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Mr. mars ham on the Ufefulnefs of 
II. On the Ufefulnefs of wafhtng and rubbing the Stems of 
frees, to promote their Annual Increafe. In an Ex- 
tract of a Letter from Mr. Marfham to the Lord Bi/hop 
of Bath and Wells. r 
Read Nov. 14, T H AD for feveral years intended to put in 
■“* practice the celebrated Dr. hales advice 
of wafhing, with that of Mr. evelyn of rubbing the: 
Item of a tree jin order to increafe its growth; but other 
avocations prevented me till the laft fpring: when, as 
foon as the buds began to fwell, I wafhed my tree round 
from the ground to the beginning of the head; viz. be- 
tween thirteen and fourteen feet in height. This was 
done fir ft with water and a ftiff fhoe-brulh, until the 
tree was quite cleared of the mofs and dirt ; then I only 
wafhed it with a coarfe flannel. I repeated the wafhing 
three, four, or five times a week, during all the dry time 
of the fpring and the fore-part of the fummer ; but after 
the rains were frequent, I very feldom wafhed. The un- 
wafhed tree, whofe growth I propofed to compare with 
it, was (at five feet from the ground) before the laft year’s 
increafe, 3 ft. 7 in. fihs ; and in the autumn, after the 
7 year’s 
