^ 4 January 1749. 



worm -fences in E?iglifi. The poles which 

 compofe this fence are taken from different 

 trees ; but they are not all of equal dura- 

 tion : the red cedar is reckoned the moft 

 durable of any, for it holds out above thirty 

 years \ but it is very fcarce, and grows only 

 in a fingle place hereabouts, fo that no 

 fences can be made of it. It is true, the 

 fences about Philadelphia (which however 

 are different from the worm-fences ) are all 

 made of red cedar ; but it has been brought 

 by water from Egg-harbour, where it grows 

 in abundance. The fupports on which the 

 poles lie are made of the white cedar, or 

 Cuprejfus thycides, and the poles which are 

 laid between them of the red cedar or Ju- 

 niperus Virginiana. Next to the cedar-wood, 

 oak and chefnut are reckoned beft. Chefnut 

 is commonly preferred, but it is not every 

 where fo plentiful as to be made into fences; 

 in its ftead they make ufe of feveral forts of 

 cak. In order to make inclofures, the peo- 

 ple do not cut down the young trees, as is 

 common with us, but they fell here and 

 there thick trees, cut them in feveral places, 

 leaving the pieces as long as it is neceffary, 

 and fplit them into poles of the ufual thick- 

 nefs ; a fingle tree affords a multitude of 

 poles. Several old men in this country told 

 me, that the Swedes on their arrival here, 



made 



