i8o FENCING AND DRAINING 



formed should be trimmed annually, and if this is done it can 

 be kept in good condition for thirty or forty years and more. 

 When this has not been done it will usually become gappy 

 and useless, and must be restored. Often such a hedge is cut 

 down to the ground to coppice, but this is a bad method as 

 there is then no effective fence for some years. When it is 

 short and gappy it must be allowed to grow for some years 

 till it is tall enough to be laid ; this can be done immediately 

 with high rough hedges. First, all decaying stumps should 

 be cut off level with the ground, and rods for wattling should be 

 chosen from the most vigorous stools, the straightest being 

 preserved and all others not wanted being cut out. Honey- 

 suckle, clematis, brambles, rose, and elder should be got rid 

 of as they do great harm. The bank, if there is one, should 

 be repaired. Stakes, cut if possible from material in the 

 hedge, are placed at a feet apart, and the rods are then half 

 cut through a few inches from the ground with, whenever 

 possible, an upward cut ; these are bent downwards and are 

 wattled between the stakes. The brush should be trimmed 

 off nearest the hedger, so as to leave a straight side, as this 

 facilitates his work. Care must be taken not to put in too 

 much material as otherwise there is insufficient room for 

 young growth. The hedge may be laid, where there is no 

 bank, to a height of 4 feet, but on a bank it may be less than 

 this. After the rods are laid the brush is trimmed and a 

 header or binder, which consists of a number of thin hazel 

 rods, is interwoven about the tops of the stakes. This keeps 

 the brush down and increases the strength of the hedge. In 

 future years the hedges should be kept in good condition by 

 annual trimmings. 



Cost of hedging operations. The cost of the various opera- 

 tions described was approximately as follows before the war: 



Preparation of flat bed, about 2s. per chain. 



Cost of three-year-old plants, about 15^. per 1,000. 



Cost of planting ditto, about is. per chain. 



