5^ BRITISH HUSBANDRY. [Ch. XLIII. 



being permitted to pass through a hedge, are much weakened by their 

 being subdivided into numerous smaller ones*." Thorn-hedges are, there- 

 fore, in our opinion — without any prejudice in favour of their beauty — to 

 be preferred ; but that fence should be constructed which is best suited to 

 the situation of the farm ; and in many places dry rubble can be plentifully 

 found upon the ground, or quarried at a trifling expense for the erection of 

 wails, where the country is too bleak to rear a hedge without great expense 

 of time and money. 



In speaking of stone-walls, as farm fences, it must of course be under- 

 stood that we merely allude to dry stone-icalls, piled together without 

 mortar ; for lime is too costly to be employed in field fencing, unless in parts 

 of the country where lime-stone is abundant, and lime consequently of 

 trifling value, in which case the coping may not inappropriately be fixed 

 with mortar. The builder must of course make use of the materials which 

 are at hand. Eound stones, or any wearing a smooth appearance, are the 

 very worst ; while lime-stone, large flint, and the sand-stone found in gra- 

 velly deposits of the size of one foot to four in diameter, are the best, as 

 they easily split into their layers when extracted from the earth, and after- 

 wards liarden by exposure. If the stones are indifferent, it is recommended 

 by Mr. Lambert — whose experience in Irish farming entitles his opinion to 

 attention — " to have two or three casts of a good long binding kind, 

 dropped among the bad, to each perch of your wall, in order that they may 

 be placed occasionally across it, to bind tlie bad stones together. Manage 

 to have at least nine or ten, of what are called ' trougli-stones,' to every six 

 or seven yards at least, in each course of the work. Care also must be 

 taken to fill, or pack, the centre of the wall with small stones, the more 

 angular the better; and if you dash your wall with mortar, it would be well 

 also to put some on the top of your finishing course before the coping; 

 which last should be put on while the mortar is wet, so as to fasten botli, 

 and mainly contribute to the strength of the wall f." 



" Much of the stability of any wall, of whatever material it may be built, 

 will however depend on the knowledge and dexterity of the builder. The 

 best builder of a dry wall is he who practises no other kind of building than 

 with dry materials; for any ordinary mason, particularly in building rubble- 

 work, depends so much on the lime keeping the small stones safe in the 

 inside of the wall, that he will not take the trouble to embed them firmly. 

 The strength of every wall depends greatly on the materials being firmly 

 arranged in its interior part ; an ordinary mason will therefore be found to 

 be a bad builder of stone fences for fields % ." A wall, to be a good fence, 

 should be at least five feet in height, and two feet and a half to three feet 

 at the base, tapering to fifteen inches, or a foot and half at the coping, 

 which should project two or three inches on each side of it, and may be 

 made of a rough slate. If gates be not admitted, a gap or two should be 

 left in each field, sufficiently large to admit a mounted horseman ; for, if it 

 be a sporting country, the hunters will otherwise break down the walls, and 

 occasion considerable mischief. The gaps may be filled in with a few pieces 

 of rough timber, fixed into holes made on each side so as to be removable 

 at pleasure ; and, if there be cattle in the field, a real sportsman will never 

 leave them open. 



* On Dry Stone-Walls, in which there are minute directions for their construction. 

 See Quart. Journ. of Agric, vol. cxi. 



J On the Rural affairs of Ireland, p. 152. 



1 Stephens, on Dry Stone-Walls, Quart. Jouru. of Agric, vol. iii. p. 243. 



