4 NATURAL HISTORY 



Farnham stream at Tilford-bridge, swells into a considerable 

 river, navigable at Godalming ; from whence it passes to 

 Guildford, 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. 13 



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 into the 

 freestone, and have their poles and wood for charcoal growing 

 just at hand. This 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 estima- 

 tion of purveyors, and have furnished much naval timber ; 

 while the trees on the freestone grow large, but are what 

 workmen call shakey, and so brittle as often to fall to pieces 

 in sawing. Beyond the sandy loam the soil becomes an 

 hungry lean sand, till it mingles with the forest ; and will 

 produce little without the assistance of lime and turnips*. 



b This soil produces good wheat and clover. 



* [A sufficiently full account of the geology of the district, for which 

 I am indebted to my friend William Curtis, Esq., of Alton, will be found 

 in the Appendix. T. B.] 



