80 On Hedge Pruning. 



tice of cutting over the tops yearly, which is done 

 with a view to render the hedge thicker and more per- 

 fect, is one of these mistakes which we would natu- 

 rally have supposed common sense and observation 

 would have sooner corrected ; the effect produced be- 

 ing in almost every instance, the very reverse of what 

 was intended : shortening the main stem of a thorn or 

 any other plant, makes it brush out a number of small 

 stems immediately at the place where it has been cut ; 

 and if this operation is repeated once or twice a year, 

 every one of these is again subdivided as it were, by 

 sending out more branches ; thus, in a course of years, 

 during which, the hedge makes very small progress 

 upwards, if it be examined, instead of being found to 

 consist of strong vigorous plants, with a good main 

 trunk, each reaching from top to bottom of the hedge, 

 and a sufficient number of lateral branches throughout 

 the whole length of it, it will be found, by such re- 

 peated cuttings, in the same stunted situation as cer- 

 tain young trees and shrubs, that are frequently crop- 

 ped by sheep or cattle. From the repeated crops of 

 young shoots, which the tops send out after every clip- 

 ping, and the great quantity of nourishment necessary 

 to support such additional numbers, the lateral shoots 

 at the bottom, upon the strength and numbers of which 

 the value of the hedge in a great measure depends, 

 are stinted in their growth, and soon die : the hedge, 

 of course, becomes open and naked at the bottom, and 

 consequently useless as a fence. Where a hedge has 

 been thus ruined, there is no remedy but cutting it 

 over, close by the ground : this will immediately pro- 

 duce a number of healthy, vigorous, upright stems, 



