MASSACRE OF DEER 279 



upwards of sixty thousand acres of varying land, and then lay 

 down a general rule of guidance for the cultivation of timber. 

 Of this I am perfectly sm-e ; and, by way of illustration, I will 

 take the large enclosure just fenced in, but not planted, in the 

 neighbourhood of Brockenhurst, extending to Pondhead, that 

 there are sites set out for planting that, had I the direction of 

 such land, should be irrigated, or certainly left untouched, in- 

 stead of drained. The oak, to be of any service, must have clay, 

 and a depth for the tap-root;^ and there is in this forest a 

 stratum of sand and clay, to either of which a preponderance 

 may be given by the amount of existing moisture. If you drain 

 it, you will dry it into sand ; if you permit it to be wet, the 

 clay will increase. In some of the wettest places there- grows 

 some of the finest timber ; on the hills, generally, grows much 

 fine timber ; but then there are many of the hills as wet as the 

 lowlands, while thi'oughout is a diversity of soil for which no 

 one rule can be adopted. The conclusion I have come to is, 

 that like the farming on Tiptree Hall as well as that of Mr. 

 Huxtable, the present account -book of the New Forest will 

 leave, 



" in guise uncivil, 

 A deuced balance with the devil." 



The most extraordinary methods of killing deer I ever be- 

 held, I witnessed when at Charborough Park. Mr. Drax holds 

 battues by himself among his deer, and kills all the venison 

 sometimes in one day. The whole herd having been feathered 

 and netted into a corner, Mr. Di-ax and occasionally myself pro- 

 ceeded into the midst of them, at one time to kill all the fawns, 



1 Perhaps there is no commoner misconception of the nature of the 

 growth of a tree than is implied in the term "tap-root." Seedlings de- 

 pend on their tap-root to get a hold of the ground and to penetrate to 

 such a depth as shall secure the root-fibres from drought. But once that 

 is accomplished, the tap-root does not continue to penetrate downwards 

 unless there happens to be a store of nutriment below. The roots spread 

 in every direction except, as a rule, downwards, and the whole subterra- 

 nean structure of a mighty oak is often within three feet of the surface. 



