THE NEW FOREST. 235 
4,000 acres. The restriction as to oaks, and the selection 
of areas for planting, resulted in the general features of 
the Forest being little altered by these operations. 
There was no dull uniformity in the plantations, and 
most of those which still exist exhibit all the wild 
beauties of Nature. When thrown open, the cattle 
soon trod down the banks. 
In 1851, in consequence of the abuses which were 
then made public, it was determined to do away with 
the deer in the Forest, and to disafforest it, in the sense 
of getting rid of all the exceptional laws respecting 
them. There were said to be 3,000 deer at that time. 
The Sovereigns no longer came to the Forest for sport, 
and there was no object in maintaining the deer. As 
the removal of them, it was thought, would add to 
the pasture for the Commoners’ cattle, and would make 
it no longer important to prevent the turning out of 
cattle during the fence month, when the does were 
dropping their fawns, or during the winter heyning, 
when the Forest was reserved for deer, it was thought 
that the Crown ought to take some compensatiun for its 
forestal rights, in the shape of increased power to inclose 
parts of the Forest land for the planting of timber. 
The Act of 1851, therefore, on this understanding, 
provided that the Crown should be empowered to in- 
close and plant an additional extent of 10,000 acres over 
and above the 6,000 acres already allowed under the 
Act of 1698. Under the joint provisions of the two 
Acts the Commissioners of Woods and Forests, in 
whom the later Act vested the control and management 
