6 NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE. 



Farnham stream at Tilford-bridge, swells into a considerable river, 

 navigable at Godalming ; from whence it passes to Guildford x and 

 so into the Thames at Weybridge ; and thus at the Nore into the 

 German Ocean. 



Our wells, at an average, run to about sixty-three feet, and when 

 sunk to that depth seldom fail ; but produce a fine limpid water, 

 soft to the taste, and much commended by those who drink the 

 pure element, but which does not lather well with soap. 



To the north-west, north and east of the village, is a range of 

 fair enclosures, consisting of what is called a white malm, a sort 

 of rotten or rubble stone, which, when turned up to the frost and 

 rain, moulders to pieces, and becomes manure to itself.* 



Still on to the north-east, and a step lower, is a kind of white 

 land, neither chalk nor clay, neither fit for pasture nor for the 

 plough, yet kindly for hops, which root deep in the freestone, and 

 have their poles and wood for charcoal growing just at hand. 

 The white soil produces the brightest hops. 



As the parish still inclines down towards Wolmer-forest, at the 

 juncture of the clays and sand the soil becomes a wet, sandy loam, 

 remarkable for timber, and infamous for roads. The oaks of 

 Temple and Blackmoor stand high in the estimation of purveyors, 

 and have furnished much naval timber; while the trees on the 

 freestone grow large, but are what workmen call shaky, and so 

 brittle as often to fall to pieces in sawing. Beyond the sandy 

 loam the soil becomes a hungry lean sand, till it mingles with the 

 forest ; and will produce little without the assistance of lime and 

 turnips. 



NOTES TO LETTER I. 



1 A noticeable feature about the beech is the peculiar absence of underwood 

 beneath it. Thus the stem is seen in its full beauty. The decaying beech-mast 

 and leaves lying upon the ground are apparently inimical to other vegetable life. 



2 The north-east part of Selborne stands upon the Upper Greensand, while 

 to the south-west is the Chalk Marl, abruptly divided from each other as 

 mentioned by White. 



* This; soil produces good wheat and clover. 



