FENCING. 289 



intermixing with the plashers, renders the 

 whole more close and impenetrable. 



In cases where two rows of quicks have 

 been planted, according to a common me- 

 thod, at the distance of a foot from each 

 other, the back row being plashed in any of 

 the above modes, and the front one being 

 cut down to the stub, would be the most 

 effectual method of preserving the present, 

 and producing a new fence. 



PLASHING, however, can only be effec- 

 tually and handsomely performed in cases 

 where there is a good portion of spray and 

 long pliable shoots or branches ; and when 

 the hedge has, if not youth, at least vigour 

 on its side, to send forth a luxurious growth, 

 and cover the naked appearance the plashers 

 would otherwise have. For the more hand- 

 some performance of this business also, there 

 is a season more suitable than another, viz. 

 the fall, or beginning of winter. At this 

 season, the shoots are more pliable than in 

 spring, when the sap begins to rise and cir- 

 culate ; at which time the shoots of all plants 

 are most brittle. 



After the hedge is plashed, the ditch, pro- 



