THE NEW FOREST. 233 
of about 800 acres, one of the ancient reservations, 
completely surrounded by forest land. I have often 
heard him say that the deer came upon his land in 
such numbers, and so devastated the crops, that it 
was impossible to let the property, or to cultivate 
it to any advantage, and not being able to reside there, 
he was ultimately obliged to sell it at a very low price. 
This was at the time when the forestal laws were still 
maintained, and when it was not lawful for any owner, 
within the hmits of the Forest, to erect fences, so as 
to exclude the deer. 
Great abuses existed in the Forest from an early 
time, not merely as regards the timber, but also in 
respect of the deer. Poaching became a trade, and 
demoralised the people in the neighbourhood. It was 
proved before a Committee in 1848 that not more than 
110 bucks were annually killed for the Crown on the 
average of years, and that each buck cost upwards of 
£100. The greater number of these were given to 
owners of land in the neighbourhood, in return for 
preserving the deer. 
Of the wooded parts of the Forest, a portion consists 
of groves of ancient timber of natural growth and of 
very great beauty. In these the oaks and the beeches 
stand in groups separated by irregular patches of dwarf 
gorse and heather, or by glades fringed with ferns, or 
by broad Jawns or moor. Many of the trees have been 
pollarded in past times to browse the deer. Bratley Old, 
Bramshaw Wood, Denny Wood, and Mark Ash, are 
among the noblest relics of the ancient Forest. In 
