Ch-. XL MANAGEMENT. 



239 



though not so picturesque as the rough oak paling, grey with moss and 

 lichen, which is so greatly to be admired at Charlecote, in Warwickshire, 

 and at the far older park at Chartley, in Staffordshire. In wet countries, 

 siich as Ireland, a rough stone wall, no doubt, is the best and most proper 

 fence for a park; and is there generally adopted ; nor, indeed, when old, and 

 partly covered with ivy, and topped with polipody, is it out of character 

 with sylvan scenery ; it has also great claims to antiquity, if, as is alleged, 

 the enclosed grounds or parks of the priory of Croxton, in Leicestershire, 

 were enclosed with a wall as early as the year 1162.' 



As for the internal divisions of deer parks, I hold that continuous flat 

 iron fencing, not wire, is by far the best ; and of the different manufacturers, 

 I would give the preference to Messrs. Hill and Smith, of Brierley Hill, 

 near Dudley, Staffordshire, whose invention of a patent notched bar and 

 joint is a great improvement, and tends to keep the uprights and bars in 

 their proper position. 



Having discussed the situation of the park, we come to our second 

 subject — the management of the deer; and here I feel under great obliga- 

 tions to the Earl of Winchilsea, who, in some valuable notes on the subject 

 of his noble park at Eastwell, in Kent, with which he has favoured me, 

 observes: 'The true secret of a good park consists in a good original 

 stock ; soil not too rich, but various, with a short bite in most places ; a well- 

 kept-up succession of deer, so that none should be killed too early, or left 

 until too late ; quiet, shelter, and a good keeper, the last, not least ; for who 

 ever saw a good herd of deer under the management of any man that not 

 only did not thoroughly understand but take pleasure in his business .' ' 

 ' Never kill a deer,' Lord Winchilsea adds, ' before six years of age, as 

 they make great improvement in the last year, particularly in weight, or 

 keep them over till they are eight or nine years old, at which age they 

 usually sink, and, moreover, get hard in their flesh.' 



' Nichols's Leicestershire, vol. ii. parti, p. 151. 



