I 
THE COTTAGE GARDENEE. 
February 10. 
350 
south west. This Oak, which hears a uohle pre-eminence 
over all its hretlu-en in the foi-est, in 1794, according to 
the account of H. Eooke, Esq., F.S.A., was in circum¬ 
ference at the bottom, where there are no spurs, forty-six 
feet ten inches ; at one yard from the ground, twenty- 
four feet seven inches; at two yards, eighteen feet six 
inches; and at three yards, sixteen feet two inches. Tlie 
height within the hollow was at that time fourteen feet 
eight inches, and the height of the tree itself thirty-nine 
feet three inches. 
From the data given hy Mr. South, in his letter to 
the Bath Society, on the growth of Oaks, Mr. Rooke 
calculates this “ monarch of the wmods ” to he not less 
than fifteen hundred years old. 
No historical tradition, that we know, is .connected 
with this Oak, hut there is a fellow veteran in tlie same 
county, of wdiich Morton, writing in 1712, says:—“T 
must not pass hy the capacious hollow old tree, called 
Stephen's Oak, or as vulgarly King Stephen's Oak, one 
of the boundaries of Rockingham Forest, upon the 
borders of Brigstock and Sudborow Lordships, it being 
famous in the neighbouring county upon these two 
accounts. 1. From this very tree, according to tra¬ 
dition, King Stephen once shot at a deer, which if we 
may give credit to, the tree must be at least 550 years 
old (now' 700). 2. So capacious is the hollow trunk of 
King Stephen’s Oak, that at the Brigstock Processions 
(w'hen it is their constant custom to fill the hollow 
with a company of hoys) they generally put into it 
between thirty and forty of them, -for so many w’ill 
it hold without any difficulty.” {Oilpin. Strutt. Mor¬ 
ton, d'C.) 
We purpose next to give a portrait of “ Wallace’s 
Oak,” and shall he glad of any relative particulars. 
We concluded our last article on orchards (page 337) 
hy exhibiting the low condition, and almost total ex¬ 
tinction which had befallen those of Kent, at the close 
of the last century. We then remarked, that the ob¬ 
servations we were about to make with respect to Kent 
would apply equally to the orchards in other parts of 
the country; and, as a proof, we find about the same 
time, the late Mr. T. A. Knight was devoting his time 
and influence to the resuscitation of those of Here¬ 
fordshire, which had fallen pretty much into the same 
declining state. 
We have no means of judging; hut, in the absence 
of positive evidence on the subject, we have every 
reason to believe that, in consequence of the gradual 
decrease of the home supply, the importations from 
foreign fruit must at that period have been con¬ 
siderable ; and so, again, we are brought to a crisis 
similar to that with which Richard Harris had to con¬ 
tend nearly 309 years before. We are warranted in 
stating this supposition; for no sooner had we entered 
on that long and disastrous war, which raged from 1802 
till 1815, during which time our commercial intercourse 
with the Continent was cut oil’, and our importations 
were either considerably restricted, or entirely stopped, 
then the price of fruit rose to an enormous height. 
But, till then, men had forgotten all about tlieir 
orchards, and it was not till “ the pressure from 
without,” and the old urgency were brought to hear 
upon them, that they bethought themselves of the old 
trees, and the old orchards, which they had neglected 
and thrown away years before, and all at once they 
began to wish them back again. Numerous, doubtless, 
were the regrets and self-reproaches which many a one 
expressed, when his neighbours returned from Covent 
Garden, or old Fleet market, rejoicing over the five 
golden guineas they had got in exchange for a husbel of 
Apples. Many were the grave councils held across 
boundary fences of adjoining farms ; and weighty were 
the sage remarks that met with ready acquiescence at 
market-rooms on market-days, and church-doors on 
Sundays; and then, after each and all had talked 
themselves into the assurance that no doubt could 
exist as to the remuneration to he obtained, they set to 
W'ork with all possible rapidity, liberality, and hope, to 
redeem lost time, hy planting orchards, which some 
seven, or eight, or ten years afterwards might come into 
hearing—for there w'ere no dwarf orchards in Kent in 
those days. 
The high prices continued ; those who had a supply 
congratulated themselves on their good fortune, or good 
judgment; and those who had none, grumbled because 
they had neither. Thus matters went on, with the 
usual attendants of complaint, disappointment, or 
dissatisfaction, till the conclusion of the war, and 
then, in 1810, there was an importation of foreign 
fruit. The protecting duty at this time was 8s. 2d. a 
busliel, hut this was not enough, and great was the 
outcry against such importation being permitted. Me¬ 
morials were prepared, signed, and presented, for an in¬ 
crease of duty. Orchards were again to be grubbed up, 
which had only a few years before been planted. 
Families were to he ruined, parishes depopulated, and 
the country sacrificed, because the orchardist could not 
realise “ war prices” for his fruit, and because the con 
sumer was enjoying his apple-dumpling twice a-week, 
instead of once as before. The outcry succeeded, and, 
because the price of Apples had fallen one-third, govern- | 
ment raised the protecting duty from 8s. 2d. to -Is. ' 
in 1810. This was a great deliverence, and so the 
work of planting progressed to such an extent, that | 
where there was an acre planted in 1802, there were ten | 
planted in 1819. Still, notwithstanding the increased 
duty, there were 92,212 bushels imported that same i 
year. Planting increased ; Apples realised from tis. to 
8s. iier bushel, and fruit became again one of the most 
important articles of produce in all the county of Kent. 
We shall here subjoin a tabular view of the quantities 
of Apples imported into this country, from 1819 to 
1837, a few months before the 4s. duty ceased, and also 
the average prices at Covent Garden in each j’ear. 
