224 A DISCOURSE 



BOOK I. suit that philosophical treatise of Dr. Vallemont*, which will at least 

 ^"^^^'^'^^ entertain them with a world of surprising things. But the most signal 



*Vaiieniont honour it was ever employed in, and which might deservedly exalt this 

 PhisiqueOc- ij^j^^ie and common plant above all the trees of the wood, is that 



cultouTraite . . ... 



de la Baguet of hurdles, especially the flexible white, the red, and brittle ; not for that 

 Bur"^^' generally used for the folding of our innocent sheep, an emblem of 

 cerniiig the the church, but for making the walls of one of the first Christian Oratories 

 expioration& ^^le world ; and particularly in this island, that venerable and sacred 



superstitious ' r y 



original, see fabric at Glastoubury, founded by St. Joseph of Arimathea, which is 

 Browi!e''sVui^ storied to have been first composed but of a few small Hasel-rods inter- 

 gar Errors, c. wovcu about Certain stakes driven into the ground ; — and walls of this 

 anrthe^com instead of laths and puncheons, super-induced with a coarse mortar, 



mentators up- made of loam and straw, do to this day inclose divers humble cottages, 

 onHos.iv.12. gjjg(3s^ ^nd out-houses in the country. It is strong and lasting for such 



purposes, whole or cleft ; and I have seen ample inclosures of courts and 



gardens so secured. 



6. There is a compendious expedient for the thickening of copses 

 which are too transparent, by laying of a sampler, or pole, of an Hasel, 

 Ash, Poplar, &c. of twenty or thirty feet in length, the head a little 

 lopped into the ground, giving it a chop near the foot to make it succumb ; 

 this fastened to the earth with a hook or two, and covered with some 

 fresh mould at a competent depth, (as gardeners lay their carnations,) 

 wiU produce a world of suckers, and thicken and furnish a copse speedily. 

 I add no more of Filberts, a kinder and better sort of Hasel-nut, of larger 

 and longer shape and beard : the kernels also covered with a fine mem- 

 brane, of which the red is more delicate : they both are propagated 

 as the Hasel, and while more domestic, planted either asunder or in 

 palisade, are seldom found in the copses. They are brought among 

 other fruit to the best tables for desert, and are said to fatten ; but, when 

 too much eaten, are obnoxious to the asthmatic. In the mean time, 

 of this I have had experience, that Hasel-nuts, but the Filbert especially, 

 being full ripe and peeled in warm water, as they blanch Almonds, 

 make a pudding very little, if at all, inferior to that our ladies make of 

 Almonds. 



