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OF FOREST-TREES. 287 



copyhold, or what other tenures and services his majesty shall please to CHAP. vir. 

 accept of v.-K-v-'iw' 



° As much improvement has been made upon Windsor forest, under the auspices of our 

 amiable sovereign, I flatter myself that an extract from Mr. Kent's judicious account of the 

 management of these forest lands, will be highly acceptable to the public. 



" In the year 1791, the great park at Windsor, about 4000 acres, fell into his majesty's v 

 " possession. It might truly be called a rough jewel. The whole, as a natural object, was 

 " grand and beautiful, of a forest appearance ; but the parts were crowded and indistinct. 

 " The soil was various, some parts clay and loam, and some sharp gravel or poor sand ; a 

 " great part of the former was covered with rushes and molehills, and the latter with fern 

 "and moss. 



" About 1000 acres of the lightest part was separated from the rest at one extremity, and 

 " formed what is called the Norfolk farm : about 400 acres more, at the other extremity, 

 " of a good loamy soil, were separated, and called the Flemish farm ; both being named 

 " from the nature of the husbandry meant to be adopted upon them. 



" The rest (about 2400 acres) remains still in plantations and park ; and though so much 

 " reduced, yet, from the improvements which have been made upon it, is now capable of 

 " carrying more stock than the whole 4000 acres did before. All the unsound, wet parts 

 " have been drained by the Essex mode, so as to be rendered firm, and productive of an 

 " improved herbage. The molehills have been levelled, chiefly by dragging, and the coarse 

 " and mossy parts fined by repeated harrowing and rolling ; (being one of the first im- 

 " provements upon park land of this description;) besides which, a variety of beauty has 

 been laid open, by clearing the valleys and low parts, to give a bolder effect to the 

 " woody scenes upon the higher ground ; and by making judicious openings, so as to 

 " break straight lines, and separate parts that were in some places too heavy and samely : 

 " so that the same extent of land has now not only a much larger appearance, but exhibits 

 " a much greater variety of ground. The truth of this, every impartial person who knew 

 " the place before his majesty caused these improvements to be made, must allow. I have 

 "only to add, that though prejudice may have taken up an idea that there has been too 

 " great a sacrifice of timber in effecting these improvements, truth will deny it. There 

 " has not been a tree taken down, but what was either in decay, or removed either to give 

 " room for the growth of others, or to set them off" to greater advantage in picturesque ap- 

 " pearance. 



" I come now to the object in view, as before hinted, which is to state the motives 

 " which I am inclined to think induced his majesty to adopt the farming system upon so 



" large a scale, and next to shew the result. These, I conceive, were chiefly to create 



" useful labour to the industrious poor in the neighbourhood, and for trying experiments in 

 " agriculture, to excite imitation where success might encourage it. 



"The Norfolk farm borders on that extensive waste called Bagshot-heath, hitherto 

 " considered too barren for cultivation, though large tracts of a similar quality have been 

 " long since rendered useful to the community in the south-west part of Norfolk. Arable 

 "land of this description is generally managed there under a five-course shift; first, wheat; 

 " second, turnips ; third, barley with seeds, which continue laid two years. But as the 



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