BOTANY' 



T 



f | ^HE county of Surrey is included within parallels 51 5' and 

 51 31' north latitude, and longitude o 5' east and o 31' west 

 of Greenwich. It is bounded on the south by the county of 

 Sussex, on the east by Kent, on the west by Hampshire and 

 Berkshire, while on the north the bed of the river Thames is taken as 

 the limit, although strictly speaking a small portion of Surrey extends 

 north of that river near Chertsey, while Middlesex encroaches on its 

 southern bank at Walton Bridge. 



For botanical purposes the county has been divided into ten districts 

 (two of which are sub-divided) founded on the river basins, this system 

 being regarded as the most desirable in all respects, except perhaps that 

 it is not always easy to fix the exact limits of a given drainage area. It 

 is believed that this system of subdivision leads to the most valuable 

 scientific results ; at the same time, in a small county like the present, 

 in which the geological strata run in such remarkably parallel bands from 

 east to west, while the streams run transversely to them, so that each of 

 the principal rivers has its share of each of the formations, it is perhaps 

 obvious that the general scenic features of the different parts, the charac- 

 teristics that strike the eye, dependent as they must be on species or 

 groups which are plentiful, will follow rather the soil than the particular 

 river valley. Notwithstanding therefore that my observations have been 

 almost entirely made from the river basin point of view, I shall en- 

 deavour to give a sketch of the county regarded in the above aspect, 

 dealing with the districts later on. 



According to the Agricultural Returns (1900) Surrey has a total 

 area of 461,791 acres, of which 2,907 acres are under water, leaving a 

 land area of 458,884 acres distributed as follows : 



Acres 



Corn crops 55,974 



Green crops 34,877 



Clovers, etc 22,208 



Permanent pasture * 5 5,993 



Hops and small fruit 2,6 1 1 



Bare fallow 6,142 



277,805 



Woods and plantations 54,437 



Heathland used for grazing 12,981 



345,223 



1 In 1 884 I undertook the compilation of a Flora of the county of Surrey, and the following 

 account of the Botany of the county is drawn up from notes gathered together for that purpose, mainly 



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