Ayricultural Capabilities of the New Forest. 
221 
cases, direct from the Forest to the sea. This fact explains how 
it is that there is so little alluvial soil within the range of the 
Forest, although, in most instances, the best pasturage and the 
most productive arable soil are in the immediate vicinity of 
some of these streams, as, for example, that which is termed the 
Lymington River, which, tracing it from its mouth, is seen to 
have passed by the village of Brockenhurst and the productive 
and highly cultivated land of New Park. Not only, therefore, 
is the locality under our notice unenriched by assistance from 
without, but for ages past it has been called upon, out of its 
poverty, to aid the wealth of the various surrounding and inter- 
mingling spots. Many of these, although probably once be- 
longing to the Forest itself, have for many years, through favour 
or by services, by right or by might, become private property ; 
and they have consequently been endowed with the right of 
robbing their poorer neighbour, depriving it of its soil as well as 
of its productions, and making no return whatever for this ancient 
and time-honoured system of legalized plunder. 
The New Forest was formerly much more extensive than it is 
at present, and consisted, it is said, of no less than 147,200 acres. 
It reached from the Southampton Water to the River Avon, and 
from Aubridge on the north to the sea on the south. Such was 
its extent as described in Domesday Book, written soon after 
the Conquest. In the reign of Charles II. it was greatly reduced ; 
and at the time of the perambulation in 1801 its gross extent — 
or rather the area within its boundaries — was 92,365 acres, which 
is its area at the present time ; so that a great proportion of the 
land possessing Forest rights formerly belonged to the Forest itself. 
We should be wrong if we regarded the above figures as cor- 
rectly representing the actual Forest : for there are to be deducted 
27,140 acres, being freehold estates belonging to private persons ; 
125 acres copyhold, or land belonging to the Crown Manor 
at Lyndhurst ; 600 acres leasehold under the Crown, granted for 
a certain number of years ; 500 as enclosures, held with lodges ; 
1000 acres, freeholds of the Crown, planted ; making altogether 
29,365, and leaving about 63,000 as the woods and wastes of 
the Forest. Of these there are some 16,000 acres enclosed and 
planted, or intended to be so planted, 10,000 acres of which were 
granted for this purpose in consideration of the right of pasturing 
deer being given up by the Crown. From these plantations the 
public, or rather the commoners, are debarred turning their cattle 
for the space of forty years ; but even after this it is found that 
the young oak trees are often injured by the cattle so turned 
oat ; and provided that it were still desirable to grow oak for 
the navy, it would by no means be advantageous that common- 
rights should be exercised at the same time. An additional 
