156 THE NEW FOREST 



We can therefore safely assume that all the 

 old pollards forming the woods so greatly appreci- 

 ated by the public are not less than from 200 

 to 300 years old. Probably the latter date is 

 more nearly the correct one. 



A lover of scenery connot fail to contrast 

 their picturesque forms with those of more 

 modern woods even those planted immediately 

 after the Act of 1698 and there is food for 

 reflection in the mind of the arboriculturist as 

 to the extra term of years and the beauty of 

 form that has been conferred on these trees 

 in consequence of their maltreatment in early 

 life. 



The holly was always a principal feature in 

 the New Forest. It is in truth the weed of the 

 Forest, and a very beautiful weed too. The rich 

 glossy evergreen foliage which clusters around 

 the great stems of the beeches in winter and 

 I have never found anything that flourishes 

 under the immediate shadow of the beech as 

 the holly does in the New Forest is one of 

 the great features of forest scenery. It was 

 always deemed to be of importance whether for 

 covert for game or for browse for the deer seems 

 uncertain. 



But in the report of J. Norden on the New 

 Forest and its coppices, made in 1609 to Sir 



