NOBLESSE OBLIGE 53 



in his deer park simultaneously with the Food 

 Control Department's request that he would 

 keep up his head of deer !) 



It is true that deer had been killed in every 

 one of these parks. Indeed, on the morning 

 that I walked over Arundel, twelve had been 

 shot ; but the herds might very well have been 

 considerably reduced in size, killing off more of 

 the bucks. Deer should only have been kept 

 where the land was too poor for sheep. 



For the most part there is but a thin layer 

 of soil on the chalk of Arundel Park ; but 

 even here I found indications of certain fields 

 inside the park having been ploughed many 

 years ago. On a treeless slope stretching to the 

 south, and known as Copy Hold Brow, and in 

 Rutting Hill Bottom, the "bores" — infallible 

 evidence left by the plough — are still visible. 

 This slope may not be suitable for the tractor, 

 and I do not say that even if ploughed by 

 horse teams, impoverished as it has been by 

 deer, the land would produce great crops. It 

 has been shown, however, that by the applica- 

 tion of artificials, the herbage, at any rate on 

 chalk, can be improved. Better land for tractor 

 ploughing could be found adjoining the Wood 

 Barn, and the old fatting paddocks for bucks. 



The powerful arm of feudalism was not by 

 any means confined to keeping the parks of 

 the old aristocracy inviolate from the desecrat- 

 ing touch of the plough. Parks at the foot of 



