CHAPTER XXIV. 



HEDGES, THEIR FORMATION AND MANAGEMENT. 



STRICTLY speaking, hedges are divided into two distinct 

 lands useful and ornamental the former heing employed 

 for keeping farm-stock in bounds, and the latter in the sub- 

 division of gardens and for lawn and park purposes 

 generally. Where the fences are intended for protective 

 purposes, either the thorn, beech, hornbeam, or holly are 

 the plants usually employed, while for ornamental garden 

 sub-divisions almost any shrub may be used, the choice of 

 which will lie with the operator. 



Amongst all the trees and shrubs that have been found 

 suitable for the climate of Britain, none equals the common 

 whitethorn, or Quick, for hedge-formation, where strength 

 and shelter are points of first consideration. The beech 

 certainly can thrive better on exposed and high-lying 

 ground and where the soil is poor and thin, but it never 

 forms so durable a protection against farm- stock as the 

 thorn. 



When properly treated the thorn is a fast grower, and as 

 a fence plant it is ornamental, smooth, stubborn, and long 

 lived. It is also not at all subject to disease, and is very 

 readily propagated. Few soils come amiss to the thorn 

 that is, if they are not overcharged with moisture, but it 

 delights in a rich hazelly loam. 



(l.) Plantation Hedges. Preparing of the Ground and 

 Planting. Thorough preparation of the ground where live 

 fences are formed should take precedence of all other 

 operations indeed, nothing can repay the planter more 



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