113 



is perfectly straight, or consists of a 

 number of straight lines joined to- 

 gether ; but when the direction is 

 curvilinear, some attention is requi- 

 site to fix the posts in such a manner 

 as to permit the wires which pass 

 through holes in them to be drawn 

 quite tight. To admit of this being 

 done, each post must be iixed into a 

 piece of wood or stone, and supported 

 by a brace on the concave side of the 

 curve ; and both the block and the 

 brace must be bimed so far under the 

 soil as not to be seen. Iron, or wire 

 hurdles, are too well known to re- 

 quire description. When either hur- 

 dles or fences, composed of posts and 

 rods of wire, are intended to keep out 

 hares and rabbits, the lower parts of 

 them, to th e height of about two feet, 

 require finer wires to be fixed to 

 them, in an upright direction, at 

 about three inches apart. 



Architectural fences are used in 

 small gardens, close to the house ; 

 and they should generally be low 

 walls, of open work, in the style of 

 the architecture of the building ; and 

 these walls may have piers at regular 

 distances, terminating in vases, or 

 other architectural ornaments, pro- 

 vided these are in harmony with the 

 house. These walls, and indeed all 

 other architectural, fences, should be 

 varied with shrubby plants planted 

 against them, so as to harmonise 

 them with the plants in the beds and 

 borders within. 



Hedges may either be of ever- 

 green.s, neatly cut, so as to form 

 living walls with standard plants at 

 regular distances to imitate architec- 

 tural piers ; or they may be formed 

 of a mixture of different kinds of 

 flowering slirubs with evergreen 

 standard low trees at regular dis- 

 tances. No plant makes a finer 

 flower-garden hedge than the Box, the 

 standards in v/hich may be formed of 

 Cypresses, Junipers, or Arbor Yitas. 



I On a larger scale the Holly makes an 

 excellent hedge, and the standards 

 may be of the variegated kinds of 

 Holly. For a mixed hedge of ever- 

 greens and deciduous flowering 

 shrubs, the Laurustinus, the Sweet- 

 Brier, the Pyracantha, and the 

 Cydonia japonica, with similar 

 shrubs, may be used, with the lower 

 kinds of American Thorns {Crafce- 

 gus), or the Chinese Crab {Pyrus 

 spectdhilis), as standards. A very 

 excellent flower-garden hedge may be 

 formed by training the Ivy, or any 

 climbing plant, over a slight wire 

 fence or trellis {fig. 14) ; and its uni- 

 formity may be broken, if it is very 



long, by standards, at regular dis- 

 tances, either of Ivy trained on iron 

 posts with umbrella tops, or of any 

 kind of low deciduous or evergreen 

 trees . The variegated species of Ivy, 

 the Ampelopsis, and a number of 

 other climbing shrubs, ligneous or her- 

 baceous, also make beautiful hedges 

 for shelter or separation in flower- 

 gardens. The Arbor Yita? and com- 

 mon Laurel, alternating with the 

 variegated variety, the narrow-leaved 

 variety, and the Portugal Laurel, also 

 make excellent flower-garden fences ; 

 as do the evergreen and variegated 



