292 ftbe <3atfcen 



foot ; and the season to do the work in may be 

 from the entry of February till the end of 

 March, or else in September to the beginning 

 of December. When this is finished, you must 

 guard both the top of your bank, and outmost 

 verge of your ditch, with a sufficient dry hedge, 

 interwoven from stake to stake into the earth, 

 which commonly they do on the bank to secure 

 your quick from the spoil of cattle. And then, 

 being careful to repair such as decay, or do not 

 spring, by supplying the dead and trimming 

 the rest, you shall, after three years' growth, 

 sprinkle some trees amongst them, such as oak, 

 beech, ash, maple, fruit, and the like ; which, 

 being drawn young out of your nurseries, may 

 be very easily inserted. 



I am not, in the meantime, ignorant of what 

 is said against the scattering these masts and 

 keys among our fences ; which grown, overtop 

 the subnascent hedge, and prejudice it with 

 their shade and drip. But this might be pre- 

 vented by planting hollies, proof against these 

 impediments, in the line or trench where you 

 would raise standards, as far as they usually 

 spread in many years, and which, if placed at 

 good distances, how close soever to the stem, 

 would, besides their stout defence, prove a won- 

 drous decoration to large and ample enclosures. 

 But to resume our former work, That which 



