24 THE RE-AFFORESTATION OF HAINHAULT.
which have been stored dry. For example, Charlock seed which
has been stored is extremely slow to germinate, even under the
most favourable conditions, while that that has become buried
deep in the soil, and may lie there for half a century, will sprout
as soon as it is brought near enough to the surface to
germinate.
Species.—The trees of the old forest include Oak, Ash, Horn-
beam, Hawthorn, Sallow, Maple, Black Poplar, Sallow Poplar,
Blackthorn, Dogwood, Spindle, and Holly, and neighbouring
woodlands include in addition Mountain Ash, Beech and Silver
Birch; hence the trees planted have been confined to these
indigenous species.9 Acting on this principle, no coniferous
trees have been planted, except round the reservoir on Hog
Hill, where the conifers look very much out of keeping with the
natural surroundings. In all cases the trees have been planted
in groups or plantations, for the destructive effect of wind on
trees standing alone on these exposed hills is well exemplified
in the few solitary specimens which were left when the dis-
afforestation took place, and which are now dying or dead.
We have endeavoured in this account of the Re-afforestation
of Hainhault to place on record the story of three eventful years
occupied in grassing and planting Foxburrows Farm, with notes
on the changes in vegetation which have since taken place, in
order that Naturalists may possess the particulars on which to
base their own observations of the development of the forest in
future years. To those who have had the privilege of watching
the operations, a wonderful story of struggle for existence in
the plant world has been unfolded. The Couch-grass and
Slender Foxtail which the plough awakens into activity have
succumbed to weaker grasses when the land was left undisturbed,
while the Bracken which the plough kept under for nearly half a
century, but never totally destroyed, spreads with wonderful
rapidity now that it is no longer ceaselessly checked. In the
case of plants that have been sown, the fittest to survive on one
kind of land have proved the first to succumb on another, and
the surface geology has proved to be the master. Grasses
9 The remarkable scarcity of the Beech in Hainhault, as contrasted with its abundance
in parts of Epping Forest, was commented upon by Mr. W. H. Dalton, F.G.S., in the
Essex Naturalist, Vol. viii., pp. 340-41.—Ed.