28 ENGLISH ESTATE FORESTRY 



and, where practice has kept in touch with the system, the 

 condition of these woods is fairly good. But in too many 

 cases the trees selected at each felling have been far too 

 small and too numerous for maintaining the stock of timber 

 which ought to be present on the ground. Trees, again, 

 have been taken out which ought to have remained for at 

 least twenty or thirty years longer, while crooked and partly 

 suppressed trees, which ought to have been removed to 

 make room for the young crop to grow, have been allowed 

 to remain. The result has been that a large number of 

 these woods are now of little value, and time and proper 

 care will be required to again restore them to a satisfactory 

 condition. 



A form of coppice is also represented on a small scale 

 by the pure Spanish chestnut underwoods of Sussex. A 

 few years ago these coppice woods probably paid a higher 

 rental for the land they occupied than any other form of 

 sylviculture in England. Coppice of eight or ten years' 

 growth is said to have made from £30 to £40 per acre, and 

 although its value has gone down considerably, it still fetches 

 a far higher price than the ordinary coppice found in most 

 parts of the country. This form of coppice is grown without 

 standards, and the management and preservation of its 

 economic condition is greatly simplified. Most of this wood 

 stands on the Greensand formation, and might possibly be 

 grown with advantage in other parts of the south of England. 

 The great value of this wood in Sussex, however, depends 

 upon the demand for rods and barrel hoops, the latter 

 being used principally in the north of England and Scotland 

 for fish barrels. This industry, however, like many other 

 rural industries, suffers from depression, and it is questionable 

 whether it can long survive the advances made in all forms 

 of manufactures which have wood for their raw material. 



The above may be considered the principal systems of 

 sylviculture practised in England. No attempt has been 

 made to describe them in great detail, as they are more 

 or less familiar to all acquainted with country life. It only 

 remains to say a few words upon the financial aspect of 

 English forestry as it is now practised. It has long been 

 asserted by many proprietors, who ought to be in a position 



