A N 



■ cart-boor, &c. And where they are carefully planted 

 and prcfcrved, furnifh him with timber and alfo maft 

 for his fwine ; or where the hedge-rows are planted 

 with fruit-trees, there will be a llipply of fruit for cy- 

 der, perry, &c. which in moil pares of England are 

 of no fmall advantage to the huibandman. 

 By this method of inclofing, there is alfo much more 

 employment for the poor, and is therefore a good re- 

 medy againft beggary ; for in thofe open countries, 

 where there are great downs, commons, heaths, and 

 waftcs, there is nothing but poverty and idlenefs to 



. A N 



by dry walk made of flat ftones, hid regularly one 

 upon another, and laying the top courfe of flones in 

 clay, to keep them together, the weight of which fc- 

 cures the under ones. But in fome parts of Suilcx 

 and HampOiire, they ofccn lay the foundation of their 

 banks with flat ftones, which is of a conflderable 

 breadth at bottom ; upon which they raife the bank 

 of earth, and plant the hedge on the top, which in a 

 few years makes a ftrong durable fence, efpecially if 

 they are planted with Holly, as fome of thofe in Suf- 

 fex are. - ■ ■ . .: - . ■. ' - . ■ . . . ■ 



. be feen amongft the generality of their inhabitants. It I In marflies and open paftures, where there are no 



hedges, the ditches are generally made fix feet wide 

 at the top, efpecially thofe v/hich are on the fide of 

 highways or commons i but the comm.on ditches 

 about inclofures are feldom more than three feet and a 



is very obfervable of late years, how much advan- 

 ',"• tao-ethe inclofing of the Land in Worcefterlhire, and 

 V :. Ibme other counties at a diftance from London, has 

 ■ been to the inhabitants : for before this method was 

 » ■ introduced amongft them, the Lands for the moft part | half wide at top, and one foot and a half at bottom, 



' - and two feet deep, that the fides may have a good 



Hope, and not be too upright, as they are frequently 

 . made about London, fo that they are continually 

 wafhing down v^ith great rains. In thefe narrow bot- 

 tomed ditches, the cattle cannot fland to turn them- 

 felves, fo as to crop the quick j biat where the dftches 

 - are made wider, they fliould be proportionally deeper : 

 • as for inltance, if the ditch is made five feet broad, it 

 '^ muft be three feet deep •, and if fix feet broad, three 

 ^-"^feet and a half deep^ and fo in proportion. ' 

 'iiJ.The m^ethod of inclofing Lands, by raifing hio-h 



lay in commons, &c.^ Upon which the poorer fort of 

 people built themfelves cottages with mud walls, 

 where they contented themfelves with a cow or two, 

 and fome fwine; and thofe of them who were mor^ 

 . induftrious than the reft, travelled to the neighbour- 

 hood of London every fpring, where they were em- 

 . ployed in the gardens and fields for the fummer feafon ; 



. / . and in autumn they returned to their native countries, 

 where they lived in winter upon what money they had 



' -faved in fummer. But fince they have converted 

 ' their waftes and commons into inclofures,' there are 

 but few of tlie inhabitants of thofe countrie§v'^who 

 come to London for >vork5 in comparifon to the 

 numbers that formerly came; fo that moft 'of the 

 labourers, who come to London for employment, 

 are either Welch^ or inhabitants of fome" more diftant 



•^- > counties, or from Ireland, where this improvement 



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•- ■*r' 



<•' -The advantages of inclofing Land are now fo gene- 



'^^'^ rally known, that there is no occafion for me to enu- 



*--.-. merate them here; fince the improvements which 



-' have been made of late years in feveral parts of Eng- J fides, it is a veiy uncertain way of planting quick on 



w- land, and the incre'afe of rent that is every where made J the fide of a fteep bank, where all the moifture runs 



:; banks of earth, oh the fide of which the quick is 



:'::planted (as is too much pra£lifed in many places near 



n: London) is intolerable, for it is not only unfightly, 

 •; but very expenfive ; becaufe thefe banks are continu- 

 ally wafiiing down, fo thai they muft be repaired 



: every year at Icaft, if not oftener, otherwife' the 

 earth will be in a few years waftied from the roots of 



i) the quick, and for w^ant of proper nourifiiment, the 



-hedge will foon decay, which is the caie with the 



greattft num.ber of the hedges a;bout London : be- 



-"'T^ by thofe who inclofe, are fufficient arguments to en- 

 ' — ' force the practice, and render it general ; more efpe- 



* ' 



off; fo that if the fpring fliould prove dry after it is 

 '^planted, there is a great hazard whether half the 

 ■xiallyin the north, where it is moft neglefted, be- !"-■ plants will grow, and thofe that take feldom make 

 ^'' caufe it would greatly flielter the Lands, and render ji-jmuch progrefs ; \vhereas thofe planted on the plain 

 --''■ Iheifi much warmer than they now are.'- '-y^- - j:^- furface, v/here they enjoy the advantages of fun and 

 • \n inclofing of Land, regard ftiould be *had to the I - moifture, will in four years make a better fence than 



'- -nature of the foil, and what it is intended for,' be- 



* *.T ■ 



caufe Corn Land fliould riot be divided into fmall par- 

 cels; for befides the lofs of ground in hedges, &c. 

 the Corn doth feldom thrive fo well in fmall inclo- 



._'- 



one of thefe bank hedges will in eight or ten, and 

 will continue good much longer than the other. 

 Therefore I advife; that the banks on which the 

 hedges are to be planted, fliould not be raifed more 



fures, as in more open fields, efpecially where the I - tHan one foot above the furface oFthe ground^ where 



T* trees are large in the hedge-rows. --The Grafs alfo in 

 -'-^paftures is not fo fweet near hedges7 Or under the 

 r';- drip'of trees;' aslh'an'bperi exf)6fure ; fo that where 

 •p'-^the inclofures are made too fmall, or the^ Land over- 

 ': planted with trees, the herbage will not be near fo 

 u; good, nor in^fo great plenty, as in larger fields; 

 * " therefore, before a perfon begins to inclofe, he fliould 



the Land is dry, "and in "wet Land not more than two 

 feet, which will be enough. 





^ ■ » i 



- V- "wen conCder how he'riiay do it to'tMgreateft advan- 



-;-tage; as for inft'ance, it is always neceffary to have 



. - ^ - fome fmaller inglofures near the habkatfon,' for the 



: V '■*' flicker of cattle, and the conveniency of ftiifting them' 



I fliall now mention the moft proper plants for mak- 

 Ving offences for the different foils and fituations, fo 

 i J^ to anfwer tTie" expectation of the planter: and firft, 

 the white Thorn is efteemed the beft for fencing, and 

 will grow upon almoft any foil ^rid in any fituation, 

 but it fucceeds. beft on a hazle loam. Of thi5 there 

 are three or four varieties, which differ in the breadth 

 of their leaves and the fize of their Haws, but that fort 

 -, with the fmalleft leaves and Haws will make the clofeft 



■■ 1.1 



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^ ' A^ 



— from one field to another, as the feafon of theyear I fence. For it Is very certain, that the branches of all 



' ^"^ riiay require"; and Wreby the habitation, barriSV fta- | - forts of trees are produced at a diftance, in propor- 



^"- bles, and outlioufes,* will be better defended from | ; tign to the fize of their leaves ; fo thaj Yewsrand 



•-^ftrong winds, which often do^ great darnage to thofe I -^ other Evergreen trees with fmall "leaves, will always 



"^u ^that are exoofed to their fury/ The{e unall inclofures I - mate a'clofer hedge thari other trees whole leaves are 



.' : . ^ ^ , ,. ^"^ ^ r- r^rl _ Lt ■" 'f 1.:-^^-'- n-i r r«U^u« '^T^r^A- U^J^^ iU^ C 11^/1. 



^^ may be of feveral dimenfions^ Ibme of them three, t ,i largerl: Therefore, for the clofeft hedge, the fmalleft 

 •^'* "four, fix, or eiffht acres in extent ; but the larger di- I : -' Haws fliould be chofen ; but where the moft vigorous 





virions for Corn fliould not contaih lefs than twenty or 

 "^'' thirty acres of inore, according to the fize of the farm, 

 or the fituatiori of it. 

 The ufual method of inclofing Land is, with a ditch 

 and bank fet with quick. But in marfli Land, where 

 'there is plenty of water, they content themfelves with 

 only a ditch, by the fides of which they ufually plant 

 ■ Sallows or PoplarsV which being of quick growth, in 

 ' ^ ^ a few years afford ftiade to the cattle ; and when they 

 ' are lopped, produce a confiderable profit to their own- 

 ers. In fome counties the divifion of their Lands is 





n I 



Ihooters arc required, for the advantage of lopping, 



... there the largeft Haws fliould be preferred. But as 



- thefe hedges are ufually planted from a nurfcry, where 



: the Haws are' promifcuouflyfowh, it is very common 



-. to fee two or three forts planted in the fame hedge •, 



which may be eafily diftinguiflied, when they have 



. obtained ftrength, by the difference of their growth. 



Indeed, where a perfon is curious in raifing of his own 



; quick^'lt is worthwhile to gather the HawsYepa-*' 



-^ rately, tihd fow them apart ; and each fort ftlould h^ 



' planted in ' a feparate hedge, which will render the* 



7 P ;% hedges 





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