176 On the Nature and Advantages of Indosures. 



heavy expense of posts and rails, were adopted in this coun- 

 try. 



Instead of posts and rails, which are apt to be destroyed, 

 some have tried low walls of stones, to protect the young 

 hedge ( 8 $) ; and others a mode of planting the hedge, pro- 

 tected by a mound between two ditches, the whole occupy- 

 ing the space of about fourteen feet. By the time the hedge 

 becomes a fence, the ditches are completely filled up by the 

 earth of the mound, so that no ground is lost ( 8 ^. 



If a farm is inclosed by hedges, and cultivated under the 

 alternate husbandry of tillage and pasturage, it is an excel- 

 lent rule, when the fields are broken up, to cut down the 

 hedges; and thus every objection to the injury sustained 

 from such inclosures, to crops of grain, is obviated. The 

 mode of cutting them down must vary according to circum- 

 stances : if the hedge is thin, let it be cut down about six 

 inches from the ground ; but if sufficiently thick, from three 

 to four feet. In the former case, all gaps ought to be care- 

 fully filled up, which may be effected, not only by inserting 

 new plants, but by laying down branches of the old ones in 

 the gap, as those may be made to take root ( 8 7). 



The following rules are recommended to the planters of 

 thorn hedges : 



1. With a view to utility, it is better to make the whole 

 hedge of one sort of plants, than to have a motley mixture 

 of various shrubs, unfit for being used as a fence, pro- 

 ducing weak and sickly plants, injuring each other's 

 growth, shedding their leaves at different seasons of the 

 year, and presenting a discordant and offensive appear- 

 ance ( 8 g). 



2. Thorns should be planted in the natural soil, if it is of 

 a good quality. Their roots thus receive abundant nourish- 

 ment, and spread, unchecked, with as much freedom as if 

 they grew in a natural state ( 8 ?). But when the line of a 

 fence passes through soils of different qualities, it is proper, 

 either to select such species of plants as are suitable for the 

 respective soils, or by drainage, cultivation, and manuring, 

 to equalize them as much as possible, all along the line of 

 the intended fence $). In poor soils, it is advisable, to 

 dip their roots in common oil, before they are put into the 

 ground, or to sprinkle a little rotten dung at their roots. 



3. The young thorns should be planted with as much 

 expedition as possible after they are taken from the nur- 

 sery ; they should not be placed deeper in the ground than 

 they had previously stood in the seed-bed ; they should be 



