34 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



diich, drawn tiglit ami held by a stake at each 

 end ; the labourer holding his spade so as to j 

 preserve the angle of tlie ilitch, cuts the turf j 

 the whole length of the ime ; he then takes up; 

 the turf in parcels about ten inches broad and | 

 eighteen long, turns it over and lays it six! 

 inches back of the line, and in order to lay the 

 turf straight, the line should he taken uj) and ; 

 moved hack six inches, leaving a sarcement six I 

 inches broad between the ditcli dug and the | 

 line of turf laid up. The first turf being laid 

 up in this manner, the length of the line, beat 

 off the top earth of the turf, so as to leave it j 

 rising, or somewhat higher on the side next j 

 Ihe ditch; throw up some of !he loose earth I 

 from the ditch, behind the tur( ; take up a con- 1 

 ■venieni numi)er of plants, not a larger number | 

 Ih.u) will keep damp and fresh until covered, 

 and which shall have been prepared in the 

 same maimer as those for ground hedges, and 

 lay them al about ten inches from each other 

 upon llie sod, and so that about four inches of 

 that part of the plant which grew above the 

 ground shall reraam out, and immediately cover 

 them with the best earth from the ditch. This 

 done tlie length of the line, proceed by laying 

 on turf in like manner, and which l)eing cut 

 with the angle or slope of the dilch, will recline 

 back in a like angle, and when raised about nine 

 inches above the lower tier of plants, lay on an- 

 other lier of plants, placing the upper row or 

 tier of plants directly above the intervales in the 

 lower tier; then tinish the ditch, keeping the rich 

 earth taken from the top of the dilch near the 

 roots of the plants, and the cold earth taken from 

 the bottom of the ditch on the back side, giving 

 to the earth thrown out, the shape as near as 

 practicable, of the ditch dug, if it was turned 

 upside down, and the fence is done, excepting 

 tlie after attentions required to keep the plants 

 free from weeds and grass, and defending it, un- 

 til grown, from animals, and splashing, or crop- 

 ping the plants, in the manner of ground hedges. 

 In live fences, with ditchc*, the grass and weeds 

 can only be kept down with the hand, a process 

 more dilatory than in fences without ditches, 

 where it is done much more expeditiously with 

 the plough, harrow, and hoe. 



The vellow willow, and the alder, for wet 

 lands, the honey locust, the beach, the elm, the 

 apple and pear, as also the holly and red cedar, 

 for dry lands, have been recommended. The 

 %villow is easiest propagaied Irom slips ; the 

 locust, beach, elm, apple and pear, from the 

 seeds, which grow immediately; the holly and 

 cedar are also propagated from the seed, but, 

 like the thorn, they do not vegetate until the 

 second year, ayd are to be treated in every res- 

 pect like the haws or seeds of the thorn. But, 

 as the thorn was recommended to me as the best 

 of all plants for live fences, I have made no at- 

 tempts with any other. 



The py racanthia, a beautiful evergreen (horn, 

 retaining its leaves through the winter, like the 

 box, has also been recommended, and i now re- 

 collect to have raised the plants, from seeds ob- 

 tained in Maryland, and to have planted a few 

 rods of I'ence with them. They proved io be 

 too tender a plant for our hard winters ; the 

 most of them were killed tiie lirst winter, and 

 none of them held out over the second. 



Live fences constitute mnr.h the larger pro- 

 portion of all ihe I'ences in E.iropean cfiuntries, 

 where fences of any kind are made for agricultu- 



ral purposes. In some of them, France, Spain, & 

 Italy, in particular, we are to'.d they never had 

 any fences of any kind for common agricultural 

 purposes, or have learned to do without them 

 altogether, excepting occasionally to enclose a 

 garden, or some small piece of ground for some 

 particular purpose, and these are made of a high 

 stone or brick wall, laid in mortar, and more for 

 the purpose of raising wall fruit, or excluding 

 vagrants and thieves, than domestic animals. — 

 From what causes this practice obtained in those 

 countries, it is not very material to inquire. — 

 Probably, however, with their full population 

 and scarcity' of timber, it was found less expen- 

 sive to employ shepherds to take charge of their 

 domestic animals, and in that way prevent them 

 from destroying their crops, than to build fences 

 of any kind. 



In England, where nearly all their lands in 

 cultivation are enclosed, live fences abound, and 

 are said to be preferred. The climate of that 

 country may be more favourable to their growth 

 than this, and they certainly have the advantage 

 in point of experience, in the price of their la- 

 bour, in the value of their land, and the price of 

 agricultural productions. The inducement to 

 cultivate this kind of fence in that country is 

 further enhanced, from the extravagant price of 

 timber everywhere, and absence of stones in 

 many places, with which to make dead fences; 

 and emigrants from that country, in treating of 

 live fences, do not seem to give to these partic- 

 ulars the considerations which they merit. 



In this country we are universally in the ha- 

 bit of enclosing and dividing all our farms into 

 fields with fences ; and were induced to this 

 practice probably from causes common, and 

 perhaps unavoidable, in the settlement of all 

 new countries, abounding in wood, and in her- 

 bage for cattle. At an early day, fences were 

 cheaply made with wood cleared from the 

 grounds intended tor cultivation. It was found 

 much cheaper to defend cultivated lands from 

 Ihe depredations of animals by fences made in 

 that manner, than to have either the crops or 

 cattle constantly watched by persons employed 

 for that sole purpose. Whether this practice 

 will continue, or be abandoned, must depend 

 upon circumstances. Fences of any kind now 

 have become an important item in the expen- 

 diture of the farmer, and an effort to do with- 

 out them may be worthy of consideration. — 

 The practice of fencing, however, has become 

 so strongly fixed with all our habits, customs 

 and laws, that even with less intrinsic merit, 

 any attempt to do without, would probably 

 prove vain and impracticable. 



Earth or sod fences have lately been tried. — 

 They are not found to answer the purpose : in 

 our dry climate the sod is killed by long 

 dearths ; they fall down, or are broken down 

 by cattle and hogs. 



In (Hstrictsor on farms abounding with stones, 

 there will be no difBcully. But we have farms, 

 and even extensive tracts of country, in which 

 there are no stones suitable for walling ; and 

 where fencing timber has become scarce in 

 those places, live fences appear to be the last 

 i'.nd only resort. 



I was induced to attempt the cultivation of 

 live fences, in hope that, after acquiring the 

 necessary kno\vle(lge by actual (iractice, they 

 might be raised in this country with as much 

 ease as they were said to be in England, and i 



that even at the present price of land, of la- 

 bour, and agricultural [iroductions, they mi^ht 

 be usefully and extensively cultivated. 



In the years 1808,9 and 10, I planted about 

 two miles ; two thirds of them, or thereabouts, 

 became fences against cattle, horses and sheep, 

 in from six to ten years. The remainder hav- 

 ing been planted in soils and situations unfa- 

 vourable to their growth, (being dry sand or 

 gravel, or shaded, or damp clay,) were aban- 

 doned. 



The length of time and attention required 

 for them to become fences, rather than their 

 direct cost, is a discouraging circumstance. — 

 The expense, exclusive of protecting fences, 

 may not exceed sixty to seventy-five cents per 

 rod. The expense of protecting fences may 

 or may not be incurred, according as the per- 

 son growing them may or may not have old 

 fences in suitable positions for their defence, or 

 as it may be more or less convenient for him 

 to dispense with the use of the field for animals 

 in which they are growing. If, however, the 

 two protecting fences are to be made, the ex- 

 pense of the live fence will be Jncreased by 

 the amount of their cost. Live fences, after 

 they are grown, require trimming, that is, 

 the top to be cut off annually, or they run up 

 too high, and become thin at bottom, and the 

 expense of trimming and keeping a live fence 

 in order exceeds that of keeping an ordinary 

 rail or board fence in repair. Some very un- 

 ruly animals may possibly press through a good 

 live fence, or some evil disposed persons, still 

 more unruly, may break or cut their way 

 through, rather than to go round fifty or one 

 hundred rods. The consequence is a gap. — 

 The gap must be forthwith secured by a dead 

 fence of some sort, until it shall have filled by 

 a new growth. Hurdles are made use of for 

 that purpose in England. They are made 

 with alders or willows, somewhat in the man- 

 ner of crates forearthern ware, except that ihey 

 are flat and straight, and worked into a stake 

 or post at each end, which is driven into the 

 ground to hold them up. It is much more dif- 

 ficult to mend a gap in a live fence than any 

 other, as it requires attention and time for it to 

 till by a new growth. 



A thrif'ty lot of chesnut timber on a farm is a 

 most invaluable appendage. And having that, 

 or any other kind of thrifty growing fencing 

 limber, or a suitable quantity of loose stones, 

 or even a good stone quarry within any reasorw 

 able distance, the possessor will hardly under- 

 take the cultivation of live fences bnt under 

 circumstances highly favourable. A good stone 

 wall v.'ell set, is the best and often Ihe cheap- 

 est fence that can be made, or is the cheapest 

 in the long run. But where live fences (from 

 the scarcity of timber and stones) have be- 

 come indispensable, or likely soon to become 

 so, they ought to be set about before the old 

 stock of fencing timber is entirely gone. Any 

 one can make a short piece fifty or a hundred 

 rods, and by doing so will acquire as well a 

 knowledge of their usefulness, as of the man- 

 ner of making and taking care of them, and 

 will probably be saved the expense of makings 

 one, if not both the protecting fences. When 

 a farm becomes destitute of fences, fencing 

 timber and stones, it is a herculean task to 

 fence it all at once, or within a short time, 

 with live fences ; and a crisis like this may be 



