NATURAL HISTORY. 



309 



member for the county, Mr. James, 

 of North Lodge, and Mr. Walker, 

 oi' Potter's Bar. 



Chalk. 



Thouf:h chalk has not yet been 

 discovered in anyconsiderablequau- 

 tities in Middlesex, yet it abounds 

 in the neighbouring counties of 

 Kent and Heritordshire. It is 

 fcnind on Northaw and Cheshunt 

 commons, on tlic borders of Mid- 

 dlesex, from whence tlie neighbour- 

 ing districts of IMims, Baniet, and 

 Enfield, have been supplied with 

 lime. 



Lime is sold at 6d. the bushel, 

 delivered at short distances j or at 

 5id. if bought at the pit. Chalk 

 is sold at 1 he pit, for 'is. the waggon- 

 Joad. Liuie is sold at Bow, at 

 about 5d. the bushel. It is chiefly 

 brought from the coast of Kent. A 

 number of the P^ssex carts take it as 

 back-carriage, atter delivering iheir 

 hay in the London m,irket. From 

 Bow it is sentbythelime-merchants 

 to various parts of Middlesex ; but 

 it is used more for building than 

 agriculture. 



London affords aninfinite variety 

 of substances, which ;tre used in 

 agriculture as manures. 



W^oollcn rags, at 41. I/s, per ton. 



Sugar-baker's scum, from 5s. to 

 /s. 6d. per load. 



Night soil, 5s. ditto. 



Coal ashes, from 5s. to 6s. ditto. 



Soot, 6;d, and 7d. per bushel. 



1 n the neighbourhood of iialdock, 

 in Hertfordshire, they bring soot for 

 their wheat, in broad-wheel waggons 

 from London, to the amount ofSUO 

 bushels a load. 



Train-oil, and tallow-chandler's 

 graves, the dung of pigeons, rab- 

 bits, and poiallry, soap-ashes^ bones. 



and horn-shavings, are sold at vari- 

 ous and vuicertaiu prices. 



Timber and Under woo J. 



The oak and the elm, but chiefly 

 the latter, are the prevailing trees 

 of this district. The hedges are 

 frequently formed intire.ly of the 

 shoots of the elm. A custom too 

 much prevaih of mutilating these 

 trees, by stripping them up close to 

 the stem, which must certainly 

 prove injurious to their growth, if 

 the leaves have any influence in im- 

 bibing nourishment from the sur- 

 rounding almosphi le. It has been 

 observed, on cutting down elms, 

 where the year of stripping could 

 be accrtained, that the circle of 

 wood which the tree annually pro- 

 duces, was less on those years than 

 on any others. 



There are but few oaks in this 

 district of any size, e.xcept what 

 have been saved from the axe for 

 the ornament of gentlemen's jilea- 

 sure grounds. Here we sometimes 

 find that truly venerable remnant of 

 antiquity, the pollard oak, of im- 

 mense size, and rugged stcnij pro- 

 tecting, with its hospitable siiade, 

 the panting flock from the meridian 

 sun. An object themost beautiluUy 

 picturesque that nature presents to 

 the eye. 



On the borders of Middlesex, 

 there are woods of oak, which -ure 

 cut in rotation, . at seven years 

 growth. 'J'hey are generally pur- 

 chased for fuel by the London bak- 

 ei s. In the p.irish of Pinner, with- 

 in I'i miles of London, on an es- 

 tate of my own, i have 24 acies 

 of this underwood, which I am 

 gradually irainingto a timber-grove, 

 by reserving at every fall the most 

 thriving of the young oaks. This 



X 3 I am 



