LIVE-FENCES. 289 



in. " Hast not thou made a hedge about him, and 

 about his house, and about all that he hath on every 

 side?" Job i. 10. 



Among heathen writers there is also mention made 

 of fences of different kinds, and it appears that the 

 same plant (the hawthorn) -which we now employ for 

 hedges, was also a favourite with them. In the present 

 day, and in our own country, the whole system of 

 husbandry is so much altered, and live-stock is so often 

 kept in the neighbourhood of cultivated crops, that 

 attention to fences is no longer a matter of small im- 

 portance, but is absolutely necessary to the welfare of 

 the farmer. 



The time for making and renewing live-fences is 

 from the fall of the leaf, in autumn, until March or 

 April, and the operation is always most successfully 

 performed on good ground that has been perfectly freed 

 from weeds, well stirred with the plough and harrow, 

 and long exposed to the freshening influence of the 

 air. It should also be well manured, and sufficiently 

 limed to prevent worms from multiplying in the soil. 



There are several common plants for making hedges ; 

 but none is so well adapted for the purpose, or so much 

 employed as the common hawthorn. The reasons for 

 this preference are stated in few words by Withering : 

 " On account of the stiffness of its branches, the sharp- 

 ness of its thorns, its roots not spreading wide, and its 

 capability of bearing the severest winters without in- 

 jury, this plant is universally preferred for making 

 hedges whether to clip or to grow at large." 



The hawthorn (Cratcegus oxycantha) is the aubepine 

 of the French, and the Hagedorn or hedge-thorn of the 

 Germans. Its botanical name of cratcegiis signifies 

 strength, on account of the hardness and stubbornness of 

 the wood. The plant makes a hedge so well furnished 

 with thorns as to be quite impenetrable to cattle. The 

 brandies burn as well green as dry, and are often used 

 in heating ovens; the tips of the young shoots are used 



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