THE WILLOW. ETC. 



131 



Evelyn, in his Sylva, fears that the progress of our 

 iron manufacture would lead to the destruction of all 

 our timber, in the preparation of charcoal for fur- 

 naces. He did not foresee that we should find a 

 substitute, by charring pit-coal into coke. In .1788, 

 there were eighty-six iron furnaces in England, of 

 which twenty-six were heated by charcoal of wood; in 

 1826, there were three hundred and five, all served 

 by coke. 



Good charcoal is also made from Dog Wood ( Cor- 

 nus sanguined], which is, however, a tree, or rather 

 a shrub, very different from the willow in its appear- 

 ance and habits. The Dogwood is firm and compact; 

 grows naturally in hedges upon chalky soils, and bears 

 berries that have a purple juice, out of which a red 

 colouring matter of considerable brightness may be 

 extracted. It is very common in Kent and Sussex; 

 and as there are many powder-mills there, coppices 

 of it are reared for supplying them with charcoal. 



Hazel Corylus avellana. 



Another shrub which is applied to the same uses as 

 the willow, namely, making baskets and hoops, but 

 chiefly the latter, is the Hazel ( Corylus avellana) . Of 



