June  19,  1902. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AXD  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
539 
Forestry  Round  the  Wells. 
“  God  made  the  country  and  man  made  the  town,”  says  the 
Poet  Cowper.  Kent  as  a  county  minus  the  portions  contiguous 
to  the  Metropolis,  pos.sesses  in  large  measure  her  Godlike  attri¬ 
butes.  With  no  manufactures  to  mar  her  visage  or  defile  her 
atmosphere,  the  land  smiles  with  green  pastures,  sylvan  woods, 
and  the  busy  industry  of  her  Hop  gardens.  Whether  this  state 
of  things  is  destined  to  last  indefinitely  must  at  the  present 
moment  be  doubted  and  regarded  with  fear  by  the  devotee  of 
her  rarely  beautiful  countrj'side,  considering  the  possibility  of 
considerable  portions  being  disfigured  by  operations  for  the 
hidden  black  diamond  and  all  its  concomitant  accessories  and 
results.  At  the  present  time  probably  this  little  corner  o^ 
Britain  has  never  in  its  whole  history  presented  so  enchanting 
an  aspect.  Hill  and  dale,  copse  and  common,  beacon  or  plain, 
mead  or  moor,  and  all  in  a  comparatively  small  compass — surely 
might  say,  within  a  stone’s  throw,  in  certain  directions,  you  find 
yourself  in  neighbouring  Sussex.  Standing,  let  us  say,  upon 
Ru.sthall  Common,  and  within  a  mile  of  the  famous  Pantiles,  at 
an  altitude  of  some.  4o0ft,  you  are  in  a  position  to  see  far  and 
near  over  both  countie.s,  and  to  revel  at  will  with  your  gaze  alike 
over  the  glorious  woods,  the  quiet  glades,  the  placid  seeming 
weald,  various  points  of  vantage  or  especial  landmarks  such  as 
Crowborough  Beacon  or  the  distant  plum-coloured  Downs.  Truly 
in  such  a  spot  and  with  such  surroundings  one  cannot  help  think¬ 
ing  that  the  devoted  lover  of  modern  Babylon  would  hav'e 
changed  his  mind  and  exchanged  his  taste,  “  the  sweet  shady  side 
of  Pall  Mall,”  for  this  “exquisite  spot  near  the  Wells  to  dwell.” 
Indeed,  methinks  one  might  be  pardoned  if  we  apply  those  words 
of  Dr.  Boteler  about  the  Strawberry,  “  Doubtless  God  might 
have  made  a  better  berry,  but  doubtless  God  never  did.” 
But  it  is  to  the  forestry  of  this  diistriet  that  we  are  more 
especially  to  direct  our  attention.  And  exceedingly  varied  it  is 
whether  studied  as  timber,  undergrowth,  or  ornamental  and 
garden  specimens.  Sylvan  Kent !  This  in  truth  is  her  first  and 
such  variety  and  in  so  graceful  forms,exists  nowhere  else.  Of  the 
many  charms  presented  by  the  Gorse  and  Heath  covered  com¬ 
mons  about  and  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  The  Wells,  dotted 
here  and  there,  now  singly,  and  now  in  clumps  with  the'  slender 
silver  Birch,  I  can  but  allude  to  in  passing  ;  neither  can  I  treat  of 
the  gorgeous  displays  of  the  spring  and  early  summer  flora  to  be 
found  in  every  hedgerow  and  wood  broadcast  throughout  the 
land.  And  verily  nothing  is  more  sweet  to  the  senses  or  more 
soothing  to  the  sight  than  our  common  English  wild  flowers,  such 
carpets  of  Primroses  and  Anemones,  and  so  gorgeous  a  wealth 
of  the  blue  Hyacinth  and  purple  Orchid  can  hardly  be  equalled 
and  certainly  not  surpa.ssed  in  any  other  country  under  the  sini. 
Indeed,  given  an  early  spring,  with  the  diverse  tints  and  peculiar 
freshness  of  the  woodland  gi’owths,  and  more  particularly  of  the 
Oak,  comtjined  with  the  transparent  and  varied  views,  and  I 
think  the  “  uncertain  glory  of  an  April  day  ”  is  almost  the  climax 
of  perfection  in  Kentish  scenery.  ■  t  i 
The  landscape  under  these  aspects  is  so  enchantuigly  lovely, 
the  foliage  so  grateful  to  the  eye,  and  the  flora  so  fragrant  to  the 
scent,  that  nothing  indeed  seems  left  to  be  desired  to  ooniplete 
this  earthly  paradise.  And  yet  one  cannot  in  fairness  give  all 
the  kudos  to  Kent,  for  within  a  very  few  miles,  almost,  one 
more  beautiful  feature  ;  her  special  glory  lies  in  her  woodlands. 
And  of  these  her  chief  products  may  be  summed  up  in  four  words. 
Oak,  Ash,  Beech,  and  Pine.  Many  others,  of  course,  there  ap, 
and  of  some  in  plenty.  Thus  the  graceful  airy  lyillowy  Birch,  with 
its  dreamy  drooping  habit,  is  in  this  district  immediately  under 
discussion  very  plentiful  and  everywhere  in  evidence,  whether 
by  roadside,  in  the  forest,  or  on  heath  and  common.  There  is, 
too,  a  fair  (luantum  of  the  Surrey  weed,  the  Elm,  also  Poplars, 
Acacias,  and  Maple,  with  occasional  Horse  and  Sweet  Chestnuts, 
and  a  good  many  Cedars  and  Firs,  Spruce  or  Scotch,  in  park¬ 
land  and  garden  grounds.  Yet  for  the  most  part  the  said  four 
trees  may  be  reckoned  as  representing  the  chief  arboreal 
growths  of  the  soil  of  at  any  rate  this  particular  portion  of  Kent. 
These,  then,  may  be  considered  as  the  county’s  staple  woods  at 
the  present  day.'  The  Ash,  of  course,  is  almost  entirely  grown 
in  cop.ses,  and  cut  down  periodically  right  to  its  base  to  afford 
poles  for  the  annual  Hop  crop,  and  thus  possesses  a  very  im¬ 
portant.  and  extensive  use  and  value.  Many  of  the  Pinewoods 
are  in  a  limited  sense  small  fore.sts.  Some  of  those  on  the 
Eridge  estate.?  of  the  Abergavenny  family  are  of  remarkably 
fine  proportions,  clean  in  growth  and  of  great  height.  On  this 
wide  propertv  as  also  on  the  Bayliam  Abbey  lands  of  the  Marquis 
