212 KUKAL ECONOMY OF ENGLAND. 



and some few others, are all that remain of the ancient 

 forests of England. The existence of the New Forest 

 is threatened just now on the score of its harbouring 

 poachers and depredators, and also that the ground it 

 occupies might be advantageously parcelled out and sold, 

 either for farms or parks. In England the prejudice 

 against clearing land is not so great as it is in France, 

 there not being the same need for wood for fuel ; and 

 the advance in population has been so rapid that it is very 

 necessary to look about for means for its support. It is 

 perfectly evident to everybody, that it is for the general 

 interest to render the land as productive as possible ; and 

 to keep that in wood which might be producing some- 

 thing better, is submitting every year to a very consider- 

 able sacrifice. On the other hand, considerable impor- 

 tance is still attached to the royal forests from consi- 

 derations connected with the navy. It is contended that 

 they alone are capable of furnishing the oak necessary 

 for building ships of war, those moving bulwarks of 

 England ; but even that reason has lost much of its 

 force, for it has been shown that it is much cheaper to 

 import foreign wood for naval purposes, than to produce 

 it in the State forests. 



The New Forest, therefore, is no longer defended, ex- 

 cept by the residents in the neighbourhood, who enjoy 

 those privileges everywhere attaching to public domains, 

 and by those who take delight in grand natural scenery. 

 These considerations will probably be insufficient to with- 

 stand the expression of public opinion, which aims at its 

 being broken up. 



Moreover, it is to be observed, that the destruction of 

 forests does not imply that of the large trees : far from 

 it. If England has less wood than most other countries, 

 she possesses more fine trees. Most of her counties 



