754 



PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. 



Part III. 



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1507. 7*evlMtf*rem pUntotkm* ought generally lobe regulated by Ui« s value of the fajjlftr 



ricStural uses, and the advantages of the situation for the sale and ddWay ot Umber. In ordinary 



cases from two to four itatute polea mar be considered as an eligible width, .^.j 



//„ ,,„■„, w pfentodYmi for shelter, however, » ,11 not In every case be that of a stripe or bel ol 



uniform width. In i.llv. rocky, and other situations, different tan .will suggest themselves sccordnig 



to the situation and the objects w view. In rocky abrupt sites L/fc.717.) the plantation will consist oi a 



717 







number of masses (a, b, c), of forms determined bv the rocks and precipices, among which some of the 

 most valuable pasture mav be left as glades (</, e), for use, effect, and for the sake of game. Strips mid 

 hedges for sheltering, or separating arable lands, should be formed as much as possible in straight and 

 parallel lines, in order not to increase the expense of tillage by short and irregular turnings. Straight 

 parallel strips, on irregular surfaces, have a more varied appearance at a distance, than strips ever so 

 much varied on a flat surface; for, in the former case, the outline against the sky is varied as much as 

 that on the earth. In extensive hilly pastures, in which it is often desirable to produce shelter, and at 

 the same time to plant only the most rocky and unproductive spots, the forms may be of the most irre- 

 gular description ; and by' planting chiefly on the eminences and slopes {Jig. 718.), shelter will be most 

 „. R effectually produced, the pasture improved, the least valu. 



' l ,, _^, ^ able ground rendered productive in copse or timber, and the 



greatest richness and picturesque beauty conferred on the 

 landscape. There are some tine examples of this in the 

 hilly districts of Fifeshire: there, on many estates where 

 nothing was sought for but profit and shelter, the greatest 

 beautv has been produced ; and the picturesque tourist now 

 passes through glades and valleys, pastured by well-fed cattle 

 and sheep, enlivened by rocks, thickets, hanging-woods, and 

 occasional rills and lakes. Fifty years ago scarcely a tree 

 was to be seen, and only the most inferior descriptions of 

 live stock. 



4589. The species of woody plants best adapted for shelter, 

 are the rapid-growing and evergreen trees, as the Scotch 

 pine ; and such as are at the same time clothed with branches 

 from the ground upwards, as the spruce fir, are the best of 

 all trees for shelter, unless the situation is very elevated. 

 Among the deciduous trees, the fast-growing branchy sorts 

 are most desirable, as the larch, birch, poplar, willow ; in 

 very elevated situations, the birch, mountain-ash, and Scotch 

 pine ; exposed to the sea breeze, the elder and sycamore. 

 To maintain a branchy leafy screen from the ground up- 

 wards, intermix tree and shrubs which stole; or such as 

 grow under the shade and drip of others, as the holly, hazel, 

 dog-wood, box, yew, &c. To produce shelter, and yet admit 

 of the growth of grass below the trees, prune any sort to 

 single stems, and use chiefly deciduous sorts. 



4590. In bleak and barren situations, Marshal observes, 

 the larch will generally be found the most profitable, as 

 timber ; but, being deciduous, it does not in winter, when 

 its services are most wanted, afford as much shelter as the 

 common pine. A skreen, to shelter live stock, should be 

 close at the bottom, otherwise it is injurious rather than 



beneficial ; not only the blast acquiring additional current, but snow being liable to be blown through, 

 and to be lodged in drifts on the leeward side, to the annoyance and danger of sheep that have repaired 

 to it for shelter. A larch plantation margined with spruce firs, and these headed at twelve or fifteen 

 fret high, would afford the required shelter for a length of years. I he firs or pines, thus treated, would 

 be induced to throw out lateral boughs, and feather to the ground: while the larches, in their more 

 advanced state of growth, would, by permitting the winter's winds to pass through the upper parts ot the 

 skreen, break the current and mellow the blast. . ... ,* , 



4591. In more genial situations, the beech, by retaining its leaves in winter, especially while it is young, 

 forms a valuable skreen If the outer margins were kept in a state ot coppice wood, and cut alternately, 

 and the middle ranks suffered to rise as timber trees, the triple purpose ot skreen plantations might be 

 attained in an eminent degree, and almost in perpetuity. 



M9& In deeps,,,/,;/ ,,,,/e districts, which not unfrequently want shelter, skreens of oak might be 

 managed in a similar way. Hollies, or other hardy evergreens, planted as underwood, m groves ot 

 either of the above descriptions, would, if suitable situations were assigned them, assist much in this 

 intention. . . , 



459X A /all impervious fence is, for the purpose of shelter to pasturing stock, nearly equal to a depth of 

 coppice wood, and infinitely preferable to an open grove of timber trees : beside its additional use as a 

 fence There appears one species of fence which is peculiarly adapted to this purpose. I his is the 

 coppice mound hedge of Devonshire and South Wales; namely, a high wide bank or mound of earth, 

 planted with coppice woods. This becomes, immediately on its erection, a shelter and a guard to 

 pasture grounds. 



4.'>9 1. The mrtluul of farming frnctl of this kind is to carry up 

 a stratum of earth, between two sod ibcingi, " battering," or 

 leaning v.mifuti.it inward, to the required height ; and to plant 

 on the top the roott and lower ■torn of coppice plants, ni- 

 tlicnd in wo, .d. or on warte grounds ; orrranerj plants adapted 

 to the given situation. If the mound be canted to a full hemht, 

 as five or six feet, and about tliat widlh at the ton, and this lie 

 planted with Itiong plants, with stems rut off about two feet 

 above the roots (In the usual practice of Devonshire), a suf- 



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ficienl Once is thus Immediately formed against ordinary stock. 



Itut If the bulk be lowei*j ->r If nursery plants be put in, a slight 

 guard run along the outer brink on either side, and leaning 



outward over the bee of the mound, is required (especially 

 against sheep) until the plants get up. If a hedge of this kind 

 be raised as a plantation finee (especially on the lower side of a 

 slope), the outer side only requires to be fact d with sods ; the 

 hedge plants being set in a rough shelving bank, on the inner 

 side. 



