280 
Farming of Hampshire. 
not make use of them. In fac t, they cannot improve the breed, 
under a system of common pasturage, with entire horses running 
•wild. Nor do they care about breed ; their pLin is to sell the 
mare, at two or three years old, in-foal ; and nobody would give 
more when the mare was put to a good horse, because no one 
would believe any assertion on that point, while the present pro- 
miscuous system continues. The same causes operate against 
any improvement in the breed of cattle. Bulls of all descriptions, 
and of very inferior descriptions generally, are turned out, and a 
nondescript animal is the necessary result. " Foresters," as the 
cows are called, have the reputation of hardiness, and of being- 
good milkers : the best of them have been crossed with the 
Channel Islands breed. A better and more defined animal is 
not possible under the Forest system. The pigs are red, or black 
and white, high-backed, long-legged, stiff-necked, and big- 
headed, with awful ears, which, however long, are deaf to good 
counsel. There is something to be said for the bad breed of 
horses and cattle, Avith the set-off of long-continued common 
keep ; but what excuse is there for the perpetuation of the exist- 
ence of this unthrifty porcine animal, seeing the pannage season 
is for one month only ? There is not now anything peculiar in 
the preparation of Hampshire bacon. The practice, throughout 
the mainland and island, is to scald for pork, and burn for 
bacon, which is also smoked generally. 
There are now no deer in the Forest. Nothing strikes a 
stranger in the Forest more than the absence of animal life : 
there is hardly a blackbird even on the wing. The cause, 
doubtless, is want of food. A few black game are found in 
the wilder and more unfrequented parts. The Norman high- 
preserving forest laws are indeed a nullity. There is nothing 
now left to preserve. 
The traditional estimate of the New Forest labouring popu- 
lation is not favourable. " The inhabitants," says a recent popvilar 
author, " have little visible means of existence : though they 
profess themselves to be woodmen, charcoal-burners, &c., it is 
pretty generally understood that poaching and smuggling are 
their more probable vocations." Nothing can be more unjust. 
The labourer in the forest has three harvests, irrespective of ord i- 
nary agricultural work. There are tree cutting and rinding, 
fern-cutting, and turf-cutting ; to which has to be added much 
employment in carriage of timber to the dockyard, in draining, 
fencing, and planting. The people are well off: their manners 
and morals have improved with their circumstances. They 
combine a respectful address with an honest independence of 
manner. No dcjubt much of this improvement is owing to the 
destruction of the deer, and freedom from poaching temptations. 
