HEDGE 



415 



HEDGE 



properly includes every kind of fence ; but 



the present details apply, for the most part, to growing 

 fences. Abercrombie says, that all outward hedges de- 

 signed as fences should have a ditch on the outside, 

 three or four feet wide at top, three deep, sloping to one 

 wide at bottom, raising a low bank on the inside on which 

 to plant the hedge. Having lined out the width of the 

 ditch, then along the inner edge lay a row of square spit 

 turves, grass side downwards, to form the beginning of 

 the bank, backing it up with spits of earths from the 

 formation of the ditch, and top it with a little of the fine 

 mould or crumbs ; and then upon this proceed to lay 

 the first row of plants. First let the sets be headed to 

 about five or six inches, and the roots trimmed ; then 

 lay them upon the bed of turf with their tops outward, 

 in an upward direction, about ten or twelve inches 

 asunder, covering their roots with mould, also out of the 

 ditch ; and then lay another row of turf along upon 

 the necks of the plants, and more mould from the ditch 

 upon and behind the turf ; and when the bank is thus 

 raised a foot above the row of sets, plant another row in 

 the same manner, placing each set against the spaces of 

 those of the first row, so covering them with more earth 

 from the ditch to the depth of three feet, sloping each 

 side to one foot width at bottom, and trim up all remain- 

 ing earth, throwing a sufficiency behind the top of the 

 banking to bank up the whole even. But in planting 

 for an outward fence, some form the ditch and bank 

 first as above, and plant the sets in two rows along the 

 top ; that is, after having formed the ditch and bank, 

 then levelling the top, forming a foot of border all along 

 a yard wide ; plant the sets along its middle upright, in 

 two rows a foot asunder, and six inches distant in each 

 row, observing the same when intended to raise a hedge 

 at once from seed sowed where you design the hedge to 

 be, sowing them along the top in drills a foot asunder. 

 Sometimes, when hedges are designed for middle fences 

 to divide fields, a two-sided bank is raised a yard high, 

 and as broad at top, having a slight ditch on each side ; 

 and each side of the bank is formed with square spit 

 turves from the adjoining ground, and the middle filled 

 up with mould from the ditches on each side ; so that 

 when finished, it forms a yard-wide border all the way 

 along the top, and along the middle of which plant two 

 rows of hedge-sets or seed, in drills, as before observed. 

 But hi places where no ditch nor raised bank is required.as 

 may be the case for middle hedges in the interior parts 

 of grounds, especially in gardens, then the place for the 

 hedge being marked out on the level ground two or three 

 feet broad, dig it along one good spade deep at least, 

 and then plant your sets of any sort in two rows, ranging 

 along the middle ; or, if you design to sow seeds, &c., of 

 any sort at once, where you intend to have the hedge, 

 sow them in two drills a foot asunder the whole length. 



In respect to general culture of these sorts of hedges, 

 it must be remarked that all such as are exposed to 

 cattle must, as soon as planted, be fenced either with a 

 stake and bush hedge, with hurdles, or with rails and 

 open paling, for four or five years, till the hedge grows 

 up, observing not to place the fence too close to the hedge 

 to interrupt its growth. The hedge must, also, be duly 

 weeded while young, and this should be particularly 

 attended to the first two years. 



Evergreen Hedge-shrubs are Holly, Yew, Laurel, 

 Laurustinus, Phillyrea, Alaternus, Bay, Furze, and Ever- 

 green Oak ; but the Holly and Yew form the best hedges 

 for general use. 



Deciduous Kinds. Hawthorn, Blackthorn, Crab, Elder, 

 Hornbeam, Beech, Elm, Lime-tree, and Alder are all 

 proper either for middling or tall hedges, as they may be 

 trained up from about six or eight to fifteen or twenty 

 feet high, and the Elm to double that height if required. 

 Privet is also sometimes used for moderately high hedges ; 

 and for low hedges, the Rose, Sweet-briar, Syringa, and 

 . Barberry. 



All full-trained hedges, in order to preserve them in 

 proper form, must be clipped, both on the sides and top, 

 once or twice a year, but never less than once ; and the 

 best time of the year for this work is summer, from about 

 the middle or latter end of June to the end of August, 

 for then the hedges will have made their summer shoots, 

 which should always, if possible, be clipped the same 

 season while in leaf, and before the shoots become hard, 

 whereby you will be able to perform the work more 

 expeditiously and with greater exactness, for regular 



hedges should be cut as even as a wall on the sides, and 

 the top as straight as a line ; observing, after the hedge 

 is formed to its proper height and width, always to cut 

 each year's clipping nearly to that of the former year, 

 particularly on the sides ; for by no means suffer them 

 to grow above a foot or two wide, nor suffer them to 

 advance upon you too much at top, where it is designed 

 or necessary to keep them to a moderate height. But 

 to keep hedges in perfectly good order, they should be 

 clipped twice every summer ; the first clipping to be 

 about Midsummer, or soon after, when they will have 

 made their summer shoots ; and as they will shoot 

 again, what may be called the autumn shoot, the second 

 clipping is necessary towards the middle or latter end of 

 August, and they will not shoot again that year. How- 

 ever, when it does not suit to clip them but once in the 

 summer, the clipping should not be performed until the 

 beginning of August ; for, if cut sooner, they will shoot 

 again, and appear almost as rough the. remainder of the 

 summer and all winter as if they had not been clipped. 

 Very high hedges are both troublesome and expensive 

 to cut. The clipping is sometimes performed by the 

 assistance of a high machine, scaffolding, or stage, twenty 

 or thirty feet high or more, having platforms at different 

 heights for the men to stand upon, the whole made to 

 move along upon wheels. It is composed of four long 

 poles for uprights, well framed together, eight or ten 

 feet wide at bottom, narrowing gradually to four or five 

 at top, having a platform or stage at every seven or 

 eight feet high, and one at the top of all ; and upon these 

 the man stands to work, each platform having a rail, 

 waist high, to keep the man from falling, and a sort of 

 ladder formed on one side for the man to ascend, and 

 at bottom for low wheels to move it along. Upon this 

 machine a man may be employed on each stage or plat- 

 form, trimming the hedge with shears, and sometimes 

 with a garden hedge-bill fixed on a handle five or six 

 feet long, which is more expeditious, though it will not 

 make so neat work as cutting with the shears. 



A hedge is not only an imperfect screen, but in other 

 respects is worse than useless, since nothing can be 

 trained to it, and its roots exhaust the soil in their 

 neighbourhood very considerably. As the south fence 

 of a garden, it may be employed ; and hawthorn, in 

 some respects, is the worst shrub that could be made 

 use of. It is the nursery of the same aphides, beetles, 

 and caterpillars, that feed upon the foliage of the apple 

 and pear, from whence they often spread to the whole 

 garden. Evergreen are better than deciduous hedges, 

 and more especially those of the holly, which is not so 

 slow a grower as is generally imagined. 



In a cloudy day, in April or May, the wind seems to 

 be actually refrigerated in passing through a thick 

 hawthorn hedge ; and this may be accounted for on the 

 same principle that cool air is obtained in the houses of 

 India by sprinkling branches of trees with water in their 

 verandas. Holly, laurel, and most evergreens exhale 

 but little moisture from their leaves, except for about a 

 month in June ; consequently, in April and May, when 

 we most require warmth, and in September and October, 

 the leaves of these, when fully exposed to the sun, become 

 heated to the touch to 85 or 90. Added to this, hoar 

 frost, or a deposition of moisture of any kind, never 

 attaches so readily, or remains for so long a time, upon 

 the foliage of evergreens as upon the sprays of deciduous 

 shrubs ; consequently, the refrigeratory power is greatly 

 diminished. When the garden is of considerable extent, 

 three or four acres and upwards, it admits of cross-walls 

 or fences for an increase of training surface and addi- 

 tional shelter. 



Hedges should always be clipped into a conical form, 

 as the diminution of the branches towards the top in- 

 creases their development at the bottom. 



Furze makes one of the best and handsomest of hedges 

 if kept regularly clipped. Upon the formation of such a 

 hedge, we have the following remarks by Mr. Mel., of 

 Hillsborough : The most ancient, and perhaps the most 

 simple of all fences, are walls made of turf. These walls, 

 however, are much injured by the atmosphere, and the 

 rubbing and butting of the cattle. To guard against 

 this they should be planted or sown with the U'lex 

 europa'us, or Furze. The roots of this plant will soon 

 penetrate the turf, and tend to bind the wall. The plants 

 not only afford shelter as well as food for the cattle, but 

 add to the height of the wall, and give it a formidably 



