CHAPTER II 

 PRESENT CONDITION OF ENGLISH FORESTRY 



THE extent and distribution of woodland in England varies 

 a great deal in different counties. The best wooded counties 

 are those lying in the south of England, Hants, Kent, 

 Surrey, and Sussex, and a great deal of their woodland either 

 consists of coppice with standards, or forms the remains of 

 natural forests which have existed from time immemorial. 

 Looking at the question from an economic point of view, and 

 comparing the distribution of English woodlands with the 

 different classes of soils on which they stand, it will be seen 

 that no very definite relation exists between the value of the 

 soil for agriculture and its utilisation for forestry purposes. 

 The waste land of England, classified in the Agricultural 

 Returns as " Mountain and Heath Land," practically 

 resembles the soils of those extensive forest areas on the 

 Continent which render the majority of Continental countries 

 so much better wooded than England. Yet, when one glances 

 at the returns above referred to, it is apparent that very 

 large areas of waste land exist in those counties, which have 

 a very small proportion of woodland. The three northern- 

 most counties of Northumberland, Cumberland, and West- 

 morland have nearly one million acres of mountain and 

 heath land between them, and Yorkshire alone contains over 

 half a million. Norfolk and Suffolk have 75,000 acres 

 between them, and Dorset 26,000, and in all of the above 

 counties the area under woods is comparatively small. 



So far as soils are concerned it is probable that no great 

 difference exists between the surface soil of one county and 

 another, apart from the geological formation from which 

 these soils are formed. Those which give rise to the gravels, 



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