179 
LETTER XIY. 
[Marsham to White.] 
Stkatton : Oct* 20. 1792. 
My dear Sir, 
Ever since i received your very entertaining letter 
of the 7 th - of August, i have had intentions of offering my thanks; 
but added to the Demon, i have suffered other delays from infir- 
mities of old ago, such as Rheumatism, Ac &c, which make me 
abhor the sight of a pen & paper. But i am resolved to tell you a 
piece of Stratton history, viz. my wife has a Turkey that layed 15 
eggs, & reared her brood ; then sho layed G3 eggs, & ceased ; 
& then laid 20, then ceased, & has now laid 8, one on this day, 
She was of Spring twelvemonth. The old women round us think 
this extraordinary. Of the Swallows i can only say they left us on 
y® 18 h of Sep r - & on y° 25 th we had a large flight appeared & 
off then a large flight on y° 14 & 15 of Oct r & one Bird on 
y° 1G. Ono of my men told me yesterday, that he saw a young 
Cuckow. This for torpidity ! Perhaps it was a fern Owl : but 
that will answer the same purpose, only, you should owe me six- 
pence for it. I long for your account of that pleasing & harmless 
bird. — Except the first ten days of August, our Summer has seemed 
to me very cold & watery. 
Sir, as my old friend (for as such i esteem you) you must have 
been troubled with my Tryals to increase the common ordinary 
growth of Trees. I have plagued the E. S. more than once on 
this subject, so i will hope for your pardon for this my half madness. 
My last tryal has been digging round my Trees. This is a circle 
as far as the small roots extend from the trunk ; & this is done two 
spades deep. In Beeches about 50 years old, this circle will be 
about 20 yards diameter. Last Winter i enlarged the circle digged 
the year before, 8 or 0 yards in diameter, as i found the small 
roots required it. & the increase of the Beech (at 5 feet) was 3 
inches & 2 tenths. Sixteen Beeches of the same age, viz all i had 
measured except some i had digged round before, produced very 
little above one inch a Tree. Therefore about 3 to one gained. 
Xow tho’ the expense of digging cost much more than the worth of 
the timber gained, yet t affords me much more pleasure, than i 
