WOODS OF KENT. 



(53 



others on very poor soil, may be from twelve to twenty years 

 before they are fit to cut ; but the value of the hop poles and stakes 

 is increased where it requires the longer period to come to sale 

 size, as the timber is closer grained. On the other hand, the 

 valuable underwood is not so plentiful in exposed woods. Where 

 the water lies (in small ponds, &c), or where the surface water 

 from the main roads runs into the woods, Alder and Plum-leaved 

 Willow are planted also, and Ash and Chestnut should not be 

 put in where spring frosts are frequent. 



Where underwood is shaded too much by large ^Oaks its 

 value is much depreciated. For example, I am told by Mr. 

 Carman, of Larkfield, an old experienced dealer, who, -with his 

 son, has kindly given me much valuable information, that in a 

 large wood the shaded part only made £4 to £6 per acre, while 

 where there were no timber-trees the same wood made £4:0. 

 The timber (Oaks, &c.) should, therefore, be from 50 to 100 feet 

 apart. 



As stated in previous papers, the plantations of any district 

 must be formed to meet the trade demands of that district, and 

 the most profitable woods in Kent are those with thick, straight, 

 well-grown underwood. The hop trade of Kent has in the past 

 given an impetus to the growth and care of woods ; but great 

 changes have taken place in my recollection. In the 40's, 50's, 

 and 60's nearly all the hops were polled with home-grown poles, 

 the tallest, 16 feet to 18 feet, being used for the Mid-Kent 

 Goldings and Colegates, and the shorter poles, 10 feet to 14 feet, 

 being for the Weald of Kent hops, such as Prolines, Jones, and 

 others. Then a rage began for poles of perfectly straight out- 

 line, and they were brought from Norway and sold by auction 

 from 40s. to 60s. per 100, thus displacing the home-grown ones. 

 During the last five years hop-growers have used strings fastened 

 to overhead wires, and less poles are wanted — in many hop 

 gardens but few are used, the overhead wires being strained 

 from large posts of Ash and Chestnut, 18 to 21 inches in 

 girth at the base, the bines of the hops being led up by cocoa- 

 nut fibre string from the ground to the wire. So that good 

 wood that once fetched as much as £40 per acre is now worth only 

 £10, after a growth of ten to fourteen years. When large, tall 

 Chestnut and Ash poles were in vogue as much as £80 per acre 

 has been made. However, this new method of stringing hops is 



