56 February 1749. 



fhewn that an inclofure made of cbefnut or 

 white oak feldom holds out above ten or 

 twelve years, before the poles and pofts are 

 thoroughly rotten : when the poles are 

 made of other wood, the fences hardly 

 ftand fix or eight years. Confidering how 

 much more wood the worm- fences require, 

 (fince they run in bendings) than other in- 

 clofures which go in ftrait lines, and that 

 they are fo foon ufelefs, one may imagine 

 how the forefts will be confumed', and what 

 fort of an appearance the country will have 

 forty or fifty years hence, in cafe no altera- 

 tion is made j efpecially as wood is really 

 fquandered away in immenfe quantities, 

 day and night all the winter, or nearly one 

 half of the year, for fewel. 



February the 8th. THE Mufk-rats, fo 

 called by the Englifh in this country, on 

 account of their fcent, are pretty common 

 in North America ; they always live near 

 the water, efpecially on the banks of lakes, 

 rivers, and brooks. On travelling to places 

 where they are, you fee the holes which 

 they have dug in the ground juft at the wa- 

 ter's edge, or a little above its furface. In 

 thefe holes they have their nefls, and there 

 they continue whenever they are not in the 

 water in purfuit of food. The Swedes call 



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