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in their lops three cords of fire-wood: Their bodies were not of the tallest, chahaving been topped when they were young, to reduce them to an uniformheight ; yet was the timber most excellent for its scantling, and for theirheads, few in England excelling them : Where some of their contempo-raries were planted single in the park without cumber, they spread abovefourscore feet in arms. All of them since cut down and destroyed by theperson who continued to detain the just pofsefsion of that estate from thoseto whom of right and conscience it belonged. Since then it is disposed of,and I am glad it has fallen into the hands of the present pofsefsor.
But I have some few instances to superadd, of no mean encouragement,before I dismifs my Reader, because they are so very pregnant and authen-tic. Sir Thomas Southwell, after he had sold and felled all the timberand underwood in a certain parcel of land lying in Carbrook, in the countyof Norfolk, called by the name of Latimer-Wood, containing eighty acres, .(now, as I understand, belonging to Sir Robert Clayton , Knight) granteda lease of the said ground, with other land, to.one Thomas Wastnev, thefather, with liberty to grub and stub up all the . wood and stub-shoots re-maining, and to clear the said ground for pasture or tillage, as he shouldthink to be most for his profit and advantage. Accordingly he puts outthe same to labourers to stub and clear; but was, it seems, persuaded byone of them, to preserve some of the young stands or saplings then grow-ing there, as that which might be of greater emolument to him before the
expiration of the lease, than if he should quite extirpate them, and con-vert the said ground to tillage. These saplings were then so small, as whenit happened that any of the labourers did break the haft of his mattock,he could hardly find one amongst them big enough to make anotherof for his present use: Nay, when the said labourers had made an end ofclearing the ground of the old stub-shoots, upon which the timber andunderwood did grow, (which is now fifty years since) there was not a treeleft growing in it, that could be valued at above threepence, to be felledfor any use or service. About the year 1650 , the estate being then come(after the death of Sir Richard Crane, Knight) to William Crane, Esq.and the lease of the same to Thomas Wastney, the son, he offered fivehundred of the best of the said young Oak saplings to one Daniel Ii a ll adealer in timber, for two shillings and sixpence the tree; which he refu-sing to give, the said Thomas Wastney making his application to Mr.Crane above-mentioned,, (the owner of the estate) and desiring Daniel
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