HEDGEROW TREES AND HEDGES 247 



places beech is the best hedge for farm purposes 

 and protection. On poor soils, and especially 

 within the influence of the sea-breeze, the Myro- 

 bella or Cherry-plum (Prunus Myrobalana) seems 

 worthy of encouragement as a hedge-plant, for it 

 stands cutting almost as well as the hawthorn. 



Less suitable species for hedging purposes are 

 the field maple, dogwood, spindle tree, elm, 

 hazel, elder, blackthorn, buckthorn, wild cherry, 

 crab apple, barberry, and the like, which add 

 greatly to the beauty of the country-side, though 

 often at the cost of giving a ready excuse for the 

 wholesale use of barbed wire, that curse of many 

 hunting counties. Rural England would certainly 

 be much less charming than it is were the cold 

 north-east winds of the * blackthorn winter ' to 

 blow without bringing the white blossoms of the 

 sloe in March and paving the way for the flower- 

 ing of the wild cherry and the crab apple, while 

 autumn would be less lovely without the rich 

 colouring of the leaves of the field maple, dog- 

 wood, and other gorgeously foliaged shrubs. But 

 they are not good for the hedges, either considered 

 as fences or as a shelter against wind. And still 

 less in their proper place are the chiefest glory of 



