THORN HEDGES AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 65 



coming away from the butts of the trees, and so keeping the 

 hedge close at the bottom as a hedge should be. If the ground 

 is trenched as already explained, it should not need hoeing for 

 more than the first year or two, but it would help the hedge if 

 the ground on either side of it were dug over, say, every second 

 year, as this would aerate the soil but would not injure the 

 roots. 



It is often argued that it does not pay to spend so much time 

 on cleaning hedges, but if this is not done they get open at the 

 bottom, and patching with rails has to be resorted to, which 

 entails a greater expense than the payment of a small sum each 

 year for keeping them free from weeds. The drain alongside 

 the hedge should always be kept under observation, and any 

 obstructions should be removed, for hardy as the thorn is it will 

 not grow if the soil is saturated with water. 



Prufitfig or Sivitching. — This operation must be commenced 

 early in the life of a hedge if it is to be kept close, firm and of 

 a good shape. The first year after planting a slight pruning 

 should be given, just to cut back any straggling growths, and to 

 prevent the hedge from getting wild or uneven. Afterwards, to 

 keep a hedge firm and strong it should be switched every year. 

 In time, however, it may get thin at the bottom, when some 

 method has to be employed to re-form it. Switching is best done 

 with a pruning-hook or hedge-bill, but in many parts it is done 

 with a hook known in different localities as a fagging-hook, or 

 brush-hook- The latter is very handy where the growth is light, 

 but the use of it tends to let the hedge get top-heavy and too 

 wide, as the workmen cannot cut so close in with it as they can 

 with a hedge-bill. 



Methods of Re-Forming Hedges. 



In the south of England, when a hedge gets too wide and 

 unwieldy, or too thin at the bottom, it is stripped, that is to say, 

 all the side branches are cut off and the stems are cut down to 

 within 2 ft. 6 ins. or 3 feet of the ground, practically nothing being 

 left but the butts of the thorns. The gaps, if any, are then 

 beaten up with young transplants from the nursery, and the 

 hedge is protected where necessary by hurdles or by a light, 

 temporary fence — generally by hurdles. It is left thus for a year 

 or so until the young shoots again form a bushy hedge, and the 

 switching then goes on as before. Layering is very seldom 

 vol. xxvi. part I. E 



