THORN HEDGES AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 69 



would require much beating up, with consequent protection, 

 then he would root it out and erect a permanent iron-and- 

 wire fence. 



Disadvantages of the thorn hedge. — i. As before explained, the 

 hedge needs very careful attention to keep it stock-proof, and this 

 is more than ever necessary in the case of a plantation hedge, 

 for in a plantation sheep or cattle will do enormous damage 

 in a very short space of time. As will be seen from the com- 

 parative prices at the end of this paper, the cost of forming a 

 plantation hedge, and of erecting a protecting fence for it, with 

 the subsequent attention needed to keep it in repair, will be as 

 much as the erection of an iron-and-wire fence and its upkeep, 

 while it does not make such an efficient and lasting protection. 

 A farm hedge with two drains and two fences would be more 

 expensive than the iron fence. 



2. Trees cannot, or should not, be planted so close to a hedge 

 as to a fence ; for thorns are very impatient of shade, and the 

 drip from taller trees. Again, the trees would rob the thorns 

 of a great deal of their nourishment. Therefore, a larger area 

 can be planted when a fence is erected than when a hedge is 

 planted. 



3. If wire-netting is needed to protect the young plantation 

 for the first few years, it is easier and cheaper to erect when 

 there is an iron or wooden fence to hang it on. 



4. Rabbits like no place better than a hedgerow to burrow in. 

 Advantages of the thorn hedge. — i. The hedge, to a certain 



extent prevents the winds from gaining access to a wood, drying 

 and blowing the dead leaves away, and thus preventing the 

 formation of humus. 



2. The hedge serves as a nesting place for a few useful birds. 



3. On 3. level area the hedge serves as a shelter to a small 

 portion of the plants for a few years, though on a hillside this 

 advantage is, to a great extent, nullified. 



On the whole, the writer thinks that the disadvantages of a 

 hedge outweigh its advantages as compared with those of an 

 iron-and-wire, or a stob-and-wire, fence ; but the hedge is prefer- 

 able to a stob-and-rail fence, which would need renewing too 

 often, even if creosoted. Except for the cost of upkeep, the com- 

 parisons apply as well to the latter style of fence as to the iron- 

 and-wire fence. 



