238 THE NEW FOREST. 



when in wet seasons the lower ground is cold and 

 swampy. 



The existence of these rights favours greatly the 

 smaller owners and tenants, and the cottagers. The 

 larger the farm the less use is made by its tenant of the 

 Forest. The land of the large farm is of better quality, 

 and the proportion of meadow is sufficient ; the improved 

 breeds of cattle are too delicate to turn out in the Forest. 

 The wastes of the Forest are mainly for the benefit 

 of the smaller occupiers and cottagers. The}'" make it 

 their business to turn out the proper kind of stock. 

 The right also of cutting turves for fuel is of the 

 utmost value to them. The rough turf formed of 

 roots of heather makes an excellent fuel in combina- 

 tion with wood bought from the Forest. This turf- 

 cutting does no injury to the surface, the rule being 

 to cut one and leave two turves. The old heath 

 being removed, a grow 7 th of new heath is insured, 

 and short grass often comes up in the pared spaces. 

 The turf renews itself in seven year* ; meanwhile the pas- 

 ture is improved. The right of turning out pigs is also 

 of great importance. When the prospect of beech-mast 

 and acorns is good, the cottager buys his pigs as early and 

 cheaply as he can, and may rely upon a clear profit often 

 shillings on a pig. Cottagers have been known to make 

 twenty pounds in a year by their pigs. The turning - 

 out of a mare or a cow is likewise much valued by them. 

 The possession of an animal for this purpose is often 

 to a young labourer the first step on the ladder the 

 inducement to him to save, with a view to becoming the 



