THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



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width taken up by the fence itself to be one perch, there is a 

 loss of a quarter of au acre of grain or roots. I am aware it 

 may be urged that in many cases it is necessary to have an 

 open ditch to carry off the water: but, unless there is a very 

 great quantity, it would be much cheaper in the end to put in 

 jarge pipes and fill up the ditch, instead of having the mouths 

 of the under-draius constantly stopped by rats and moles, &c., 

 and perhaps cost less to run hurdles across when required, than 

 to have the expense of cleaning and trimming the fence. With 

 respect to those hedgerows which are indispensable, I would 

 allude to the importance of keeping them as narrow as possilde 

 without injuring the fence, and also of cutting down all weed^ 

 before they seed. It appears almost useless for the farmer to 

 endeavour to clean his land while the hedgerows are compk-t^ 

 nureery beds for all kinds of weeds, full of seeds for the wind 

 and birds to scatter over the fields. The thought has often 

 occurred to me that it might be wise for the different farmers 

 in the neighbourhood to have a sort of thistle rate ; and, if 

 scarce of hands, and there are any able-bodied men, women, or 

 children in the Union, have tliem out, and supply them with 

 the weapons of warfare most suitable for destroying that flying 

 little enemy which grows upon the waste places, belonging, 

 apparently to nobodj', but which is, in fact, calculated to 

 injure every one who holds an acre of land within a mile or so, 

 according to the strength of the wind. Having briefly alluded 

 to the advantages of rooting and narrowing live fences in order 

 to gain time or laud, and to destroy weeds, there yet remains, 

 perhaps, the -greatest reason why every farmer should be 

 anxious to thin out his hedgerows — namely, that they may 

 not form a harboiir for the worst enemies with which the 

 British agriculturist has to contend ; I mean those midnight 

 robbers called rats, rabbits, and haris ; and in placing them 

 amongst the etceteras, Mr. Cliairm;' :, I trust it will not be 

 running from my subject to advocate their destruction also. 

 But the tenant-farmers may say, " We cannot do it because 

 the landlord claims them as hia property, being on his estate." 

 What, belong to the landlord ? Yes, unless he sells the right 

 of shooting to some stranger (which is not uufrequently the 

 case). It that be true, gentlemen, would that England did 

 not groan under such a curse. Let us endeavour to dissect a 

 system so unjust. Should any of your pigs stray into a neigh- 

 bour's field, although liable to pay a trifle for damages, you 

 could still claim thcra as your own. But how is it with the 

 rabbits and hares? We will suppose that there are two 

 estates adjoining, one belongs to Lord A, the other to Squire 

 B ; and upon Lord A's estate there is a beautiful field of 

 wheat. To whom does that belong ? To Lord A ? Oh no, but 

 to poor old farmer Patient ; and when I tell you he has not 

 only paid his rent for the land, but has drained, manured, 

 chalked, ploughed, and sown it, you muat agree that surely 

 every blade ought to belong to hira. Ah ! but look 1 do you 

 not see that hare or rabbit in yonder farm. Whose is it ? W"ell, 

 watch it a little ; and towards evening, when most robbers are 

 on the alert, it goes to this wheat field, and begins cutting its 

 paths and making ball rooms (or bald rooms) in the ripetiiug 

 corn ; and, after satisfying its destructive appetite, it travels 

 on a little farther, and gets pretty near to Squire B's estate- 

 To whom does it belong ? Lord A of course. Well, it goes a 

 little farther, and happens to stop just upon the boundary line 

 of the two estates ; and now who owns this valuable animal ? 

 Why, I suppose, the head would belong to the squire, and my 

 lord could only claim the tail. It takes another bound, and 

 then may turn round to my lord and say, "Touch me if you 

 dare." And yet this is the kind of property which has caused 

 so many husbands and fathers to be transported to distant 

 landi. Now I am not a friend to poaching, believing those to 



be cowards who would sooner poach than work ; but, of the 

 two evils, I would rather stand before the Great Judge charged 

 with the sin of poaching than that of game-preserving ; for, 

 whereas the one is guilty of stealing what really belongs to 

 nobody knows who, the other is guilty of encouraging that 

 which is robbing the poor man of his loaf. Some people may 

 say, "But, surely, a landowner has a right to keep rabbits and 

 hares on his estates if he likes ?" But that is not what I have 

 been complaining of; it is that poor Mr. Patient has to keep 

 them and not the landlord. But I will venture still farther, and 

 question whether it is right for a gentleman, even on liis own 

 occupation, to keep such destructive creatures, whicii, by being 

 permitted to roam abroad, destroy tenf Id their own value ; 

 for on this principle it might be argued he had a riglit, if he 

 liked, to sow all his land with weeds for the purpose of col- 

 lecting them into one large heap, and applying a lucifer match 

 merely for the gratification of seeing them blaze, and hearing 

 the crackling sound of a glorious bonfire. But, would it not 

 he a sin in His sight, who has said, " Woe unto him who with- 

 lioldeth corn from the people ?" There are also other evils 

 connected with this system ; for the farmer not only has to 

 keep the game, but help to prosecute the poachers and then 

 support their families. I regret to say it is not uufrequently 

 the case that a respectable and industrious farmer is constantly 

 annoyed by seeing a conceited, unprincipled keeper scalmg hia 

 hedges and travelling his field as though he had more right 

 there then even the tenant himself, and worse still, giving false 

 representations to his employer respecting the quantity of 

 game. Of course, in making this remark, I do not condemn 

 the whole of that class ; yet, I fear the honest straightforward 

 gamekeeper is the exception and not the rule, for the tempta- 

 tion is doubtless very great to endeavour to obtain a handsome 

 gratuity from gentlemen after what is called a good day's sport. 

 Perhaps it will not be out of place here to mention a case in 

 point. When my father, with a large young family, was 

 striving to gain an honest livelihood, he was much annoyed by 

 game. On one season in particular several acres of turnips 

 were eaten close down to the ground. Upon the keeper 

 being informed of it, he merely replied, with a 

 sneer, that "he would have them pecked up, that 

 t'ley might make a clean job of it." When this 

 remark came to my father's ears, he, of course, informed his 

 landlord of it, and the result was an order to have them killed 

 down. But, alas ! they did not make a clearance either, for I 

 remecibcr hearing him say, after he had occupied the same 

 farm for forty years, he would be upon his oath, he believed 

 the game had done him damage to the amount of £2,000, and 

 he had no doubt, could it be ascertained, that it was double 

 that sum. He thought it moat probable that the poachers had 

 had more of the game than came to the landlord's share, and 

 that many were led on from that to fowl stealing, and from 

 thence into the sheep fold. I trust you will not for a moment 

 suppose that I look upon tlie landed proprietors as the most 

 cruel, hard-hearted people on the face of the earth, and the 

 tenant farmers as everything lovely. As far as disposition 

 goes, no doubt there are six to one and half-a-dozen to the 

 other, and I trust the good sort prevails in both classes. Had 

 the present race of farmers been trained in the same school 

 and possessed the same privileges as the aristocracy, they too 

 might have overlooked these great evils. Neither am I one of 

 those headstrong politicians who would strip off the carriage- 

 wheels, and unglove the delicate hand of our nobility, and who 

 consider it a hardship to raise the hst and pay honour to whom 

 honour is due. Nevertheless, I cannot go upon the principle 

 of " love me, love my dog ;" for, much as I respect many of 

 those noble and worthy gentlemen, I cannot love their de- 



