FORESTRY 155 



who will sacrifice a few rods here and there of 

 the economical value of their estates in order to 

 preserve their ancient beauty and their glorious 

 old timber. 



This is rather a digression from New Forest 

 matters, but it serves as an illustration of the 

 different views that foresters equally in earnest 

 and equally capable may take of the proper 

 methods of dealing with sylviculture. And especi- 

 ally how difficult it is to adjudicate upon such 

 matters in the case of property of the peculiar 

 nature of the New Forest, where you have, on the 

 one hand, large areas of woods, ancient, beautiful, 

 greatly appreciated by the public, and wholly, as 

 I have tried to show, the outcome of the applica- 

 tion of certain regular principles of ^forestry, but 

 where also you have large areas of modern planta- 

 tions which should, without doubt, be treated on 

 economic lines, from a different point of view 

 altogether. 



All this pollarding of trees was finally extin- 

 guished by the Act of William III, in 1698. 

 By that Act it was made a punishable offence for 

 any keeper to top or lop any timber tree for the 

 purpose of browsing the deer, and, as the custom 

 of farming out the coppices had fallen into disuse, 

 no one had any interest in thus dealing with the 

 timber. 



