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Firffj At every laying to lay down fome old plaihes •, 

 or if the Hedge be thin, young ones ; but they mull 

 be' To laid, as to point with their ends to the ditch fide 

 of the bank, the ends being kept low on the bank -, 

 by being fo ordered, they will the better thicken the 

 bottom of the Hedge, and keep up the earth of the 



bank. t . i . i 



Secondly, To heighten the bank every timeyoa lay 



earth on it, Co as to cover the layers, all but the ends, 

 this earth will very much help the Quick ; and by 

 heightening the banks, and deepening the ditch, you 

 will render the fence the better. 

 Thirdly, Not to cut the plalhes too much, butjuft 

 fo as they may bend down well •, nor to lay them too 

 uoright, as fonie do, bat to lay them near to a level ^ 

 for by fo doing, the fap will' the better break out at 

 feveral places, and not run fo much to the ends, as it 

 will when they lie too much upon the flope. 

 If you have much wood to fpare, you may cut up great 

 part of thofe that grow near the ditch, but then you 

 ought to hang the bank with bufhes, to prevent cattle 

 from cropping them the firft year ; thefe will fhoot 

 ftrong, fecure the Hedge, keep* up the bank, and 

 thicken the bottom of the Hedge, 

 fourthly. Take care to lay the Hedge pretty thick, 

 and turn the beard on the ditch fide -, but you muft 

 not let the beard hang uncut (though it makes a good 

 Ihew at the firft making), but you mufl: cut off all the 

 llrao-o-ling boughs within half a foot of the Hedge on 

 both Ifides, which will Ca:iife it to fhoot ftrong at 

 thefe places, and make the Hedge much the thicken 

 Fifthly, If the bank be high, make the Hedge fo 

 low, that it may juft ferve tor a fence the firft year, 

 for it will foon grow higher; and the lower the Hedge 

 I IS made, the fafter the Quick will grow, and alfo 

 ^' will be the thicker at the bottom ; but care muft be 

 t taken to preferve it from cattle on the field fide for 



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the two firft years that it is made. 

 Sixthly, If you would have a good Hedge, or fence, 

 you Ihould new lay it once in fourteen or fifteen years, 

 and conftantly root out Elder, Travellers Joy (which 

 foine call Bull-bine), Briony, &c. and do not leave 

 too many high ftandards, or pollards in it, though the 

 Elm is one of the beft ; alfo no dead, wood is to be left 

 in the bottom of the Hedges, for that will choke the 

 Quiclc ; but if there be a gap, the dead Hedge ftiould 

 'bemadeat adiftance. --■ '-^>^ w V'^"^'-^;:^ :*^-:v 



* The Crab is alfo frequently planted for Hedges, and 

 if the plants are raifcd from the kernels of the fmall 



* wild Crab, they^are much to be preferred to thofe which 

 are raifed from kernels of all forts of Apples without 

 diftinftion ; becaiife the plants of the true fmall Crab 



' never {hoot To ftrong as thofe of the Apples, fo may 

 " be better kept within the proper compafs of a Hedg'e 5 

 ' and as they havd" generally more thorns upon them, 

 they are ^better guarded againft cattle,-" &c, than 

 the other ; befidcs, the plants of the Crab wilf grow 

 '^ftibfe equal than thofe which are raifed from the ker- 

 nels of various kinds of Apples, Tor thele always prb- 

 "duce a variety of pTiahts, which differ from' each other 

 in their manner bf growth, as much as in the fize and 

 flavour of their fruits ; fo that Hedges made of thefe 

 will not appear fo well, nor can be fo well managed as 



the other. 









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■ Soffie pei^foris Tntermix Crab witH the White*^ Thorn 

 in their Hedges, but this is not a" good miethod ; for 

 the plants of the Crab will grow much ftronger than 

 thofcof the White Thorn, fo that the Hedge will not 

 be of equal growth •, which is not nearfo beautiful or 

 Ufeful, as when the plants of a Hedge keep pace in 

 their growth. ^-:^-:-;^rt:s .::i-'; ;"-•■-• ■;■—;;■ -■; ^r-:;::. ^J: 

 The Black Thorn, or Sloe, is alfo frequently planted 

 ,for Hedges, and is a ftrong'durable plant for that pur- 

 poTe, efpecially as^ it is fo ftrongly armed with thorns, 

 that cattle feldom care to brouze upon it ; but. where 

 this is planted, the beft way is to raife the plants from 

 the ftones of tHe fruit; for all thofe which are taken 

 from the roots of old trees, fpawn,' and put out 



; fuckers in fuch plenty from their fdots,*as to fprcad 

 ■ovcrj and fill the ncigb^bouring ground to a confider- 



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able diftance on each fide of the Hedge ; and th>. 

 plenty of fuckers drawing av.ay the nourTilMTieiu from 

 the old plants of the Hedge, they never ^row Jo wril 

 as v/here there are few or no fuckers produced, whicli 

 thofe plants which are propagated from iliC {tones 

 fend not forth, or at leaft but fparin^lv, therefore 

 may with little trouble be kept clear of" them. The 

 beft method of raifing thcle Hedges is, to fow the 

 ftones in the place where the Hedge is intended (where 

 it can be conveniently done), for then the pknts will 

 make'a much greater progrefs than thofe which are 

 tranfplanted ; but the objection to this method will 

 arife from the difficulty of fecuring the young plants 

 from the cattle •, but this can Ivave little force, when it 

 muft be confidered, that if the Hedge is planted, it 

 muft be fenced for fome years, to prevent the cattle 

 from deftroying it -, therefore the fame fence will do 

 for it when fov/n, nor will this require a fence much 

 longer than the other. For the plants which ftand un- 

 removed, will make a better fence in feven years, than 

 that which is planted, though the plants Ihould be of 

 three or four years growth when planted j which is 

 what I have feen two or three times, where the experi- 

 ment has been tried. The ftones of this fruit fhould 

 be fown early in January, if the weather will permit j 

 but when they are kept out of the ground longer, it 

 will be proper to mix them with fand, and keep them 

 in a cool place. The buflies of the Black Thorn are 

 by much the beft of any for making of dead Hedges, 

 being of longer duration, and having many thorns, 

 neither the cattle nor the Hedge-breakers, will care 

 to meddle with them ; thefe bulhes are alfo the beft to 

 be ufed for under ground drains, for the draining of 

 land^ for they will remain found a long time when 

 the air is excluded from them. ..■ '•-- 



The Holly is fometimes planted for Hedges, and is a 

 very durable ftrong fence-, but where it is expofed^ 

 there will be greatdifficulty toprevent itsbcingdeftroy- 

 ed, otherwife it is by far the moft beautiful plant, and 

 being an Evergreen, will afford much better fhelter to 

 cattle in winter, than any other fort of Hedge-, and the 

 leaves being armed with thorns, the cattle will not 

 care to brouze upon it. Another objedion to this plant 

 is the flow growth, fo that Hedges planted with this 

 plant, require to be fenced a much longer time than 

 moft others. This is a reafon which muft be admitted, 

 to prevent this being generally praftifed ; but in fuch 

 grounds as lie contiguous to, or in fight of gehtlemen's 

 houfes, thefe fort of Hedges will have an exceeding:" 

 good effedt, efpecially when they are well kept, gs.they 

 . will appear beautiful at all feafons of the year ; and in 

 the fpring of the* year,"wKen the Iharp winds render 

 it tinpleafahf tff walk abroad in expbfed places, thefe 

 Hedges will afford good Ihelter, as they will efFeftual- 

 . ly keep oif the cold winds, if they^areJsept clofe and 

 r thick. 'The fureft method of raifing thefe Hedges is, 

 by fowing the berries in the place where they are td.^ 

 ftand i but thefe berries Ihould be buried inthe ground 

 one year before they are fowh, by which method they 

 will be prepared to grow the following fpring^ The 



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way 01 doing this is, to gather the berries about 

 Chriftmas (which is the time they are ufually rip?,) 

 and put them into large flower-pots, mixing fome land 

 with them-'f then dig holes in the ground, into which 

 tliepdts tTiiift be funk, covering thenibverwith earth 

 about ten inches thick ; in this place they nify reniarri 

 till the following Odlober, when they fliould be takert 

 up, and fown in the place ^yhere the Hedge is in- 

 tended. The ground for this Hedo;e fliould be well 

 trenched, and cleared from the roots of all bad weeds, 

 buflies, trees, &c. Then two drills fliould be made 

 at about a foot diftahce froni each other, and about 

 two inches deep, into which the feeds fliould be fcat- 

 tered pretty clofe, left fome fliould fail \ for it is bet- 

 ter to have too many plants come up^ than to want. 

 The reafon of my advifing two drills is, that the 

 Hedge may be thick to the bottom, which in a fin- 

 gle row rarely happen^, efpecially if there is not greac 

 care taken of them in the beginning. When the plants; 

 come up, they muft be cai*cfully weeded i for if thcf 



weeds 



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