28 On Hedging. 
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row ought to be laid towards the hedge at the first 
ploughing, and when the next becomes necessary, by 
the growth of the weeds, the mould is to be turned out- 
wards, being mindful then not to leave an open furrow 
close along side of the hedge, but to return the earth 
therein, by a slight scratch of the plough; or by ahand 
hoe, after the ploughing is finished. A small neat har- 
_row with handles to guide it by, will not only fill up this 
last trench the most expeditiously, but also break the 
clods, help to destroy the weeds, pulverize the soil, and 
will in a very short period, run over a great extent of 
hedging. The weeds among the stems of the plants, 
are always, however, to be drawn out by the hand, after 
the horse labour is accomplished. 
The hedge-course being well ploughed in the spring, 
a harrow of the above description will, in a light easy 
soil, free of stones, &c. be the best instrument to weed 
young hedges through the course of the summer. If 
the nature of the soil will not easily yield to this, a cul- 
tivator, which is a sort of flat shovel plough that runs 
horizontally through the surface with an equal wing on 
each side, and is used with a coulter, is most excellent 
for the purpose of weeding young hedges. 
It will in some places be prudent, after every dress- 
ing of the hedge-course, to open small water- ways across 
it, to prevent the accumulation of the rain water, and 
to throw it off piecemeal into the adjacent lands. ‘This 
is indispensibly necessary in hilly situations, where, in 
the time of heavy or long continued rains, the multitude 
of rills would soon gather into a torrent, or being con- 
