W E S T B E V O N S H I R E. 91 



Coppices Is to give evennefs and fuilnefs 

 to the whole. In a diiLiiift, however, 

 where flakes, edders, and wicker hurdleg 

 are not in common ufe, the lefs profitable 

 would be the thinnings of a Coppice. In 

 the more advanced ftages of growth, hoops 

 gre, here, a profitable article ^, 



2. The age or felling Coppice 

 WOOD, in the ordinary pravftice of the 

 Diflri(fl, is twenty years. The bark of 

 the Oal^ is a principal objedl, efpecially at 

 prefent ; and this does not acquire, much 

 fooner, a fuiiicient fubilance and maturation 

 of juices, to fit it properly for the ufe of 

 the tanner. It is oftcner, I believe; fuf- 

 fered to fiand* until it be more than twenty 

 years growth, than it is felled under that 

 age. From eighteen to twentyfive years 

 may, perhaps, be fet down as the ordinary 

 Jijnits. 



3. The 



* Hoops for cider G.iflcs. The principal wood is AiTi ; 

 butChefnut and Wild Cherry are reckoned nearly as good. 

 The price, in the rough, about 8d. a hundred weight. The 

 time of cutting, December and January: the time of bcnd- 

 Lng, May and June. The Coopers charge is half a crown a 

 dozei). 



