176 SCIENCE OF A'GRICULTURE. Pakt U. 



hedger then lifts another spadeful, and places it upon the root of the bundle, and presses it firmly down 

 with his foot, which should be fortified with a clog. He suits the inclination of the dead fence to the 

 quarter whence the heaviest winds preyail, as is invariably done in choosing the position of the stake and 

 rise. In this manner they proceed to form the whole line of dead hedge. As the fence proceeds, the 

 hedger cuts all twigs that have a straggling appearance, with the bill, towards the fence, to give a neatness 

 and finish to the work. This sort of dead hedge maybe placed behind the thorns of a newly planted 

 hedge, much nearer than a paling, as from the breadth of its top, and the sharpness of its spines, no beast 

 can with impunity reach over it, to bite the twigs of the young hedge." {Quar. Jour. Agr. vol. i. 

 p. 618.) 



2975. In respect to live hedges, they are made either entirely with one kind of plants, or a mixture of 

 different kinds ; and for that purpose almost every tree or shrub known in Britain is either wholly or in 

 part employed. The success of every attempt made to rear good fences will be found ultimately to depend 

 on the plants being suited to the soil and climate, the preparation of the soil, the time and mode of plant- 

 ing, the age of the plants, their size, the dressing or pruning of the tops and roots before planting, weed- 

 ing, hoeing, pruning, and after-management. 



2976. The proper choice of hedge plants is of the first importance. Many failures in 

 this part of the business might be enumerated ; especially in the more elevated situations, 

 where great labour and expense have been employed to raise hedges of hawthorn, which, 

 after many years' care and attention, were found totally unfit for such inclement regions. 

 In such situations, experience has now suflSciently proved that good fences can be 

 reared in a short time with beech, birch, larch, and the Huntingdon willow : hedges of 

 these kinds ought, therefore, to be the only ones used in hilly countries, or upon cold 

 wet soils ; the first three upon the diy soils, and the last, with the addition of poplars, 

 upon such as are wet or marshy. In the low country, however, and in the less elevated 

 parts of the uplands, the whitethorn will be found the best upon all the dry, or mode- 

 rately dry, parts of the soil ; especially the different kinds of loamy, sandy, or gravelly 

 lands : upon cold wet-bottomed soils, however, beech, crab, birch, poplar, willow, and 

 alder, may be used with advantage. The birch, poplar, alder, and Huntingdon willow, 

 are peculiarly calculated for the coldest, wettest, and most marshy parts ; while beech, 

 crab, &c. will be found to answer best upon the stiff" clays. Hazel, sweet-briar, moun- 

 tain-ash, and indeed all the kinds of forest-trees that are at present known to delight in 

 dry soils, may also be successfully employed for making hedges in the low lands ; but 

 whichever of these is used, it should, if possible, be without mixture. It is seldom that 

 any soil, however good, will be found equally favourable to the growth of plants opposite 

 in their natures ; this circumstance alone will render their growth unequal, and of course 

 make the fence faulty and defective. These defects in the fence, and inequalities in the 

 growth of the plants, will increase with time, become every day more apparent, and be 

 every day more sensibly felt ; as the plants which have thus acquired the ascendancy 

 will continue to keep it, and not only shade the weaker ones, and prevent them from 

 enjoying the influence of the sun and air, but also deprive them of nourishment. Inde- 

 pendently of these considerations, there is another, it is observed, of equal, perhaps 

 greater, moment, that requires to be mentioned ; allovvdng the soil to be equally favour- 

 able to the growth of the whole plants of which the mixture consists, there are certain 

 plants which ai'e highly inimical to the growth of others, when planted in their 

 immediate vicinity ; ivy and honeysuckle, for instance, when mixed with thorns, or other 

 plants in a hedge, never fail to destroy such of the hedge-plants as they fasten upon ; 

 indeed moss, which is known to be one of the worst enemies to all hedges, is not more 

 dangerous nor more certainly ruinous : even the different kinds of sweet-briar, virgin's 

 bower, brambles, briony, cleavers, &c. have the same effect ; and in the end never fail 

 to produce a gap in that part of the hedge where they grow, by smothering the other 

 plants. In general the common hawthorn (Cratae^gus Oxyacantha) is the best British, 

 and we might even say European, hedge plant. The black or sloe thorn (Priinus spi- 

 nosa) is perhaps next in excellence, as far as the strength and durability of the fence is 

 concerned ; but unfortunately it throws up suckers in such abundance, as to encroach 

 rapidly on the adjoining surface. The common hawthorn, like all plants raised from 

 seed, produces innumerable varieties : some of these are much more abundantly furnished 

 with prickles, and some grow much faster than others ; and it might be desirable to save 

 the seeds of fast-growing prickly individuals in preference to those of such as are less 

 prickly or of slower growth. Thp smoothest, however, may be considered prickly enough 

 for all ordinary purposes. Like all the ligneous plants of the natural order to which it 

 belongs (jRosaceae), the thorn grows readily from cuttings of the roots. 



2977. The preparation of the soil for hedges is one of those points intimately connected 

 writh, and, indeed, essential to their success. Except in a very few instances, however 

 poor the soil may be, or however strong the cohesion of its parts, no attempt is made 

 either to break that cohesion by tillage, or improve its quality by enriching or alterative 

 manures : the young plants being for the most part laid upon the old surface, which has 

 perhaps never been opened by the labour of man, and their roots covered with the earth 

 taken out of the ditch, consisting very often of the poorest and coldest clay, or of earths 

 loaded with iron or other metallic impregnations. To those who have considered the 

 matter with the smallest attention, the fate of such a hedge will not appear doubtful : 

 the surface upon which the plants are laid will be so hard and impervious to the roots, as 



