FORESTRY AND THE 

 NEW FOREST 



FROM various points of view the forests and woodlands of Hamp- 

 shire are entitled to be considered unique. They vary greatly in 

 character owing to geological conditions as to soil and physical 

 factors regarding situation, and this variety makes them of special 

 interest to the lovers of all branches of natural history an interest 

 greatly stimulated by the remembrance that here Gilbert White lived his 

 quiet, peaceful life and wrote his immortal Natural History of Selborne. 

 In early Saxon times, when the king and his court resided at Winchester, 

 the woods and downs and heathery moors were royal hunting-grounds ; 

 and when William the Conqueror extended these latter by the formation 

 of the New Forest an historical interest was given to them which has 

 increased as century has succeeded century. From their proximity to 

 England's greatest naval dockyard the oak forests of Hants were for many 

 generations of vast importance in maintaining the supply of timber for 

 the king's navy. Even now this county contains not only the largest 

 remnants of the ancient royal forests but also the second greatest aggre- 

 gate of woodlands in any of the counties of England. When these 

 facts are considered it may be safely stated that as regards forests, 

 woodlands and forestry Hampshire is the most interesting among the 

 English counties to the historian, the antiquary, the naturalist and the 

 lover of sylvan scenery. 



In accordance with the great natural laws relating to competition 

 of different species in the struggle for existence, to special adaptation to 

 environment, and to the survival of the fittest on given soils and situa- 

 tions, we can still easily look back and form a probably fairly correct 

 idea of the primeval conditions of the Hampshire woodlands and barren 

 tracts, because the character of the vegetation must have originally been 

 mainly determined, in addition to the general factor of climate, by the 

 nature of the soil and by its configuration, aspect and elevation. 



The geological characteristics of the county need not be fully des- 

 cribed as these physical features have already been treated of in detail 

 elsewhere. It may suffice to say here that the county is broadly divisible 

 into the two distinct areas consisting of the chalks of the Secondary 

 system in the northern half and the Bagshot sands and other Tertiary 

 deposits towards the south. These two areas are, however, flanked by 

 other formations. Thus on the eastern or Surrey and Sussex borders the 

 ii 409 52 



