(^142) an environmenTal hisTory of Wildlife in england
Such changes were encouraged by the adoption of tractors in place of horses,
something which began in earnest in the inter-war years. Mosby described in
the 1930s how, in north east Norfolk, there was ‘a tendency in some areas
to enlarge the fields by removing the intervening hedge. Where this has been
done the farmers, particularly those who use a tractor plough, have reduced
their labour costs’.^21
The idea that the number of hedgerow trees increased in this period because
of a neglect of maintenance is likewise probably incorrect. In some districts,
a comparison of the Ordnance Survey 1:10,560 maps, surveyed in the 1880s
and 90s, with the RAF vertical air photographs of 1946/7 actually suggests a
significant decrease in hedgerow timber, of 50 per cent or more, although the
comparison is not entirely straightforward, as the Ordnance Survey shows
only trees of substantial size and omits examples where tightly packed, while
the RAF photographs pose many practical problems of interpretation.^22
There are certainly good reasons why trees should have been lost in this
period. Landowners had traditionally valued their property for the status it
conferred, and the sport it provided, not simply for the income it supplied.
Estate hedges were often densely timbered because trees (always retained in
hand by owners) enhanced the appearance of a landed seat, as well as being
a secure, long-term investment. Tenants held other views, for trees shaded
out crops and robbed the soil of nutrients. Landlords, faced with increasing
difficulties in keeping old tenants or attracting new ones in these difficult
figure 26 Harvesting at Marjoram’s Farm, South Walsham, Norfolk in the early
twentieth century. In spite of the popular image of the ‘great depression’, photographs
of the arable areas of England in this period usually suggest a well-maintained, tidy
countryside. Note the low-cut, sparsely-timbered hedges in the background.
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