37 6 THE SHIRES AND THEIR FENCES. 



The cut-and-laid (Figs. 222, 223 and 224), which is often 

 wrongly called a stake-and-bound, is made out of a hawthorn 

 hedge, by lopping off the superfluous branches and twigs ; 

 cutting about half through the lower part of the stems (trunks) 

 of the bushes, so as to enable them to be readily bent; 

 arranging them at an angle of about 45 to the ground, 

 and twisting-in the branches and upper portion of the 

 stems, so as to form an almost impenetrable obstacle of a 

 height, usually, from 3^ ft. to 5 ft. The construction of 

 these fences costs money, and requires skill which is not 

 possessed by every farm labourer. This useful art is more 

 highly cultivated in Leicestershire than in any other county, 

 and is put into practice throughout the Midlands by local 

 authorities for keeping down the height and adding to the 

 strength of the whitethorn hedges by the roadside. In time, 

 the severed branches of a cut-and-laid begin to throw out 

 shoots and leaves, so that the once trim fence sometimes 

 assumes a dilapidated appearance (Fig. 224). As the vast 

 majority of the fences in the Shires are of ha\vthorn, the 

 cut-and-laid, in more or less perfect repair, is the typical jump 

 of that part of the world. Prizes are very frequently given 

 now by members of Midland Packs for " Hedge-Cutting 

 Competitions," which are very popular, and encourage 

 farmers and their men to practise this art, and not to 

 rely on wire. 



When a hawthorn hedge, instead of being lowered, trimmed, 

 and twisted upon itself in orthodox cut-and-laid style, is 

 allowed to grow wild, it assumes the type of the bullfinch, 

 which, when practicable, can be crashed through (with an arm 

 over the eyes, and the head lowered), but not jumped, in the 

 ordinary sense of the term. 



The increasing care which has been devoted during late 

 years to thorn fences in Leicestershire, has considerably 

 reduced the number of bullfinches in that county. Long ago, 



