172 A DISCOURSE 



HOOK III. and less bitter than either tamarisk, carduus, or broom, which divers 

 """^^ liave essayed ; it might prove a means to save a world of fuel, and in 

 divers places, young timber and copse-wood, which is yearly spent for 

 poles, especially in countries where wood is very precious ^. Note, 

 That the woodland measure, by statute, is computed after eighteen feet 

 the perch. 



s Hops were introduced, about two centuries and a half ago, from Flanders, and from 

 that time, have been assiduously cultivated in this kingdom. The duties arising from this 

 article are so considerable, that all public brewers are enjoined under a severe penalty, to 

 use no other bitters for their malt liquors. In a year of moderate fertility, an acre of hops 

 is supposed to produce ten hundred weight, which may be estimated at three pounds per 

 hundred. Of this sum, one moiety goes clear into the pocket of the cultivator, and the 

 other moiety is employed in the discharge of rent, tithe, and all other expenses, except the 

 duty by excise. It is computed that the duty, upon an average, amounts to 50,000/. per 

 ann. a sum too considerable to be lost by permitting other bitter herbs to be substituted in 

 the place of hops. 



