278 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 



a kind of lattice- work. On the contrary, if the plash- 

 ing is too crowded, the shoots rising from the stump 

 will evade the thicket and push out in a lateral di- 

 rection, endeavouring to gain the benefit of sun and 

 air, and rise on the outside, where they are injurious 

 instead of beneficial ; by secluding the plashing from 

 the benefit of sun and air, the sap no longer inclines 

 to the plashing, but flows freely into the suckers on 

 the outside. 



I have been more particular on this point, having 

 seen errors in others, as well as my own, on that 

 head. 



Previous to laying a hedge, a quantity of stakes 

 are to be provided about four feet and a half long if 

 it stands on a bank, or a little longer if the ground 

 is not elevated, and split as small as they will bear 

 to drive about one foot in the ground ; they are to 

 be driven through the plashing occasionally, as the 

 work progresses, in a straight line two feet and a 

 half or three feet distant from each other. These 

 stakes are driven through the plashing, so as to keep 



the part laid directly over the stumps, for reasons 

 before given, the shoots rising immediately through 

 the plash : the stakes are bound in their place by 

 wattles or poles, prepared of alder or willow, or any- 

 thing that will not in future make useful timber, as 

 their use is only temporary, until the hedge becomes 

 set by growth. 



This binding has the appearance of a twisted rope. 



