Jobn Bvelgtt 301 



sort, such as the French employ for the same 

 purpose in Bretagne, where they are incom- 

 parable husbands. 



FURZE. 



Furze is to be sown (which is best) or planted 

 of the roots in a furrow. If sown, weed till it 

 be strong, both tonsile, and to be diligently 

 clipped, which will render it a very thick, 

 excellent, and beautiful hedge ; otherwise per- 

 mitted to grow at large, it will yield very good 

 fagot ; it is likewise admirable covert for wild 

 fowl, and will be made to grow even in moist as 

 well as dry places. The young and tender tops 

 of furze, being a little bruised, and given to a 

 lean, sickly horse, will strangely recover and 

 plump him. Thus, in some places, when they 

 lay down their barren grounds, they sow the 

 last crop with this seed, and so let them remain 

 till they break them up again, and, during that 

 interim, reap real advantage. Would you be- 

 lieve (writes a worthy correspondent of mine) 

 that in Herefordshire, famous for plenty of 

 wood, their thickets of furzes, viz., the vulgar, 

 should yield them more profit than a like 

 quantity of the best wheat land of England ? 

 for such is theirs. If this be questioned, the 

 scene is within a mile of Hereford, and proved 

 by anniversary experience, in the lands, as I 



