NEGLECTED FENCES. 311 



should be used in preference to the hawthorn, as 

 sending off little or no evaporation. 



Of the existing fences very many are allowed to out- 

 grow their strength, and become heavy at the head and 

 thin at the roots ; or they are full of gaps, rudely stopped 

 up with stones or pieces of wood, to the certain destruc- 

 tion of the plants on either side ; or they are so injudi- 

 ciously pruned as to be weakly in their growth. Such 

 neglect is scarcely to be excused, because the business 

 of hedging and ditching is carried on during winter, 

 when labour is comparatively scarce, and when the 

 farmer can hardly find employment for all the people 

 he is expected to support. 



In conclusion, let us say a few words in recommen- 

 dation of the holly. Its fitness for a fence, by reason of 

 its beauty, strength, and prickly foliage, has been already 

 noticed ; but the slowness of its growth, and the expense 

 of keeping it protected while it is rising to the proper 

 height, have likewise been quoted as the reasons why 

 we so seldom see it employed. These may indeed be 

 reasons why the holly should not become general as a 

 common farm-fence ; but they are not sufficient reasons 

 why the plant should be so little cultivated in parks and 

 pleasure-grounds, where it would certainly form an ex- 

 ceedingly beautiful addition, whether as a fence or as a 

 separate tree. Yet even as a farm-fence it need not be 

 despaired of. " For home districts," says Mr. Grigor, 

 " and especially for grazing grounds, no tree presents so 

 many qualifications for a hedge as the holly. Being a 

 close-growing shrub, and an evergreen, it forms a most 

 desirable shelter for cattle pasturing in fields surrounded 

 by it ; and as it grows much better than the hawthorn 

 under hedge-row trees, (which are absolutely necessary 

 around grazing lands.) it ought, in every case, to be 

 adopted in enclosing meadows and pastures not over- 

 charged with moisture. It is, besides, a much more 

 beautiful object than the hawthorn ; and being recom- 

 mended near to dwellings, it is important to remember 

 that it does not exhale any perceptible vapour. Added 



