OF THE COUNTY OF DOWN. 159 



which it is better known ; as to its ftrength, that I 

 have feen tried in many inftances, from extreme youth 

 to forty or fifty years of age : in the firft cafe, it is as 

 tight as an oak fapling ; in the fecond, it is fit for lad- 

 ders, cars, &c. having all the toughnefs of afh, with- 

 out its heavinefs. Dr. Anderfon, who is indefatigable 

 in his refearches, where the good of mankind is con- 

 cerned, has collected a number of facts refpecting the 

 advantages attendant on the cultivation of this tree, 

 which I mould recommend to the perufal of every per- 

 fon, who is a planter, or likely to become one, either 

 on a great or a fmall fcale. He there fliews the diffe- 

 rent ufes the wood of it may be applied to, from the 

 (haft of a broom to the building of a {hip, and ho\v 

 completely qualified it is, in every gradation, to fulfil 

 the expectations of the planter ; and alfo with what 

 certainty it grows on every foil, from the mofl fertile 

 loam to the moft flony mountain. For this latter in- 

 formation, we need not go out of our own county, 

 where it is cultivated, though not in the- degree it de- 

 fer ves, from the deep clay about Moira, to the rocky 

 mountains of Mourne. The late Lord Claubraffil 

 planted, a vaft number of them, at Tullamore park, as 

 nurfes for his oaks, pruning them to prevent their 

 hurting, by the quicknefs of their growth, what they 

 were intended to protect. The neceflary thinnings of 

 thefe trees, I uhderfland, has produced a confiderable 

 profit to the owner, and advantage to the country j 



and 



