238 THE NEW FOREST. 
when in wet seasons the lower ground is cold and 
swampy. 
The existence of these rights favours greatly the 
smaller owners and tenants, and the cottagers. The 
larger the farm, the less use is made by its tenant of the 
Forest. The land of the large farm is of better quality, 
and the proportion of meadow is sufficient ; the improved 
breeds of cattle are too delicate to turn out in the Forest. 
The wastes of the Forest are mainly for the benefit 
of the smaller occupiers and cottagers. They make it 
their business to turn out the proper kind of stock. 
The right also of cutting turves for fuel is of the 
utmost value to them. The rough turf formed of 
roots of heather makes an excellent fuel in combina- 
tion with wood bought from the Forest. This turf- 
cutting does no injury to the surface, the rule being 
to cut one and leave two turves. The old heath 
being removed, a growth of new heath is insured, 
and short grass often comes up in the pared spaces. 
The turf renews itself in seven years; meanwhile the pas- 
ture is improved. The right of turning out pigs is also 
of great importance. When the prospect of beech-mast 
and acorns is good, the cottager buys his pigs as early and 
cheaply as he can, and may rely upon a clear profit of ten 
shillings ona pig. Cottagers have been known to make 
twenty pounds in a year by their pigs. The turning- 
out of a mare or a cow is likewise much valued by them. 
The possession of an animal for this purpose is often 
to a young labourer the first step on the ladder—the 
inducement to him to save, with a view to becoming the 
