A HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE 



the condition of a short crop of fir say of 30 years' growth fit to bring in a good 

 return for pit-props. To alter the whole method of the existing woods would be 

 extremely expensive and would require a large capital investment, while the return 

 that might be obtained is, to say the least, somewhat doubtful and would certainly be 

 very expensive.' 



On the Hursley Park estate (Winchester), the property of Joseph Baxendale, 

 Esq., the woods aggregate about 1,500 acres. The ages of the different portions are 

 not known, but some of them date back to very old times. All the woods consist of 

 mixed copse, the overwood being chiefly of oak and beech, interspersed among which 

 are many yews, which grow very profusely on the limy soil of this district. So far 

 as possible the woods are treated on a ten years' rotation of the underwood, the 

 timber trees being ' thinned ' at the same time. Recent plantations have only been 

 of small acreage, and consist mainly of larch pit-planted in holes dug by hand. 



The woodlands on the Cranbury Park estate (Winchester), the property of 

 Tankerville Chamberlayne, Esq., M.P., are returned as having an acreage of from 

 850 to 1,000 acres. For the most part the timber is still immature, except in the 

 home coverts and the park, where there are some fine old oak trees. The annual fall 

 usually consists of a small cutting of oak, larch and birch. Oak forms the chief 

 timber on the estate, but there is also a fair proportion of larch, birch, beech, alder, 

 elm, ash, and a small quantity of Scots pine. The few small plantations that have 

 been made of late years consist principally of larch planted at two or three years of 

 age. 



On the Burkham estate (Alton), the property of A. F. Jeffreys, Esq., M.P., the 

 woods aggregate from 350 to 400 acres. They are for the most part copses with 

 standard trees of oak and a few ash and beech growing over an underwood of hazel 

 and ash. The underwood is cut in a rotation of ten or twelve years, when the 

 standing timber is then ' thinned out ' ; and in the following winter young ash are 

 planted on the bare places. The few small plantations recently made consist of 

 larch put in at 3 feet apart after the land has been ploughed. Where labour is avail- 

 able it has been found that, in forming small plantations, trenching of the land well 

 repays the extra cost, as the young trees thrive better. 



The woods on the Malshanger estate (Basingstoke), the property of Sir Wyndham 

 S. Portal, have an acreage of 130 acres and consist chiefly of copses of oak timber 

 over an underwood of ash, hazel and birch cut on a rotation of ten years. The 

 standard trees are afterwards looked over and the necessary ' thinning ' done, while 

 blanks among the timber or the underwood are filled up by pitting three to four-year- 

 old plants. There have been no recent extensions of the plantations except as regards 

 slight periodical renewals, chiefly for sporting purposes. The timber does not attain 

 large dimensions as the chalky subsoil below the top layer of loam prevents the normal 

 development of the deep taproot. Of late years the value of the underwood has 

 very much deteriorated owing to the fall in the local prices for hoops and the rise 

 in the cost of labour for cutting and making hurdles and faggots. 



The only return which has been received from the Isle of Wight relates to the 

 woods at Nunwell (Brading), the property of John H. Oglander, Esq. These con- 

 sist of about 350 acres, mostly of copses laid out in blocks varying from 2O to 50 

 acres in size and with standard trees ranging from thirty to seventy years in age. The 

 overwood is mainly oak, while the underwood is almost entirely hazel, but there is also 

 some ash. After the underwood is coppiced and made up into hurdles and faggots 

 the timber trees are ' thinned.' Young oaks springing from self-sown seed on open 

 spaces are usually spared at the next fall of the underwood ; but it has been found 

 that if they also are removed at the fall, the young shoots from the stools spring up 

 much straighten No systematic planting has been done of recent years. 



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