to Dungeness, has an acre- 

 age of about 996,480 acres, while the woods, coppices, and planta- 

 tions cover an area of 78,000 acres. Kent differeth not more from 

 other counties than from itself; in some parts health and wealth 

 are many miles distant, and in other parts abide in the same 

 place. 



The physical features of the county are strongly marked, divid- 

 ing it into three very distinct districts : (1.) That of health with- 

 out wealth, embracing the higher parts of the Downs, and forming 

 what is called the backbone of Kent ; (2.) That of wealth without 

 health — this consists of parts of the tree-covered Weald of Bomney 

 Marsh, and along the rivers Medway and Swale, where the pastur- 

 age is deep and rich, but where ague and low fever are common ; 

 and (3.) That in which health and wealth are found together, 

 covering by far the greatest part of the county. 



Five geological belts, of varying width and outline, extend 

 throughout the county from north-west to south-east. The first, 

 stretching from London to the Isle of Thanet, and embracing the 

 Isle of Sheppey, consists partly of plastic and London clay, and is 

 a continuation of the basin of London. The second belt, of chalk, 

 is a continuation of the North Downs ; it extends from Surrey to 

 the sea or eastern coast, forming a broad mass of cliff. A low 

 mai'shy coast stretches from Walmer to the Isle of Thanet, where 

 the chalk reappears and forms the fine promontory of North Fore- 

 land. 



The chalk intrudes through the valleys of the Darent and Med- 

 way, and extends in a thin line along the banks of the Thames 

 from Greenwich to Gravesend. The third and fourth belts con- 

 sist of gault and lower green sand, both underlying the chalk. 

 The fifth is the Weald clay, which covers the greatest part of the 

 county, the flat of Bomney Marsh lying below it. Some portions 

 of the Hastings sand formation of Sussex are occasionally found 

 isolated in the Weald clay, but are not sufficient to constitute a 

 sixth belt. 



