174 THE NEW FOREST 



These woods, with Parkhill, Pound Hill, and 

 other of that date, went far to exhaust the oak- 

 growing soil of the Forest, which, after all, is 

 but a small proportion thereof, and quickly they 

 came to the bad heath lands, which could only 

 carry Scotch fir, and that none too well. The 

 result necessarily was the formation of unattrac- 

 tive fir plantations, such as Slufter, Highland 

 Water, or Hawk Hill. Had the Deer Removal 

 Act been carried out to the full, the extent of 

 woodlands of this character would have been 

 increased five-fold. And this would, at the present 

 date, have seriously depreciated the attractions of 

 the Forest, though in future years a great area 

 of fine Scotch fir forest, well grown and well 

 thinned, might have greatly enhanced it. 



Perhaps the last enclosure made that of 

 Denny was the best ; and I believe it was in- 

 tended to serve as an object lesson to the public. 

 For some years the accusation had been levelled 

 at the Office of Woods that they deliberately 

 included fine old woods within the limits of 

 their plantations, and then cleared the ancient 

 beeches, in order to replace them with rows of 

 Scotch fir. 



That story was false ; the fine old woods now 

 standing in such comparatively old enclosures as 

 Oakley, Knightwood, and the Heronry in Vinney 



