Of Woods. 467 



tion, (as in the case of Somersetshire, to be afterwards men- 

 tioned), the profit is still more considerable. 



2. In regard to soils calculated either for wood or culti- 

 vation, it is said that the proprietors, in many instances, 

 derive more profit from the sale of wood, than could be ob- 

 tained from the rent of land, if cultivated. In some parts 

 of England, where black sallow abounds, an acre, at twelve 

 years' growth, is worth L.I 5, and pays better than the ad- 

 joining arable fields ( 5 ). Where the Spanish chestnut is cul- 

 tivated, instead of the black sallow, the profit is still more con- 

 siderable. In Kent, the late Lord Barham cut down a plan- 

 tation of chestnut, for hop-poles, at nine years' growth, and 

 drew from it L.I 04 per acre ( 501 ). In eleven years, a plan- 

 tation of larch, on a very poor light loam, not worth more 

 than from 6s. to 7s. per acre for cultivation, produced, for 

 hop-poles, at the rate of L.91 per acre ( Soz ), or L.6, 8s. per 

 annum, subject to the usual deductions. 



Much, however, depends on the nature of the soil, and of 

 the subsoil ( 5 3 ). The situation, also, merits consideration, be- 

 fore we can properly decide whether the growing of wood is 

 to be preferred to cultivation. 



Lord Bagot's woods in Staffordshire, are upon a gravelly 

 loam, incumbent on a clay or marl bottom. It is a soil of 

 so cold a quality, that it would not be worth a rent of 10s. 

 per acre, if cultivated ; and it pays much better when cover- 

 ed with timber and underwood ( 5 4 ). 



In the county of Somerset, the ancient forest of Selwood 

 contained about 20,000 acres, of which 18,000 have been 

 converted into arable, pasture, or meadow land ; the re- 

 mainder still continues in a state of coppice. Much of the 

 land that has been brought into cultivation, does not rent at 

 more than from 10s. to 12s. per acre; whereas some of those 

 coppices which lie towards the northern end of Selwood, 

 though, from the soil and exposure, they qannot be cut of- 

 tener than in eighteen or twenty years, yet produce an an- 

 nual value in timber and underwood, of from 15s. to 30s. 

 per acre ( 5os ). 



In an extensive wood in the same county, but disafforest- 

 ed in the reign of Charles I., the profit of woodland, under 

 any tolerable degree of management, may, it is said, be fair- 

 ly taken at nearly double the value of the adjoining land, 

 whether occupied by crops or pasture ( 5o6 ). 



The coldness and sourness of some descriptions of land, 

 when brought from woodland into culture, tend much to de- 

 preciate their value, however they may be employed. In an 



