192 



HED 



HED 



satisfactory ascertainment of tne 

 cost of this species of fence. For 

 the expence of the hedge, this 

 year, has been nothing except the 

 annual trimming. It is, uj)on an 

 averaiie nearly tive feet high ; and 

 a S'lrticient security agairjst cattle, 

 for almost the whole extent ; and 

 is e\erv day strengthening, without 

 any application of attention or la- 

 bour. 



Mr. Qiiincy then gives a particu- 

 lar account of every item of the 

 expence in preparing the groimd, 

 purcliasing, setting out and trim- 

 ming the trees, and makes the 

 whole expense of making two hun- 

 dred aiui tift)-tive rods of hedge 

 fence ^167,93 cents, /ess than sixty 

 SIX cents a rodl He concludes the 

 article with the following remarks. 



" The course best to be adopt- 

 ed. h;n'iMg referei ce to the econo- 

 my of iabotir, i.< Ujought to be the 

 following : 



" Plough tlse hedge course six 

 feet zoide, Plnnt the whole course 

 one year to potatoes. This pays 

 for the labour as much as other 

 land thus planted. Set the thorns 

 eight inches apart. This is near 

 enough in a country like this, 

 where hogs are not permitted to 

 run at large, and makes a consid- 

 erable saving in labour as well as 

 the cost of the plants. Keep both 

 sides of the hedge planted with po- 

 tatoes, during the whole six years 

 that the hedge is coming to perfec- 

 tion. The potatoes will nearly pay 

 the cost of the labour. The ma- 

 nure for the potatoes benefits the 

 hedge; and while having the pota- 

 toes, keeping the hedge clean of 

 weeds is easy. 



" To keep the hedge clear of 

 weeds, and to Jill up the vacancies 

 regularly in the spring of every 

 year, with plants of the same age 

 with those of the original hedge, 

 are the two essential objects of at- 

 tention after the hedge course is 

 prepared and the plants are set. 

 Younger plants may answer, but 

 whoever would make a hedge, in 

 the most speedy and perfect man- 

 ner, ought to procure at the time 

 of obtaining the plants for the ori- 

 ginal hedge, a sufficient extra 

 number to supply all deficiencies 

 likely to occur during the whole 

 time the hedge is forming; to be 

 kept in a nursery thriving, if possi- 

 ble a little better than those in the 

 hedge course. Experience has 

 satisfied me that two for every te7i 

 planted in the hedge course, is a 

 number more than sufficient for 

 this object.* 



In the statement of expense, I 

 have made no allowance for pro- 

 tecting fences. Where these are 

 necessary, their expense must be 

 added. In my experiment, by ex- 

 cluding cattle, the necessity for 

 them was obviated. Whatever 

 these may cost, the economy of 

 this species of fence, when its du- 

 rability is taken into view, (to say 

 nothing of its ornamental nature,) 

 must be sufficiently apparent."! 



It is often found necessary to 

 plash, or interweave the branches 



* This calculation is too large, one in fif- 

 ty, is quite sufficient. 



t It ought to be stated, that the Virginia 

 Tlioin, of which Mr. Quincy's hedge was 

 made, though rapid in growth, and though 

 in high reputation at the date of his letter, is 

 found to be less adapted to the purpose, than 

 the English wMte Thoin. 



