ENGLISH FORESTRY IN THE PAST 13 



farms improved systems of cultivation and stock-raising were 

 introduced, drainage was better attended to, and the 

 productive power of the soil increased. Between 1750 and 

 1800 a great number of Enclosure Acts were passed 

 throughout the whole of England, and hand in hand with 

 these enclosures went on the development of modern forestry 

 into its present form. 



Between 1760 and 1820 the bulk of the larger planta- / 

 tions on English estates were formed. Many reasons for this 

 extension of woodlands may be found, and it is difficult to 

 say which of them was most powerful. The change of taste 

 with regard to landscape gardening, the growing scarcity of 

 timber on the one hand and its increasing consumption on 

 the other, and the increasing wealth and population of the 

 country, which enhanced the value of land and stimulated all 

 forms of estate improvement to a greater or less extent ; the 

 development of landed properties, the throwing together of 

 small manors into larger estates, and the ambition of the 

 large landowner to surround his mansion with an extensive 

 park, all conduced to the planting of large woods, which 

 served to beautify the landscape, provide sport for the owner, 

 and replenish the stock of native timber, which at that time 

 was considered of the first importance. 



But the introduction of the natural style of landscape 

 gardening by Kent, Brown, and other exponents of the art, 

 did much to turn the attention of landowners towards the 

 improvement of the more outlying portion of their estates 

 by planting. With the formal or geometric style introduced 

 in the reign of Charles IL, ornamental planting ran chiefly 

 in the direction of avenues or straight rows of trees running 

 out from a common centre usually the mansion or residence 

 of the proprietor. The general aspect of the country outside 

 the limit of these avenues received little consideration, and 

 when so large a proportion of it was unenclosed, planting 

 was practically out of the question. No doubt, the existence 

 of large areas in a partly wooded condition, as much of the 

 unenclosed land was, rendered its imitation by artificial 

 methods a doubtful form of improvement. The landowner 

 of that day would naturally desire to give his private 

 property some distinctive features which would be recognised 



