FARMERS' REGISTER— IMPROVEMENTS AT HOLKIIAM. 



147 



Tlie extensive and eubstantial outbuildings 

 which were erecting on this liirm, naturally intro- 

 duced the subject ol the Holkham j)lantations, ibr 

 the massive and beautiful beams used in the pro- 

 gress of the work were the produce of silver fir 

 trees y)Ianted eight years after Mr. Coke caine to 

 Ilolkham, an event which took place in 1776. 

 Thus we find trees of forty-nine 3'ears' growth 

 producing beams of substance and strength am|)le 

 enough tor the largest agricultural buildings. But 

 it was not in a solitaiy instance, that of the silver 

 fir only, that the propriety of devoting the atten- 

 tion of early life to planting Avas manifested; the 

 floorings also were composed of beautiful oak tim- 

 ber, likewise the production of plantations of" Mi-. 

 Coke's own making. There is something really 

 rare and wonderful in thus beholding a man gazing 

 as it were upon a creation of his own, and il' any 

 circumstance in this world is calculated to make us 

 bitterly acknowledge and lament the mispent days 

 and neglected opportunities, never to be recalled, 

 it is something similar to what I witnessed on this 

 occasion. 



Mr. Coke Avas kind enough to take me, after 

 service on Sunday evening, upon the tower of 

 Holkham Church, the elevation of which is ad- 

 mirably calculated to display to advantage the 

 tastefully disposed and thriving plantations of the 

 park and surrounding farms. We had driven a 

 good deal through the plantations and marked their 

 healthful state, and the bird's eye view of the whole, 

 obtained from the church tower, was the best im- 

 aginable finish. The soil about Holkham presents 

 little attractive to the planter, but in this respect as 

 in every thing else, ditficulties and discouragements 

 have been disregarded and overcome. The plan- 

 tations are admirably managed, particularly witlx 

 rcfq^ect to pruning, an account of which, as appli- 

 ed to tiirest trees, has already appeared in this 

 work. There is, however, one part of the practice 

 here which I presume is little known, because sel- 

 dom carried into effect ekewhere, and yet it is of 

 the first importance to the owners of the extensive 

 tracts of copsewood, which prevail in some parts of 

 the island. The general practice in falling coppice 

 is to cut downwards, by which means the stump is 

 rather shattered than cut, and, consequently, the 

 rain is admitted, — rottenness follows, — and the pe- 

 riod of the ensuing fall is considerably protracted. 

 The Holkham method is to cut upwards. The 

 division is thus effected perfectly clean, without 

 shattering, and it may be fairly cfilculated tliat the 

 coppice is ready to fidl again two jcars sooner than 

 under the influence of the ordinary mode'-of" opera- 

 tion. 



The average annual value of the -thirmings of 

 Mr. Coke's plantations is tliree hundred poimds! 

 These thinnings leave no apparent gaps, and are 

 rendered requisite by the rapid growth of the trees 

 intended to .constitute useful and ornamental tim- 

 ber. The silver fir is, deservedly, a great favorite 

 in these plantations, and among a number of beau- 

 tiful specimens of the kind, which attracted rriy at- 

 tention, I took tlie girth of one in particular, which 

 proved to be six feet ten inches. The value of the 

 tree at the then price of timber was nine pounds! 

 A prett\- ample return made to a plahte.r, during 

 liis lifetime, for the exertion of inserting a diminu- 

 tive sapling irra sandy waste! 



But it'is not in his regular plantations alone, that 

 Mr. Coke lias manifested the "capabilities of hie 



country. He has seized and rendered available 

 to his one great object, circumstances such as cer- 

 tainly never occurred, as matters of promise, to 

 other men. I rode with him through a beautiful 

 wood, the extent of which was one hundred and 

 five acres, closely planted with oak trees of spon- 

 taneous growth. Originally, these trees could 

 boast only a few old stunted oak pollards, and the 

 rental of the ground was five pounds. Fifty years 

 ago Mr. Coke inclosed it, leaving the pollards to 

 do the rest, and from their annual deposit of acorns 

 has risen the present wood, Avhich pays him a 

 rental of six hundred pounds! 



About five miles from the house, and at the en- 

 trance from London, a very thriving plantation is 

 now rapidly proceeding to ornament, on each side, 

 two miles of the road. The trees have been plant- 

 ed on a very barren unpromising shingle, and the 

 attempt, perfectly successful, was the "suggestion of 

 Mr. Blakie, Avho acted for some years as Mr. Coke's 

 agent. Mr. Coke, with a kLndhness of feeling highly 

 honorable to him, and at the same time compli- 

 mentary to his agent, has named this "The Blakie 

 Entrance." 



I ought not to omit stating, that the fall of fir 

 timber always takes place, at Holkham, during 

 summer, Avhen the wood is in that state, as to hs 

 turpentine, Avhich tends most to its preservation. 



In connexion with the plantations, it is impossi- 

 ble to overlooktheirnumerous tenantry, the game. 

 "Were I to attempt to describe the numbers in 

 which hares, pheasants, and partridges swarmed 

 in every direction, and wherever we turned our 

 heads, I should be suspected of exaggeration. But 

 I wondered not so much at their numbers, as at 

 the circumstance of any thing like a crop of^ grain 

 escaping them; yet, such is the case, as the high 

 averages of the different crops show. I believe 

 this to be attributable to the cause assigned, viz. 

 the thickness of the sowing and of the crops. So 

 thick are they, that the game cannot Avith comfort 

 get into them; and I have inA'aribly obserA'ed, that, 

 Avhile any moisture remains on the growing corn, 

 birds, unless dri\-en, are averse to enter it. They 

 have also a great dislike to any cover from which 

 they cannot at once rise Avithout entanglement. I 

 knoAV not hoAV others maj^ be reconciled to the 

 reasons here assigned, but the fact that the game 

 is abundant almost beyond belief^ and yet does 

 little mischief, is notorious. 



* # # * * In the park I met Avith a, to me 

 ncAA^ description of game, in the numerous flocks of 

 Avild turkeys Avliich ti'equenlly presented them- 

 sehes. They Avere splendid birds, and, I am in- 

 formed, a great delicacy, under proper manage- 

 ment, on the table. Their flights during the shoot- 

 ing season, when they become alarmed, are of 

 great length. It is singular that they do not med- 

 dle Avith the corn. 



The system of cultiA-ation at Holkham may be 

 described as that Avhich has since been adopted, 

 more or less, by the best agriculturists, on soil of 

 similar quaUty. The difference consists in the su- 

 periority -of its application here. If, hoAve\-er, there 

 is one part of Mr. Coke's practice Avhich is more 

 strikingly superior than another, it is his manage- 

 ment of a naturally bad soil tor Avheat. This crop 

 is grown on a clover ley, manured Avitli rape diist 

 drilled into the soil. The Avheat is afterwards drilled 

 at intervals of nine inches across the roAvsof rape, 

 as it is considered that immediate contact with that 



