HOW TO GROW GOOD FENCES. 251 



feeding-pits, which, as he did not gain flesh, was said 

 to he " moss-crop," the western vernacular for mouse- 

 crope. Still, field mice, without regard to species, 

 are supposed to be the most baneful in this way ; at 

 the same time, we may trace an evidence of the former 

 generally prevailing belief in the injurious tendencies 

 of even our common mouse, in the fact that when you 

 have so far convinced a lady friend, who may have a 

 " horror of a mouse," of their harmless nature, you 

 are sure to be met with the unanswerable remark, 

 which gains point from the manner of its utterance, 

 " But suppose a mouse should creep over me?" We 

 may now entirely discard every notion of the evils of 

 mouse-crope cattle as an argument against the hedge- 

 row as a harbour for rats and mice ; still, these are 

 vermin in the true sense of the word, and which 

 hedge-rows, unless kept trim and clean at bottom, 

 are sure to encourage. 



4. Snakes in hedge-rows are very common, and 

 especially on banks facing the south ; of these, the 

 common ringed snake and the slow-worm are often 

 met with. They excite great terror in most people ; 

 but still they may be said not merely to be quite 

 harmless, but absolutely useful, as they live upon 

 insects and small fry in general, and so, in reality, 

 they ought not to be classed as vermin, but take their 

 place amongst their most decided enemies. 



5. The land mollusks, to which belong the snail 

 and the slug, are sheltered in hedges by thousands ; 

 and highly destructive they are, and more especially 

 in small overshadowed enclosures. The quantity of 

 vegetation which these consume is enormous, and we 

 are sorry to think that they are on the increase — a 



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