Championship Hedging Competition. 231 



this, so a supply must be on hand. Competitors should be 

 required to sharpen their own stakes. 



8. The fence should be layered away from the ditch and 

 pushed over far enough to allow light and air to the stools and 

 prevent any drip on the new shoots springing from them. 



9. The fence should be finished with a "binder" m.ade 

 from light rods of hazel, blackthorn, or wych elm (willow or 

 briar can be used where these more durable woods are not 

 available), firmly put on in the opposite direction to the layering 

 and not less than 4 inches from the top of the stakes. 



10. The fence should be from 4 feet 6 inches high, from the 

 ground to the binder. 



11. No dead wood must be layered in gaps ; if there are not 

 sufficient rods on each side to fill up the gap by layering in 

 both directions, and thus protect any new quicks planted in 

 the line of the stools, it is better to cut it all away and pale 

 across the gap in a line with the stakes and binder. 



The paling prevents stock biting the new quicks, which 

 thej' invariably do through the ordinary rails, unless set out at 

 a great distance from the fence, which is for many reasons 

 objectionable. It is useless to plant new quicks in the gaps of 

 an old fence unless the ground is renewed with fresh soil of a 

 clayish nature, years of drip on the accumulation of decayed 

 leaf have rendered the land so porous that, unless new soil 

 which will hold the moisture is provided, the young quicks 

 must inevitably die off. 



12. The soil out of the ditch should be used to make up the 

 bank. 



13. When the field on the ditch side of the fence is likely 

 to be stocked before the new growth from the stools is fully 

 established, the thorns which have been cut out of the fence 

 are usually placed in the ditch, otherwise stock are apt to get 

 down into it, bite off the young shoots on the opposite bank 

 and at the same time poach and destroy the ditch. In some 

 counties a guard rail from 2 feet 6 inches to 3 feet in height, 

 slightly inclined towards the field, is also fixed in front of the 

 ditch. 



14. Where a fence is on the flat (i.e., without a ditch) unless 

 there is an obvious reason otherwise, the fence should be 

 layered to the north or against the prevailing wind, so that 

 the young shoots from the stools may be sheltered as inuch as 

 possible. 



15. No saw must be used on any pretext. 



Gilbert Greenall. 



Waltou Hall, 

 Warrington. 



