A GARDEN KALENDAR 389 



black. Her crop of apple's fail. Blue Scabiuss in plenty 

 still. The rooks frequent y e nest-trees great part of y e day. 

 I saw a few wheatears (birds) on the Sussex down as I 

 came along. Vast quantities are caught by the shepherds 

 in the season ; (about t y e beginning of Harvest) & yet no 

 numbers are ever seen together, they not being gregarious. 

 Showers, & some brisk winds. 



Hawkweeds all y e Country over from the highest downs 

 to y e lowest pasture-field. 



Wasps seem at present to be very much check'd : they 

 have gnaw'd the Grapes pretty much. 



This very dry summer has damaged M rs - Snooke's 

 buildings by occasioning such vast chops in the clay-soil, 

 that they loosen the walls, & make settlements. Since I 

 came, there were cracks in the ground deeper than y e 

 length of a walking stick. 



24. Made a visit to M r - John Woods at his new mill. 

 On the downs near Bpstone I found the downs covered 

 with Burnet : & in one place, where the Ground had been 

 devonshired the beginning of the summer, the ground was 

 cloath'd-over with Burnet & filipendula, whose crowns had 

 been severed with the turf. Found French - mercury 

 (Mercurialis) the smallest sort of Cudweed ; & saw 

 abundance of sea-plants on y e shore which I had not 

 time to examine. 



Sep r - 26 : 27 : 28. Returned from Ringmer. Fine dry 

 soft weather ; & the roads quite dusty. Very little rain 

 has fallen yet : the deep pasture-Grounds round Ringmer 

 are bare of Grass, & in great want of water. Many ponds 

 on y e road are quite dry. 



Saw plenty of the whorttle-berry plants on Rogate 

 heath. I found my grapes in general very backward, 

 notwithstanding the dry sunny weather. 



The wasps seem to have done very little damage ; they 

 seem to be quite gone. 



30. Made 10 quarts of elder-juice; to which when I 

 had put ioP ds - of sugar, & boiled them up together, there 

 came 13 bottles of syrop. 



