432 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II. 



2770. Whei'e hedges are employed as fences^ it is of importance that tlie ditches be 

 drawn in such a direction as to serve the purposes of drains, and also that they may 

 receive the water from the covered drains that may be required in the fields contiguous. 

 According as the line of the fence is more or less convenient in this respect, the expense 

 of draining may be considerably diminished or increased. 



Sect. II. Of the diffierent Kinds of Fences. 



2771. Fences in regard to kind, may be arranged as live fences, dead fences, and 

 mixed kinds ; but there are four elementary species which are the foundation of all the 

 others ; the hedge, the ditch, the wall, and the paling. The hedge, when formed of the 

 white or black thorn, of the plum, or crab, or of the holly, is the cheapest, most dura- 

 ble, and the handsomest of all fences on a good deep soil : the ditch is the best on low 

 flat wet lands requiring much drainage ; the wall is the best for farming purposes in 

 almost all cases whatever; and the paling, whether fixed or temporary (as of hurdles), 

 is the most convenient as a nurse-fence to hedges for immediate or temporary use, and 

 for fencing in parks and scenery, where an air of lightness and freedom are objects of 

 approbation. From these simple or fundamental fences, a variety of compound ones 

 may be formed, a few of which we shall proceed to enumerate. 



SuBSECT. 1 . Ditch or Drain Fences. 



2772. Ditch fences, in their simple and original state, were considered rather in the light 

 of open drains than as fences. In a variety of instances, ditches are made for this 

 purpose only, where there is no intention whatever to enclose the field. They are, how- 

 ever, sometimes meant as a fence, but, in such cases, they are made very deep and wide ; 

 and the earth taken out of them is sometimes formed into a bank, the height of which, 

 when added to the depth of the ditch, forms a tolerable barrier. In general, however, 

 the greatest value of the ditch is met with when it is used in conjunction with other 

 fences. 



2773. The form of ditches is various ; some of them being of a uniform width both at top and bottom ; 

 others are wide above, and have a gradual slope downwards ; a third kind have one side sloping and the 

 other perpendicular. For whatever purpose the ditch is meant, the sloping form is by much the best ; as 

 it not only costs less money in the digging, but is at the same timfi much more durable, and has a neater 

 appearance. Where open ditches are indispensably necessary for the drainage of the field, the sloping 

 ditch is preferable to every other ; as the sides are not liable to tumble in or be undermined, or exca- 

 vated by the current of the water, when properly executed. The slope should be considerable ; perhaps 

 not less than three times the width at top that it is at bottom. 



2774. The open ditch, with a wall or perpendicular sides, is liable to much objection, both in its simple 

 and compound state : in its simple state the sides are perpetually tumbling in, especially after frosts or 

 heavy rains, and if the field round which these ditches are made has any considerable declivity, the bottom 

 is undermined, and large masses tumble down, bringing the hedge along with them. 



2775. The simple ditch, with a bank of earth, consists merely of a ditch sloping gradually towards the 

 bottom ; the earth taken out of it being formed into a bank on one side, leaving a scarcement, or 

 projecting space, of six or eight inches, on the side where the bank is formed, to prevent the earth from 

 tumbling in and filling up the ditch. 



2776. The double ditch, with a bank between, {fig. 379.) 

 is not often used, unless in cases where it is meant either 

 to plant hedges or trees on the bank between the ditches. 

 Considered as a fence, either with or without a hedge, it 

 has an advantage over the single ditch, as the earth taken 

 out of the two ditches, when properly laid up, will form 

 a bank of a somewhat formidable appearance, and which 

 cattle will not very readily attempt to break over. For 

 the purposes of open drainage, it is well adapted, especially by the sides of highways, where the lands have 

 a considerable declivity towards the road ; the ditch next the field, by receiving the water on that side, pre- 

 vents it from overflowing and washing the road, a circumstance which very frequently happens in such 

 situations ; while the ditch on the side next the road, by receiving and carrying off the moisture that 

 falls upon, and which would otherwise lodge there and destroy it, keeps it constantly dry and in good 

 repair. Where double ditches are made in the immediate vicinity of high grounds, or on the sides of high- 

 ways, care should be taken to prevent the water from the furrows, or side-drains, from running into the 

 main ditch at right angles. Where this is neglected, much trouble and inconvenience arises ; as when 

 the water comes from the height, during heavy rains in a straight line into the ditch, it presses with 

 accelerated force against the sides of it ; and if the soil is of a loose incoherent nature, the bank will be 

 undermined and washed away in many places. To prevent this, nothing more is requisite than to alter 

 the direction of the furrows, or small side-ditches, a few yards from their opening into the main ditch. 



2777. TJie bank of earth, with an upright facing of turves, and a slope behind, is a very common sort of 

 fence, and in some situations extremely useful ; in making folds, for instance, for the confinement of 

 sheep or cattle. It is also valuable on the sides of highways, for defending the adjoining grounds, and for 

 laying off clumps or belts of planting in the middle or comers of arable fields, for enclosing stack-yards, 

 cottages, gardens, &c. The front of the bank is made of a very steep slope, with the turf pared oflFfrom 

 the surface of the sloping ditch, and the mound at the back with the earth taken out of it. 



2778. The ha-ha, or sunk fence, is calculated chiefly for -_ 



fields that require no shelter, and where an uniform unbroken ^ ta 380 



prospect is an object, as is the case in gardens and extensive 

 lawns : but in all situations where shelter is wanted, the sunk- , 

 fence ought to be avoided, unless a hedge is planted upon the 

 top of it. Sometimes a medium between the sunk and raised 

 fence (^^.380.) is adopted, which makes both a durable and 

 unobtrusive barrier. 



2779. The double ditch and hedge is now general in many parts of Britain, especially 

 upon what are termed cold lands ; from an idea, that a single row of plants would not 



