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A swampy bit of land that is useless for agricultural 

 purx30ses may be easily turned into a first class covert 

 with very little expense. The first and heaviest outlay 

 is the trenching, but that is an absolute necessity. 

 The initial work should be the main dyke, into which 

 all the trenches should empty. Each bed should be 

 between two and three yards wide with the inter- 

 vening trenches not less than eighteen inches deep, 

 and cut with a good slope. All that has to be done 

 then is to take cuttmgs from one or two year old osier 

 shoots about sixteen inches long and thrust them two- 

 t birds of their length into the ground. A six foot 

 bed will take two rows, and a ten foot bed three rows. 

 In an osier-bed destined for a fox covert, the plants may 

 be three feet both between and in the rows, although 

 half that distance is usually recommended when the 

 osiers are grown for market. In three years this will 

 be a good covert, after which the osiers should be cut 

 or laid. There are several varieties of osier, but the 

 dwarf kind as used for basket making is best for the 

 purpose. If the trenching has been successful in 

 rendering the bed moderately dry, blackberry briers 

 may be planted between the osiers in the second year. 

 In a weU managed osier bed, the produce of which is 

 cut and sold annually, the beds are kept religiously 

 clean and free from other plants, but as a fox covert 

 it is an advantage to retard the growth in order to 

 avoid cutting too frequently. The trenches may want 

 clearing out occasionally, but otherwise an osier-bed 

 requires little attention. Willow may be planted round 

 the outside for shelter, but the heads of stakes should 

 not be more than a foot above ground and the shoots 

 growing therefrom should be tojDped when sufficiently 

 high to break the wdnd. 



