NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE 5 



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 lim- 

 pid 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. 4 



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 esti- 

 mation 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 



1 A noticeable feature about the beech is the peculiar absence of under- 

 wood 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. G. CHRISTOPHER DAVIES. 



3 This spring produced, September loth, 1871, after a severe hot sum- 

 mer, and a preceding dry spring and winter, nine gallons of water in a 

 minute, which is 540 in an hour, and 12,960, or 216 hogsheads, in twenty- 

 four hours, or one natural day. At this time many of the wells failed, and 

 all the ponds in the vale were dry. GILBERT WHITE. 



4 This soil produces good wheat and clover. G. W. 



