172 



THB farmers' cabinet. 



VOL. I 



Ila^vtlKoria Hedges. 



Fences of hawthorn, interpersed with fruit 

 trees, are very common in Eiifrland. They 

 are more durable, look better, and offer a 

 greater security to cattle and crops than any 

 other method of inclosure. There are many 

 shrubs of which hedges may be made, but 

 among them all there are none equal to the 

 white and black thorns, that will suit the 

 generality of soils, and are easily propagated. I 

 A correspondent of the Bath Agricultural 

 Society, who had for thirty years cultivated 

 about one hundred acres of land, gives the' 

 following particulars of his mode of rearing 

 this fence : — j 



Some of my plants I raised in a nursery 

 from the haws, and others I drew up in the 

 woods, and wherever they could be found. 

 I made my banks flat, and three feet wide at 

 the top, with a sloping side next the ditches, ' 

 which were dug two feet below the surface 

 of the field, and one foot wide at the bottom, i 

 The turfs were regularly laid with the grass] 

 downward, on that side of the ditch on which 

 the hedge was to be raised, and the best of 

 the mould laid at top. My sets were straight, 

 smooth, and even growing ones, and planted 

 as soon as possible after taking up. I plant- ! 

 ed them at a foot distance; and about every j 

 forty feet I set young fruit or other trees, 

 such as ash, oak, beach, elm, according as 

 the soil suited them. I then laid in a second 

 row of quicksets, on another bed of fresh 

 earth, at the same distance, and covered i 

 them over with good mould. The planting 

 thus ended, I finished the bank, and secured 

 it properly from injuries by a dead hedge 

 well wrought together, and fastened by 

 stakes of oak trees on the top of the bank at | 

 three feet distance. j 



The time I planted it was the latter end 

 of February, which time I prefer to October, ', 

 and in general the plants succeed best at that 

 time. In autumn I cleared it from weeds. 

 The following spring I examined my hedges 

 carefully, securing the stakes where they 

 were loosened, and filling up any holes that 

 were made. Wherever any of the quicksets 

 had failed, or appeared dwindling, 1 replaced 

 them with fresh ones from my nursery; and 

 also such of the young trees as had been 

 planted on the top of the bank, and cleared 

 the whole from weeds. ! 



In one field it happened that my sheep 

 had eaten off many of the young shoots; but 

 as I thought they would recover, I did not 

 replace them; but 1 afterwards found it would 

 have been best to have done so, for they 

 never grow so as to overtake the rest, and 

 this hedge was unequal and much inferior 

 to the other. The principal care now ne- 

 cessary was, to keep the quick free from! 

 w*eds, and well protected from cattle, till it' 



was of an age fit for plashing, which, if it is 

 healthy and vigorous, may be done in its 

 seventh or eighth year. It will, however, be 

 right to go over it once a year during that 

 time with a knife, and cut off the redundant, 

 or ill-shaped and staggling branches, keep- 

 ing the face of it as smooth and even as pos- 

 sible; and also root up all entangling weeds, 

 which, l)y confining it, would otherwise spoil 

 its beauty, and hinder its growth. 



The weeds most destructive to young 

 hedges are, white and black bryony, bind- 

 weed, and the traveler's joy. White bryo- 

 ny has leaves like the vine, and its berries 

 are red; the root is as big as a man's leg, 

 and runs very deep. Black bryony will 

 grow thirty feet long, and with its clasping 

 tendrils will entangle and choke the young 

 quick all the way. As its root is very large, 

 it must be dug out deep to destroy it. Trav- 

 eler's joy has woody stalks, with a rough 

 bark; the leaves are small, and of a pale 

 color, and it bears white cottony tufts in 

 autumn ; it is more destructive to young 

 quick-hedges than any other, overshading it 

 like an arbour. The root of this plant is not 

 deep like the rest, but care must be taken to 

 get it up entire, for the least piece left will 

 send up fresh shoots next spring. 



Dear Hawich of Mutton. — When the pre- 

 sent Duke of Bedford was Lord Lieut, of 

 Ireland, he was once, when dining with 

 Lord Sligo, earnestly recommended to taste 

 a fine haunch of Glynde mutton, to which 

 his Grace, himself a breeder and admirer of 

 South Downs, and well acquainted with Mr. 

 Ellman, readily acceded; but no politeness 

 to his noble host would move him to finish 

 the slice, or say it was other than rank in 

 flavor and terribly tough. On inquiry, the 

 disappointed Marquis ascertained that his 

 shapherd, who had been ordered to kill the 

 best South Down Sheep, had, in accordance 

 with the doctrines of political economy, 

 which estimates every thing at its market 

 price, actually slaughtered for the vice regal 

 banque a ram, for which Lord Sligo had a 

 few weeks before paid Mr. Ellman 200 

 guineas. — Baxter''s Library. 



We occasionally hear of a simpering, 

 double refined young lady boasting that she 

 never labored, and could not for the life of 

 her make a pudding, as though ignorance of 

 these matters was a mark of gentility and a 

 leaning towards European nobility. There 

 can be no greater proof of silly arrogance 

 than such remarks, and for the especial be- 

 nefit of such, we would kindly inform them 

 that Madame de Genlis supported the family 

 of the Due de Orleans, (and among them the 

 proRent reigning Monarch of France,) in 



