FORESTRY 



head, the property of the Earl of Lovelace, is one of the best wooded 

 in the county. The woodlands extend to about 2,000 acres, and range 

 from three up to fifty years in age. The natural woods consist of oak, 

 elm, beech and ash, while the plantations are principally larch. 



On the Peper Harow estate near Godalming, the property of 

 Viscount Midleton, great attention was paid to planting between 1775 

 and 1835. The woodlands now amount to 550 acres, in addition to 

 portions of common planted with timber. Most of the woods consist 

 of oak, elm, beech and chestnut planted between 70 and 125 years 

 ago, with larch, Scots pine and cedar on the poorer ground. Ash 

 does well, but is very liable to be damaged by rabbits. In the 

 copses the underwood, which is cut about every eight years, consists 

 mainly of hazel, chestnut and ash on the better soil, while on the poorer 

 and more open land of the commons self-sown birch and Scots pine 

 spring up readily on blank spaces. Withy and alder grow well along 

 the banks of the Wey and in other low places. But during the last ten 

 years the labour difficulty has been gradually increasing. The coppices 

 have been kept planted up, over 20,000 trees having on an average been 

 put out every year, besides new plantings of larch, birch, chestnut, Scots 

 pine, etc., to an extent of about 60 acres during the last thirty years. 

 The decline in the value of saleable underwood subsequent on the dear- 

 ness and scarcity of labour makes it doubtful, however, whether the system 

 can be continued. Young men are now unwilling to become wood- 

 men, with the result that on this estate there has been a fall of nearly 

 50 per cent, in the value of underwoods. On some portions of the 

 estate a layer of ironstone underlies the greensand at a depth of 18 

 inches to 3 feet, and this interferes with the growth of deep-rooted 

 trees like oak and larch. 



The woodlands of Clandon Park near Guildford, the seat of the 

 Earl of Onslow, extend to 508 acres, of which 297I acres are comprised 

 in the large woods, 203 acres include the principal hedgerows and 

 ' rews,' and 7I acres are young ornamental plantations in the park. The 

 largest blocks are Cottswood (58 acres) and Frithys Wood (54 acres), 

 which consist of oak about seventy years old, with an underwood of ash, 

 oak, hazel, birch and willow, while some of the smaller woods consist 

 entirely of Scots pine ranging from five to sixty years of age. In copses 

 the underwoods are coppiced every eight to ten years, the ash poles 

 being set aside for hop gardens or for conversion into hoops of various 

 lengths, while the oak and hazel are made into hurdles, pea and bean 

 sticks, thatching rods, etc. A certain amount of planting is done every 

 year, but it seldom exceeds 4 or 5 acres ; and most of this consists in 

 filling blanks ' in consequence of the ravages of the rabbits in the larger 

 coverts.' For planting operations the ground is trenched in special 

 cases ; but when it has been arable land it is simply ploughed, ' then 

 planted rather thickly and thinned every eight to ten years.' 



The woods on the Garratts Hall estate (Banstead), the property of 

 Frederick Lambert, Esq., aggregate about 500 acres. The forest trees 

 n 577 73 



