Book II. LAYING OUT FARM LANDS. 623 



3895. Climate. The last circumstance to be considered in determining the proper size 

 of fields, is the nature of the climate. In dry and cold climates, small enclosures are 

 desirable on account of shelter ; whereas, in wet countries the fields under culture can- 

 not be too open and airy for the purpose of drying the ground, of bringing forward and 

 ripening the grain, and of enabling the farmer more easily to secure it during an un- 

 favorable harvest, by having a free circulation of air. But though on large farms, fields 

 should in general be formed on an extensive scale, yet there is a convenience in having 

 a few smaller fields near the farm-house for keeping the family cows ; for turning out 

 young horses, mares, and foals ; for raising a great variety of vegetables ; and for trying 

 experiments on a small scale, which may afterwards be extended, if they shall be found to 

 answer. Where enclosures are too large for particular purposes, and where no small 

 fields, as above recommended, have been prepared, large fields may be subdivided by 

 sheep-hurdles, a sort of portable fence well known to every turnip-grower. In this 

 way, great advantage may be derived from the constant use of land that would other- 

 wise have been occupied by stationary fences ; and the expense of subdivisions, which, 

 on a large farm, would necessarily have been numerous, is thereby avoided. This 

 fence is perfectly effectual against sheep, though it is not so well calculated for stronger 

 animals. On dry soils, where sheep are generally pastured, it is not unlikely that by 

 using moveable hurdles, the expense of permanent fences might in a great measure be 

 saved. 



3896. The shape ofjields may be either square or oblong. 



3897. Square jields. The advantage of having the fences in straight lines, and the 

 fields, when large, of a square form, is unquestionable, as the ploughing of them, under 

 this arrangement, can be carried on with much greater dispatch. Some farmers, whose 

 fields are of a waving or uneven shape, and who enclose with hedge and ditch, carry 

 their fence through the hollows, or best soil, with a view of raising a good hedge, thus 

 often sacrificing, for the sake of the fence, the form of their field. A straight line, however, 

 is preferable, even though it should be necessary to take some particular pains to enrich 

 the soil for the hedge, where it is thin and poor, on any elevation. By means of the 

 square form, an opportunity is afforded of ploughing in every direction, when necessary; 

 and less time is lost, in carrying on all the operations of husbandry in a field of that 

 form than of any other shape. When the waving form is necessary to secure proper 

 water runs, plantations may be so disposed as to reduce the fields to squares or oblongs, 

 and the fences to straight lines. Rectangular fields have another advantage, that in 

 fields of that shape it may be known, whether the ploughmen have performed their duty, 

 the quantity of work done being easily calculated, from the length and breadth of a cer- 

 tain number of ridges. 



3898. Ohlong Jields. When fields are small, an oblong shape should be preferred, 

 that the ploughings may be dispatched with as few turnings as possible. This form has 

 also other advantages. The fields are more easily subdivided, and water can in almost 

 every case be got, by making proper ponds in the meeting or joining of three or four 

 fields, whose gutters or. ditches will convey water to the ponds. In turnip soils, where 

 the shape is oblong, it is easier to divide the turnips with nets or hurdles, for the conve- 

 nience of feeding them off with sheep. If the ridges are too long, and the field dry and 

 level, the length may be reduced by making cross head-lands, or head-ridges, at any place 

 that may be considered the fittest by the occupier. [Code of Agr. 152 to 157.) 



3899. Hedge-row trees are very generally objected to by agriculturists. Notwithstand- 

 ing the garden-like appearance which they give to the landscape, " it seems to be agreed 

 by the most intelligent agriculturists that they are extremely hurtful to the fence, and 

 for some distance to the crops on each side ; and it is evident, that in many instances the 

 highways on the sides of which they often stand, suffer greatly from their shade. It has 

 therefore been doubted, whether such trees be profitable to the proprietor, or beneficial 

 to the public ; to the farmer they are almost in every case injurious, to a degree beyond 

 what is commonly imagined. {Supp. to Encyc. Brit, art. Agr. ) 



3900. The opinion of Loch, a well informed and unprejudiced improver of landed property, is of an op. 

 posite description. He says, there is no change in the rural economy of England more to be regretted 

 than the neglect which is now .shown to the cultivation and growth of hedge-row timber. The injury 

 which it does to the cultivation of the land is much exaggerated, especially if a proper selection of trees 

 is made; but even the growth of the ash, so formidable to agriculturists, might be defended on the 

 ground, that without it the best implements employed in the cultivation of the soil could not be made. 

 It is well known that good hedge-row timber is by far the most valuable both for naval and domestic 

 purposes. Its superior toughness rendering it equally valuable to the ship and to the plough-wright 

 The value which it is-of in affording shelter, is also of material use ; besides, the raising of grain is not the 

 only purpose of life, or the only matter to be attended to, nor the only object worthy of attention. The 

 purposes of war and of national glory, the protection and the extension of our commerce, the construction 

 and repair of buildings, and even the enjoyment arising from the rich and beautiful effect produced by 

 such decoration and ornament, are all objects of material importance to the well-being and constitution 

 of a highly cultivated state of society. Even upon the more narrow basis of individual utility, this practice 

 might be defended and recommended ; for it is not useless to consider how many families aiid estates have 

 been preserved, when pressed by temporary difficulties (from which none are exempted), from a fall oi 

 hedge- row timber. One of the best legacies wliich a great proprietor can leave his country and his family 

 is an estate well stocked with such trees. '* 



