32 KALMS ENGLAND. 



which treats of trees. After that I spent a great part of 

 the day at the house of Dr. Mitchell, who was born in 

 Virginia, in North America, and had spent a great part 

 of his life there, and was thus well acquainted with all 

 the circumstances of that country. Among other things 

 he gave me the following account, which I afterwards 

 found was correct, when I went to America. 



[Vax af et slags Pors. Deferred. See American 



Notes below.] 



[T. I. p. 393.] The gth May, 1748. 

 In the morning I returned to London. 



Amnio vulgaris til skjul i koks-krydd-gardar. 



Reeds as screens* in market gardens. 



Instead of other fences it was here a very common 

 practice to employ reeds, TOT, as a shelter or screen, til 

 skjul eller Skarm, for the plants which might grow in 

 the heat of the sun, i solbaddet. To this end they had 

 taken reeds, Arundo, 99 [Banks, MS., Phragmites], set 

 them up perpendicularly, and made of them as it were a 

 paling-fence, et plank, in a straight line to the length 

 required. The reeds were here laid quite close together, 

 and nearly two inches thick. Above and below were two 

 thin rods, smala stanger, between which the ends of 

 the reeds were set and bound fast with bast. The ends 

 of these rods were bound fast to poles, palar, driven 

 down into the ground. Often instead of any other fence, 

 liagnad, around the kitchen gardens they had nothing 

 but these reeds set up in the way just described. 

 Huru vagar omlagades. How roads were repaired. 



I have before said that the roads cannot last long on 

 account of their heavy carts and wagons, which with 



* " Screen, skreen, a device to keep off the wind, hail, &c." Bailey's 

 Dictionary, 1753. 



