298 



SKETCHES OP RURAL AFFAIRS. 



double railing will be required, until the plants have 

 become strong. 



HEDGE WITH POSTS AND RAILS. 



It is very common in many parts of England to see a 

 hedge raised upon an elevated bank of earth to protect 

 it from a cold or wet soil ; but the plan has these disad- 

 vantages, that the nourishment of the hedge-plants is 

 obtained only or chiefly from the bank on which it 

 grows, which is scarcely sxifficient to keep it vigorous ; 

 that in very severe winters, when the frost lasts long, 

 there is danger of this bank being penetrated, and the 

 hedge entirely destroyed ; and that the space occupied 

 by this kind of embankment is considerable, and cannot 

 be considered less than a waste of soil. Sometimes this 



HEDGE OF COPPICE-WOOD. 



sort of fence is made, not of thorn, but of coppice-wood 



cut short. 



