The New Forest and the Isle of WightWith eight plates and many other illustrations . asting, and excitement on either bank, until refreshed and invigor-ated it springs once more to the bank and leads its pursuers anothercircle through the woods and bogs of the forest. North of the road, a little beyond the Roman Arch, as traditioncalls this bridge, is the inclosure of Knightwood. This large wood,though in part replanted in 1867, contains many remnants of ancientforest embedded in the new timber, among other the celebrated Knight-wood Oak. Thus it shows in juxtaposition both the artificial andn
The New Forest and the Isle of WightWith eight plates and many other illustrations . asting, and excitement on either bank, until refreshed and invigor-ated it springs once more to the bank and leads its pursuers anothercircle through the woods and bogs of the forest. North of the road, a little beyond the Roman Arch, as traditioncalls this bridge, is the inclosure of Knightwood. This large wood,though in part replanted in 1867, contains many remnants of ancientforest embedded in the new timber, among other the celebrated Knight-wood Oak. Thus it shows in juxtaposition both the artificial andnatural modes of reproducing forest. On the edges of the wood areclose plantations of Scotch fir, in formal rows, which shelter and directthe upward growth of the young oaks between. In the centre, whereold trees have died and been removed, or have in past time cleared aspace which their present height leaves free to light and air, young oaks,birches, and beeches are growing in irregular masses and of all heightsand sizes. Among this confused multitude is the great Knightwood Knight wood Oak, Mark Aih. 30 THE NEW FOREST This forest king stands in a smooth round lawn, all other trees keep-ing their distance beyond the outermost circle of its branches. Themain trunk of the oak rises like a smooth round Norman pillar, and atno great height breaks into eight limbs which radiate from it like thesticks of a fan, in very straight and regular lines. The extremities ofthese show signs of decay, but the tree seems as firm as ever. Its rigidityis such that in a heavy gale, though the tops of the branches move, themass of the tree seems as stiff as if cast in iron. The limbs, thoughuntouched by decay, are coated nearly to the summit by thick greenmoss, and the effect of this symmetrical mass of timber springing from atrunk of such magnitude—its girth is icj}j feet—is beyond descriptiondignified and imposing. The tallest beeches in the forest are probablythose in which the herons b
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Keywords: ., bookauthorcornishc, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookyear1903
