840 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1809. 



On the Advantages to be derived 



J'rom Heath in the Feeding oj' 



Stock, and on the Importance 



of the Maple-tree, by the 



■ Rev. James Hall. \_From ihe 

 same."] 



In the course of my experiments 

 on furze, broom, rushes, bean- 

 straw, and a variety of other arti- 

 cles that are generally reckoned of 

 little use, I have found that if heath 

 be cut when young and in bloom, 

 and the finer parts infused in a tea- 

 pot, it produces a liquid, not only 

 grateful to the taste and well fla- 

 voured ,but extremely wholesome, 

 and, in many points of view, pre- 

 ferable to the tea that comes from 

 China. 



As I was anxious to know how 

 far fine young heath might be use- 

 ful to cattle, I bribed a poor man 

 to confine his cow, that I might 

 try the experiment on her. When 

 first tied up, the cow refused to 

 eat any of the heath, except the 

 very finest part; nor did she seem 

 to relish a rich infusion of it that 

 was set before her. When she be- 

 came a little hungry, however, 

 she first drank the infusion, and 

 then began to eat the heath. Hav- 

 ing watched and observed her nar- 

 rowly, I shall only say, that she 

 lived nearly two weeks on ihis 

 food solely ; and I have no doubt 

 but that she could have lived much 

 longer, had it been necessary. She 

 gave less milk, it is true, while she 

 lived solely on heath ; but then 

 what the milk lost in quantity, was 

 amply made up by the quality of 

 ■what she gave. I made a similar 

 experiment with a couple of sheep, 

 and an old horse, and found the 

 effect nearly the same ; only the 



sheep drank but little of the in- 

 fusion. 



Thus satisfied that cattle may be 

 supported for a time by young 

 heath, if cut while in bloom, I pro- 

 ceeded to ascertain how far this 

 plant is capable of retaining its 

 valuable qualities, when dried and 

 laid up. With a view to this, I 

 cut some in the end of summer, 

 when heath is generally at its best, 

 and dried it in the shade. Having 

 kept this nearly two years, I found 

 it produced an infusion equally 

 strong and well flavoured as a. 

 first. Another parcel, after being 

 kept three years, supported a cow 

 more than a week, and produced 

 an infusion not inferior to the 

 former. The quality too of this 

 cow's milk was uncommonly im- 

 proved both in taste and flavour by 

 the heath. 



On chopping, and putting quan- 

 tities of fine young heath, cut 

 down while in bloom, into a vat, 

 or mash-tub, and pouring boiling 

 water on it, there is produced an 

 infusion, not only rich and pleasant, 

 but capable of being made the 

 basis of various valuable liquids. 

 Those, therefore, who live in the 

 vicinity of heath, have only to burn 

 a sufficient quantity of the old, in 

 order to have as much young as 

 they think proper. The smooth- 

 er and more even the surface of 

 the place they burn, the better. 

 If any of the stumps of the old 

 heath remain after it is burnt, they 

 should, some way or other, be re- 

 moved. The ashes of the old 

 heath become an excellent manure, 

 and, generally, cause a fine young 

 crop to spring up. When two 

 or three years old, this should be 

 cut down with the scythe, and as 



much 



