ject to the worm, weak, and unsightly; but which to
counterfeit, and deceive the unwary, they wash over with a decoction
made of the green-husks of walnuts, &c. I say, had we store of this
material, especially of the Virginian, we should find an incredible
improvement in the more stable furniture of our houses, as in the first
frugal and better days of Rome, when

Tables made here at home, those times beheld,
Of our own wood, for that same purpose fell'd,
Old walnut blown down, when the wind set east.{104:1}

Sir R. Stapylton.

For if it had been cut in that season, it would not have prov'd so
sound, as we shew in our chapter of felling. It is certain, that the
_mensae nucinae_, were once in price even before the _citrin_, as Strabo
notes; and nothing can be more beautiful than some planks and works
which I have beheld of it, especially that which comes from Grenoble, of
all other the most beautiful and esteemed.

3. They render most graceful avenues to our countrey dwellings, and do
excellently near hedge-rows; but had need be planted, at forty or fifty
foot interval, for they affect to spread both their roots and branches.
The _Bergstras_ (which extends from Heidelberg to Darmstadt) is all
planted with walnuts; for so by another ancient law, the borderers were
obliged to nurse up, and take care of them; and that chiefly, for their
ornament and shade; so as a man may ride for many miles about that
countrey under a continued arbour, or close-walk; the traveller both
refreshed with the fruit and the shade, which some have causelesly
defam'd for its ill effects on the head, for which the fruit is a
specifique and a notable signature; although I deny not, but the scent
of the fallen leaves, when they begin to be damp'd with lying, may emit
somewhat a heady steam, which to some has prov'd noxious; but not whilst
they were fresh, and lively upon the trees. How would such publick
plantations improve the glory and wealth of a nation! But where shall we
find the spirits among our countreymen? Yes, I will adventure to
instance in those plantations of Sir Richard Stidolph, upon the downs
near Lether-head in Surrey; Sir Robert Clayton at Morden near Godstone
(once belonging to Sir John Evelyn) and so about Cassaulton, where many
thousands of these trees do celebrate the industry of the owners, and
will certainly reward it with infinite improvement, as I am assured they
do in part already, and that very consider