254 
Agricultural Capahilities of the New Forest. 
on the precise locality, and the distance to be overcome. The 
cost of grubbing may be estimated at from Al. to %l. per acre, 
including the burning necessary, the latter extreme price being 
incurred where the roots of underwood are thick, and where there 
are a quantity of stool moors to remove. The timber in many 
instances will partly compensate for this expense. It is very 
common for labourers to receive the old stools for fuel for the 
expense of removing. Where furze alone has existed the expense 
will not be so heavy, but must be taken at the minimum, whilst 
the cutting and burning of turf or heath will range between 
the two. 
It is difficult to estimate what proportion of land will require 
the operation of draining ; but one fact may be accepted, viz., 
that, although the expense may be more, the returns are likely 
to be most favourable where a clav subsoil points out the neces- 
sity of draining, except in certain instances where the surface 
soil is extremely shallow or has been almost entirely denuded. 
The expense, where tiles or pipes are used, may be taken at 
about (3/. per acre, the larger half being required for the cost 
and carriage of the pipes. I have observed that the expense of 
draining new enclosures is almost entirely incurred for labour, 
and there is no filling in, as the drains are left open. The expense 
per acre is only 11. 5s. 3d., according to the returns which were 
made in 1867. 
It is impossible to estimate the expense of draining the bogs, 
as their depths vary and are extremely uncertain, sometimes 
being only knee-deep, at others double and treble this depth. 
It is by no means uncommon for hunters, and particularly if 
they are strangers, to be so mired as to be unable to extricate 
themselves or their horses without assistance ; and sometimes the 
aid of horses has been required to extricate the unfortunate 
animal. In most cases, however, one large channel will drain a 
large quantity of land : and a fall will generally be found in the 
great majority of instances, as the land has a declivity of nearly 
400 feet from the high ground on the northern part of the Forest to 
the sea on the south. If a fall cannot be secured from the bottom 
of the bog to the nearest stream, artificial ponds might absorb 
the surplus water. 
In no part of the Forest do we find any of the strata belonging 
to the Secondary series, and thus we cannot be surprised that 
throughout its extent there is a great deficiency, if not an abso- 
lute want, of calcareous matter. It is true that a very few miles 
only separate the northern borders from the chalk soil, and that 
this chalk basin underlies the whole of the Forest, to ciop out on 
the surface on the higli hills on the western part of the Isle of Wight ; 
but the depth at which the chalk lies underneath the London 
