114 A NATURALIST IN ESSEX A CENTURY AND A-HALF AGO.
He refers to the various trees, etc., which he saw in the forest—first
the Holly, "It is much to be wished that it would grow in Sweden."
The Hornbeam in abundance, Hawthorn, Beech, Oak, Furze, Dog-
Rose, Ivy, Broom, Ruscus aculeatus, Spurge-Laurel, and others.
He tells of flowers in bloom in gardens, Crocus, Snowdrop, etc.
Then the writer describes our Essex hedgerows with Pollard
Oaks, Ashes, and Elms, and gives a list of all the plants and grasses
he found in examining the hay in our stacks. In one place he
speaks of Prunus Padus (bird cherry) being used as a hedge, surely
a beautiful sight in early summer; also of Prunus Sylvestris (sloe)
for the same purpose.
On page 159 we have a description of rabbit warrens, one of
which was "between Waltham Abbey and Woodford." Mr. Warner
describes Fairlop Oak as "one of the thickest" he had seen in
England, and takes Kalm to look at it.
Of Woodford our author says much, describing houses and
occupations of the people, and giving an illustration of the style of
gates in use.
After "Notes on some branches of Rural Economy in Essex," is
a long description of "My Lord Tilney's Magnificent House," en-
riched by a bird's-eye view of Wanstead Manor from Rocque's
Survey (1745).
Towards the end of the work we have a reference to Fennel
growing on the chalk slopes in the south of the county, and to
Furze being used by the poor for fuel.
He describes the farmhouses in that part as resembling "gentle-
men's houses more than farmers' houses." Speaking of the far-
famed Essex calves, he says that the farmers
"used to lay a great piece of chalk in a trough where they had their fatted calves,
that the calves might lick it, which, in their opinion, will have the effect of
making the flesh become whiter."
He notes the current belief that "cherries in Essex never attain the
same agreeable flavour as in' Kent, ... on the other hand,
pear trees flourish there well."
These are but a few of the references to Essex matters contained
in the book, which, as a whole, is of more than passing interest, and
will be a standard work for Englishmen interested in seeing the
habits and customs of their forefathers as they struck a stranger in
the middle of the eighteenth century.
I. Chalkley Gould.