The complete farmer: or, a general dictionary of husbandry ... in which everything valuable from the best writers on this subject will be extracted ... / By a society of gentlemen, members of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce.
- Date:
- 1766
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The complete farmer: or, a general dictionary of husbandry ... in which everything valuable from the best writers on this subject will be extracted ... / By a society of gentlemen, members of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce. Source: Wellcome Collection.
758/782
![of the tliick or lower ends iii'afl be thruR into the ground. A ftrong fhoot of one year’s growth will fre¬ quently make three or four good fets, but I would not ad- vife cutting any fets from the very tops of the rods, be- caufe they will be too weak to make ftrong fhoots the firlf year. “ The proper diftance thefe fets fliould be planted, is about three feet promifeuoufly. An acre will require about five thoufand. In June, after planting, the fets fhoulc be all looked carefullv over: and fucb, as have more than one flioot, fliould be reduced to one, and it fhould be minded, to leave the uppermoft and ftrongeff. The fuper- fluous fiioots fliould be cut ofFclofc to the fet, that the bark may fooner cover the wound. “ At the fame time the ground fliould be hoed over to kill the weeds, and to loofen the furface, in order to fow turneps, which will no ways hurt the fets, but rather be of fervice, provided they are properly hoed, and fet out at good diftances, and not fuffertd to grow within a foot o: the fets. The winter following, when the turneps are gone, the ground fhould be dug all over, and, thefummer after, the weeds cut down with hooks ; which is the laft, and all the labour of cleaning they will ever want. The heft: inftrument to dig thefe plantations w'ith, is the fort of broad-trined fork they ufe in Kent to dig their hop grounds. The price, by the acre, is twelve fhillings for once digging. “ When thefe fets have grown four or five years, about three-fourths of them mull: be dug up, in order to leave fpace for the others to thrive. If trey have throve well, in five years they will be above a foot in circumference, and twenty or thirty feet high. Thefe young trees will be very proper for many ufes, as for chair-makers, hoops, gates, hop-poles. Sic. and will furely be worth three¬ pence a piece, upon an average. “ From five thoufand fets which are planted upon an acre, at about three feet apart,'certainly three thoufand may be very properly taken away, and the remaining ones will not be left quite fix feet apart. If thefe young trees arc valued at but three-pence a piece, they will be worth thirty-feven pounds, but I rather believe, they will be worth more. Eight or ten years after the firfl thinning, three parts in four fhould again be took up, which will be about one thoufand five hundred ; and five hundred or more will be left at about twelve feet apart, which fhould grow twelve or fifteen years longer, when they will be in fine maturity. The fecond thinning will be of much more va¬ lue than the firft; upon an average, no doubt but they will be v/orth half a crown a tree at leaft, as they will be tall and large, and may be put to divers ufes. Many of them will be very proper for mafts for fmall veffels, as the wood is light and tough. “ In twelve or fifteen years more, the remaining five hundred trees will be very tall and large, perhaps above fixty feet high, and five or fix feet in circumference. The leaft value one may conceive mull: be twenty fhilling a tree; fo that, at the lowed: profit one can fet upon the produce of an acre of land, planted with this noble wil¬ low, in about thirty years at moft, it will be worth fix hundred pounds, and all the rent, Sic. paid at the rate of twenty fhillings a year. I really think I have allowed too low prices for thegrov.rih, and that it is very probable they will be worth more. The v/ood of this tree is very white and tough, and without pith or fap; fo miift be very pro¬ per for carvers, turners. Sic, Boards of this wood are as good for floors, or wainfeoting common rooms, as any other. I am told, by a man of great veracity and judg¬ ment, thatpoftsof this wood, fet in the ground, will out- Jaft: all other forts, except yew, or heart of oak. He alfo affirms, that there is no tree upon the earth fo proper for fhips mafts as this, as it is light and tough, and will not fplintcr, as fir does. “ 'I'his tree has oblong, pointed, faw-edged leaves, of a moft: refreihing light green ; at the bottom of each foot- ftalk grow’ two fmall wings, which almoft environ the young fhoots. “ 'I'his willow will thrive upon almoft: any foil, fo it be not too dry. “ It is alfo the befl kind to plant, in large fets, by the Tides of rills, Sic. where they will produce larger lopping, and in Icfs time'than any other fort of willow will do. “ If any gentlemen. Sic. have a mind to make planta¬ tions of this profitable tree, it would be well worth their while to lay out the ground in fome gentle meander-walks ; which w'ill be but little extraordinary expence, and, in few years, will give both fhade and fhelter. “ This willow will make the moft profitable coppice woods, to cut every fix or eight years, tor hop poles, and many other very uleful purpofes. “ They fhould at firft be planted about two feet and a half a part; and, after five or fix years, three parts in four fliould be dug up, and the remainder cut down within fix' or eight inches of the ground, to remain for ftubs. “ This is alfo one of the beft forts of willow for bafleet- makers, as it grows freely, gnd is very tough. “ In many countries, where firing is fcarce, this willow would turn to great advantage, merely for fuel; as it will grow into large billets, in three or four years, and will burn very well both green and dry. “ Since I wrote this, a gentleman told me, that he knew of three willow-trees being fold for fifteen pounds, but he could not inform me what kind they were ; I fancy them to be the bright fwallow-tail vvillow; for, next to the Norfolk kind, it is the largeft growing fort ; and beft for moft ufes.” Mr. North calls this the Norfolk willow; but that is only a local name for this tree. It is by fome called the Hertfordfhire willow, and has had various other names in different places. The defeription he has given of the leaves and the firm found texture of the wood, without pith or Tap, will, however, fufficiently afeertain the fpecies to thofe who may not before know it. When he pubiiflied this account, he advertifed, that he would furnifli fets to any who might want them. As he is very lately dead, H-ho maybe his fucceffors in his bufinefs, or whether they will continue to provide for the demand of fets, we are at pre- fent ignorant. But it would be a matter of regret, that the difficulty of procuring them, fhould be any difeouragement to thole who may be difpofed to make plantations of this tree. There is an addition, which might be made to Mr. North’s plan of deriving an intermediate profit from a plan¬ tation of thele trees, while the principal of them are grow¬ ing to due maturity. It is this, to leave at the fecond thinning one tree in the middle of every four, that are in¬ tended to grow to maturity; which middle tree will con- re(]uently be at more than fix feet diftance from any other, being in the diagonal line of the four. The trees fo left fliould be then cut down, within fix or eight inches of the ground, and fuffered to fhoot afterwards as ftubs or pollards. [n which ftate they will afford hop-poles, billets, twin’s or baflcct-work, &c. if cut at proper peiiods, from (even years to every other year, refpedively to the purpofes, for which the fhoots may be wanted. This kind of plantation, of pollards, with tall trees, is not fo proper in a drier, as in a moift fituation ; becaufe the crouding the roots mav, in dry feafons, injure the growth of the trees intended to ftand for wood, where there is a want of moifture in the ground. But in a wet foil, it will rather afiift than retard them; and will be a conftanc fource of profit during the whole continuance of the plantation. Other trees may be treated in the fame manner, allow¬ ing for the refpedtive differences of each, with very oreat advantage, in fwampy and marfhy ground, as in the low parts of meadows, or the wafte of manors; and the plan¬ tations will often prove a beauty and convenience in other refpecls. In fuch cafes the twenty fhillings per year, allow¬ ed for rent in Mr. North’s account, niay be wholly or moftly faved. WIND-GrALL, a flatulent fwelling which yields to the preffure of the finger, and recovers its fliape on the re¬ moval thereof: the tumor is vifible to the eye,' and often f'eated on both Tides of the back finew, above the fetlocks, on the fore-legs ; but moft: frequently on the hind legs ; though they are met w-ith in various parts of the bod;’, wherever membranes can be fo feparatod, that a quantity of air and ferofuies may be included within their dupiica- tures. 'When they appear near the joints and tendons, thev are generally caufed by ftrains, or brui.Gs on the fmews, or the (heath that covers them ; which by beino- uver-ftretch- ed, have forne of their fibres ruptured ; whence probably m'lv](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b30448359_0758.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
