woo 



woo 



but when the night has been dark, they are feeking food all 



day long. 



The fnipes naturally lie by the fides of rivers, when the 

 I plafhes and ponds are frozen, and they always lie with their 



heads up or down the ftream, never tranfverfely. 



In order to take either of thefe birds by bird-lime, the 

 fportfrnan mull be provided with a large number of fmall 

 and fmooth twigs, neatly and evenly covered with good 

 bird-lime. Thefe muft be placed Hoping, fome one way, 

 fome another, and the whole place about where they refort 

 muft be covered with them. The fportfrnan then muft con- 

 ceal himfelf very carefully, that the fight of him may not 

 frighten away the game. See CocK-RoaJ. 



WooD-Coci Apple, in Rural Economy, a fine cyder fruit. 

 See ATPLE-Tree. 



WooD-Coci Shell, a name given by the EngUfh naturahfts 

 I to a peculiar kind of the purpura. It is called in French, 

 becaje, from the length of its beak. There are two fpecies 

 of this, a prickly and a fmooth one. 



The prickly kind is an extremely beautiful and elegant 

 /hell. It is of a yellowifti colour ; and its tail or beak (for 

 the hinder extremity of the ftiell, which runs out into an 

 immoderate length, is fometimes called by the one, fome- 

 times by the other of thefe names) is furnilhed with four 

 rows of large and very long fpines : between the rows of 

 thefe, there are alfo rows of fmall and ftiort fpines. The 

 body of the ftiell is furrowed very deep, with a number of 

 tranfverfe circular lines ; and both this and the clavicle^are 

 befet with feveral rows of long fpines. 



The fmooth becafte, or wood-cock ftiell, is a very elegant 

 fpecies, but much lefs fo than the other. It is of a yel- 

 lowifti colour, radiated with black and grey lines. It is all 

 over deeply furrowed, and the ridges are befet with tuber- 

 cles, the clavicle is elevated, and the tail extremely long, 

 and hollowed into a fort of tube. The mouth of this, as 

 well as of the other, is fmall and roundifti, and in this 

 fpecies is of a liglit flefli-colour. 



WooD-C oci Soil, in ytgrtculture, a term applied to fuch 

 land as has the mould of a dapple-brownilh colour, and 

 which is faid not to be of a good quality for many purpofes. 

 See Soil. 



WooD-Corn is a certain quantity of oats, or other grain, 

 anciently given by cuftomary tenants to their lord, for the 

 liberty to pick up dead or broken wood. 



WooD-Evil, or Cramp in the Legs, a difeafe among ftieep, 

 which is fo named in confequence of its being fuppofed in 

 general to arife from the drippings of trees in cold and wet 

 weather. It ftiews itfelf by feizing the legs of the ftieep, 

 and making them totally incapable of walking ; and will 

 fometimes all at once fpread through the whole flock. 



In regard to the means of cure, a tea-fpoonful of the 

 flour of muftard has been advifed to be given every night 

 and morning. The affedled parts ftiould alfo be well rubbed 

 with warm flannel, and the ftieep be kept dry, which are 

 very effeflual aids. The ufe of a little oil of turpentine 

 externally may often alfo be advantageous, where the other 

 mode of rubbing does not fucceed : and in bad cafes the 

 ufe of mild mercurials with opium may be had recourfe to 

 with much benefit. 



'WooD-Fuel, Sa-w for cutting of, in Rural Economy, a 

 tool ufed for this purpofe. On the continent they employ 

 an improved inftrument of this kind, the iron part of which 

 confifts of a faw, three inches in breadth, and fixteen inches 

 in length, double toothed, in the manner of the gardener's 

 pocket faw, and fixed in a frame of tough afti-wood, as 

 below. The edge part of the faw is made broader than the 



10 



back, in order that it may work more freely and with 

 greater eafe. 



The frame of the faw at the top part has a ftrong cord 

 tied round each fide of it, fo as to tighten the faw and keep 

 it from bending, being capable of being twifted tighter by 

 a fmall thin piece of wood put between the double cord, 

 and which may be kept from untwifting by being refted 

 againft the crofs-bar in the upper part, which is mortifed 

 and firmly fattened into the two fide pieces, being the only 

 means that keeps the frame together in a fafe manner. The 

 fide pieces are each twelve inches in length ; and the addi- 

 tional length of the handle part of one of them five inches. 

 It is evident that this faw will, on the principle of leflening 

 friftion, and of keeping the cutting part from bending, 

 work with much greater facility and expedition than the 

 common carpenter's faw. 



With this wood-faw twice as much work may be done in 

 a day as with the common hand-faw that is in general ufe in 

 this countr)^ 



"WoOD-Geld, WoodgeUum, in our ancient cuftoms, the 

 gathering or cutting of wood within the foreft. Or it may 

 denote the money paid for the fame to the forefters. Some- 

 times it alfo feems to fignify an immunity from this payment, 

 by the king's grant. Crompton fays exprefsly, it fignifies 

 to be free from the payment of money for taking of wood 

 in a foreft. See Geld. 



WooD-Hay, an ancient cuftom at Exeter ; by which a log 

 out of every feam of wood brought over Ex-bridge is taken 

 towards the reparation of that bridge. Antiq. of Exeter. 

 WooD-Land, in Agriculture, a term ufed by the farmers 

 of many counties of England for a fort of foil, from its 

 conftant humidity and dark colour, refembling the foil in 

 woods, which, of whatever nature it originally is, will al- 

 ways be made to appear thus from the continual dropping 

 of trees, and the want of a free air and fun, together with 

 the fall of leaves, deftroyed and waftied to pieces by the 

 wet. 



This foil in the open countries has a confiderable quan- 

 tity of clay in it, and holds the water a long time that once 

 falls upon it : in wet weather it fticks firmly to the plough- 

 ftiare, and in dry is very apt to crack. In uncultivated 

 places it ufually produces rufties and rufti-grafs. A moift 

 and dripping year is extremely detrimental to this fort of 

 land. 



As to the clearing of wood-land in order to bring it into 

 a ftate of cultivation and improvement, the firft ftep is that 

 of properly digging out the roots of whatever forts they 

 may be, after the wood has been cut off", to prepare the 

 ground for the operation of the plough, without mixing 

 the under ftratum of the land with the fertile furface mouldy 

 layer of earth. The hollows and pits are then to be filled 

 and levelled. 



In fome inftances it may be beneficial to encourage and 

 promote the fward and herbage by fowing over the furface 

 fuitable grafs-feeds, after it has been broken and fpread 

 over with the coUefted and decayed or burnt woody and 

 leafy matters, flocking the land hard with ftieep, and mow- 

 ing off" occaiionally the wood-ftioots that may arife ; thus 

 keeping the whole in a ftate of clofe pafturage, until the 

 fmaller root parts that may have been left in the land be- 

 come fufficiently decayed, to render them obedient to the 

 plough, when the land may be broken up for corn. The 

 ufe of lime and calcareous fubftances in mixture with thefe 

 matters, or fpread alone over the land, would alfo ferve to 

 encourage the finer forts of herbage, the delight of ftieep ; 

 and, of courfc, induce them to eat the grafs more clofe, 



and 



