FORESTRY 



estate and in the parks at Norbury, Ashtead, Gatton and Richmond. 

 As a hedgerow tree elm is more abundant to the north of the chalk hills 

 than in the southern part of the county. 



Birch seeds itself both in the coppices and on the heaths, and was 

 early in last century a considerable source of profit for brooms, which 

 were sold in enormous quantities at Southwark. Of the other broad- 

 leaved trees, frequently to be found throughout the county, the horse- 

 chestnut and the lime are almost purely ornamental trees to be found in 

 parks and avenues ; while the walnut, which grows to a large size and 

 is very productive of fruit all along the base of the chalk hills, is to be 

 found in all parts. 



Peculiar interest attaches to the growth of the boxtree or boxwood 

 in Surrey. Elsewhere usually little more than a garden shrub, it attains 

 the dimensions of a tree on the Norbury estate and on the celebrated 

 Boxhill at West Betchworth. Concerning this Allen relates ' that — 



' various have been the disquisitions concerning the antiquity of this plantation, vi^hich 

 for anything wrhich appears to the contrary, may have been coeval with the soil. 

 The late Sir Henry Mildmay, while in possession of this estate, sold the box upon 

 Boxhill for ;^i 5,000 : the purchaser was to be allowed 14 years to cut it down. In 

 1802, forty tons were cut, and from the great quantity which has thus been brought 

 into the market, and the limited use to which it can be applied, this wood has fallen 

 more than 50 per cent. It will not now bring more than ^^5 or £6 per ton.' 



Larch and Scots pine were extensively planted in Surrey between 

 1820 and 1850, as at Farnham, Betchworth, Dorking and Netley ; but 

 a great many of the former soon became badly damaged by the canker 

 fungus, while the pine plantations have generally done well. Much of 

 the poor heath-land in the western and south-western part of the county 

 is only suitable for planting with the least exacting kinds of conifers 

 (such as pines and Douglas fir) and birch, which can thrive fairly well 

 on inferior soil. But on all classes of land the larch is most likely to 

 escape infection with canker and to develop into good timber if planted 

 in admixture with other kinds of trees. The most interesting of the 

 needle-leaved trees, however, is the indigenous yew, which, growing best 

 on limestone formations, is to be found (like the boxtree) scattered here 

 and there all over the chalk hills, and often occurring as stems of great 

 antiquity. Some of the finest of these are in Norbury Park, on Mer- 

 row Downs, and in the churchyards of Crowhurst and Little Bookham. 

 One of the tallest trees in the county is a silver fir growing on the 

 Duke of Norfolk's estate of Redlands. It forms a very distinctive land- 

 mark, towering above lofty trees surrounding it, though it is not growing 

 on the highest ridge of the hill. At Kitlands, near Leith Hill, there 

 is a large and interesting Cryptomeria Japonka, planted by the late 

 D. D. Heath, Esq., the branches of which have taken root and formed 

 a grove, whose branches root in turn outside. 



In the coppices the bulk of the underwood usually consists of 

 hazel, chestnut, ash, field maple, sycamore and birch, with alder and 



' J New and Complete History of the County of Surrey (1831), ii. 195. 

 575 



