-♦5 



Ascot Race Course 



and in the heaths of Bagshot and Sandhurst. These 

 sands are usually very barren, but the lower beds near 

 the central green sands become more fertile, and the culti- 

 vation of them is extending. Under geological conditions 

 of so unpropiiious a character, it may well be imagined that 

 the Ascot Course has been with difficulty reclaimed from its 

 original wildness, and that continuous efforts are required to 



A VIEW FROM THE TOWER : LOOKING UP THE NEW MILE 



prevent its lapsing into barrenness. Its sandy soil admits ot 

 a rapid percolation of rain, and the grass which can be 

 grown under such arid conditions is but a feeble and sickly 

 product. Further, at the season appointed for the race 

 meeting, Ascot is only just recovering from the parch- 

 ing influence of the east winds, the cold frosty nights 

 of our spring, and the more abundant evaporation occa- 



295 



