ARBORICULTURE IN HAMPSHIRE. 39 



throughout Britain. It is strange that a practice which destroys 

 every characteristic of our noblest trees, and prevents their healthy 

 development, should be so generally adopted. I am aware that 

 hedge-row trees are detested by farmers. In arable fields their 

 1 Minifying roots cause inconvenience, and occasionally break agri- 

 cultural implements. Their spreading heads injure valuable crops, 

 and destroy live fences where these exist. Consequently the 

 farmer's aversion to trees in arable fields is natural, and when 

 they cannot be removed a severe lopping is always appreciated. 

 He knows the more limbs that are severed from the parent stem 

 the less damage his crops will suffer, and he cai-es not whether 

 the trees are injured or benefited. Lopping, however severe, does 

 not remove the evil complained of, and where this cannot be done 

 without removing the offending trees, it is better to fell them at 

 once, as thereby the crops have the full benefit of light and air, and 

 the trees are converted into money instead of cumbering the 

 ground without increasing in size or value. From "YVeyhill to 

 Salisbury Plain numerous shaws (belts or strips in Scotland) are 

 planted on the rising grounds, and give the county a clothed 

 appearance. The same system prevails on all the prominent posi- 

 tions between "Whitchurch and Winchester. These shaws con- 

 sist almost exclusively of spruce, Scotch and silver firs, and the 

 contrast with hedge-rows of deciduous trees is pleasing and effec- 

 tive. They vary in width from twenty to over one hundred 

 yards, and have been planted for the double purpose of ornament 

 and shelter. In the majority of cases the wrong trees have been 

 selected in the first instance, and these have been rendered defec- 

 tive for shelter by overcrowding. No error in cultivating shaws 

 is so prevalent as neglecting to thin. The more limited they are 

 in width, the more reluctant the owner is to cut, and the sooner 

 the ruin resulting from overcrowding is completed. Few trees 

 suffer more from straightened quarters than the spruce and silver 

 firs, and as these are extensively planted in shaws, the mischief is 

 the more apparent. Shaws of a superior description may be pro- 

 duced by planting Pinus Austriaca, P. sylvestris (Scotch fir), Abies 

 morhida, and Picea cephalonica, in widths of not less than sixty or 

 eighty yards. All the trees should be induced to feather well to 

 the ground, and care taken to keep the trees intact, by preventing 

 the lateral branches from injuring each other. Every lateral 

 branch that is destroyed detracts from the beauty and symmetry of 

 the trees individually, and renders them less effective for shelter. 



