ROADSIDES AND HEDGES 
ascertained, and the trees should in mapping 
be put down accurately on squared paper, 
ruled to a definite scale. What applies to the 
trees also applies to the scrub. 
In surveying the ground flora it is not enough 
to make a list of the plants found in the wood 
in order of dominance, noting the relative fre- 
quency of each, but attention should be paid 
to the form of association, and to the relative | 
position of certain types which occur in a 
245 
definite connection with each other. As there 
are early and late flowering periods, surveys 
should be made at different seasons of the 
year, in order to get a full and accurate idea 
of the whole formation. The conditions of 
light, moisture, height, soil, &c., must also 
be noted in each case, so that a connected idea 
may be formed of the full nature of the en- 
vironment and its influence upon the woodland 
flora. 
SECTION VI 
ROADSIDES AND HEDGES 
Accessibility of the Roadside.—One of the 
features that the roadsides possess in common 
with meadows and pastures, or fields, for the 
botanist commencing to study plants in the 
field, is their accessibility. There is, in fact, 
no law of trespass applicable to roadsides. It 
is advisable to respect the rights of those who 
rent the grass strips on each side of the road 
during the summer for the grass which is laid 
to hay. This ought not to be promiscuously 
trampled down. Other points to notice are 
the necessity of avoiding the breaking down 
of weak fences, or the damaging of trees or 
hedges, by making gaps. 
Diversified Character of the Roadsides.—The 
roads or highways are essentially diversified. 
One of their main features is their continuity, 
which causes the flora to be exceptionally 
varied. Thus we may pass from a road in 
the west amongst ancient rocks of a sandy or 
siliceous character to others in the Pennines 
where limestone predominates, and the change 
in the flora will be most marked. 
Moreover, roads exhibit a great variation 
in form. Some roads, especially the Roman 
roads, are remarkably straight, and the aspect 
is thus essentially the same, whereas other 
roads are extremely winding in character, and 
we may thus have the opposite aspects upon 
the same side of the road. 
Then there are upland and lowland roads, 
the former more ancient. The plants of the 
one differ from those of the other. Frequently 
a road will exhibit repeated undulations as it 
crosses transversely a series of valleys, and 
this will give the flora a diversified character, 
introducing alternate wet and dry conditions. 
Artificial and Modern Character of Roads.— 
A road is essentially artificial in character. 
But in spite of this fact there are even from the 
natural point of view some features of interest, 
e.g. the dispersal of certain groups of plants 
by their agency, and the juxtaposition of three 
or four types of vegetation that make it of 
particular interest, as the sward, hedge, and 
ditch. 
Moreover, it is really chiefly the macadam- 
ized part that is entirely artificial and of no 
especial interest, though even this has its 
special features, as the predilection of certain 
plants for macadam borders, e.g. Silverweed, 
and especially some mosses that are rarely 
found (though naturally they do exist) else- 
where, e.g. Pottia bryoides, dependent upon 
the dispersal of nitrogenous matter in manure, 
&e. 
Then, again, roads, especially primitive un- 
fenced roads, or the roadsides, are actually 
parts of ancient pasture or meadow, or even 
woodland in many cases. 
As a whole, roads, however, are modern, and 
it is only a question of degree in each case. 
The ancient roads naturally are likely to have 
a more varied flora, made up of plants that 
have been carried along them by human 
agency or otherwise, and the more modern 
roads will necessarily be more uniform. 
Enclosure of Roads.—As a general rule, 
roads, especially main roads, are bounded by 
hedgerows or walls, and where necessary and 
possible by ditches. But very often in country 
districts the road, which is in such cases inter- 
sected at each field boundary by gates, is not 
enclosed at all, but is simply a macadamized 
track through fields, often arable. 
This, moreover, is very largely the case in 
hilly districts, where there are large tracts of 
heather or furze which may or may not be 
common land. It was at the time of the en- 
closure of the common lands that the majority 
of the roads now fenced in were also enclosed, 
so that the enclosing portions, hedgerows and 
