482 



SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. 



Part II. 



piece of ground will be soon repaid in value, by the quick growth of the hedge into a fence and shelter. 

 On the other hand, if it be necessary to run a line of hedge through a moor, or waste piece of ground, let 

 the ground be, in the first place, pitted in the line of hedge ; and if it is discovered that the sward grows 

 upon a loamy soil, of whatever tenacity, to the depth of a spit of the spade, thorns may safely be planted 

 upon it, with a prospect of their becoming a fence. Should the soil be very thin and ferruginous, but the 

 subsoil, to the dcptli of two feet, of a fully better quality than the soil, then a space, comprehending the 

 breadth of hedge, bank, and ditch, must be trenched over to abouteighteen inches deep, and the soil fallowed 

 next season with potatoes, well manured and cleaned. The crop of potatoes will, most probably, repay the 

 expense of the trenching and dung. If the dung be not sufficiently rotted by the potato crop, owing to 

 the state of the weather, rather take a crop of oats after it, than run the risk of planting the thorns among 

 undecomposed manure. 



3002. Planting the hedge. If a line of fence is to be straight, let the poles be in as straight a line as 

 possible from one end of the line to the other. Should the ground be quite plain, this can be done 

 with great accuracy; but, should an elevation or a hollow, however small it may be, intervene, great care 

 is necessary to preserve the straightness of the line, as, without it, the fence may be made to advance 

 upon the true line in the hollow, and recede from it on the elevation. There is an instrument used by 

 surveyors, which guides them in these difficulties; but without it, poles thickly set will perfectly well 

 preserve the proper direction. In case any evil-disposed persons should shift the poles during the night, it is 

 a good precautionary measure to drive stout short pins into the ground at the side of the poles, to serve 

 a.s marks. Having set the poles so as to please the eye, take then the reel and cord, and, fastening 

 its pin firmly into the ground at that end of the line of fence where you wish to begin, run out the 

 cord to its full length, except a small piece, which should be twisted round the shank of the reel. 

 Be sure you guide the cord exactly along the bottoms of the poles, and, should any obstacle be in the 

 way of it, such as twigs, tufts of grass, stems of plants, stones, &c. remove it with the spade, then draw 

 the cord with considerable force till it has stretched out as far as it can, and then fasten the reel firmly into 

 the ground. As the least obstruction on the ground will cause the cord to deviate from the right line, 

 lift it up about three feet high in the middle, keeping it close by the sides of the poles, and let it fall down 

 suddenly to the ground, when, it is probable, it may lie as straight as practicable. Place a rather heavy 

 stone here and there upon the cord, to prevent it changing its position, and then take a spade, and cut, or, 

 as it is technically said, " rw/," the line of hedge-bed behind the cord, with your face toward the ditch, 

 taking care not to cut the cord with the spade. Take then the rule, and, with its cross-head, set ofF the 

 breadth of the ditch at right angles from the rutted line four and a half feet, first at both ends, ar.d then 

 here and there, and mark the intermediate places with pins, which will serve to check any remarkable 

 deviation at either end ; and stretch the cord along this line in the same manner as on the other, and rut it 

 also with your face to the ditch. Remove any intermediate poles along the lines in question, and the 

 ditch is thus marked out ready for the forming of the thorn-bed. When about to form the bed for the 

 thorns, that end of the line must be chosen for commencing the work, which best suits the hand of the 

 workman. The rule is, that with whichever foot he tramps, or with whichever hand he grasps the shank oi 

 the spade, it is that which is farthest from the thorn-bed. If he tramps with the left foot, his right hand 

 will hold the eye of the spade, and will ofcourse be next the hedge, and vice versa. Raise now a sod 

 along the marked line of the thorns, five or six inches thick, and broader than the spade, and lay it over 

 on its back, grass to grass, along the edge of the marked line ; beat it down with the back of the spade ; 

 pare its nearest edge, as if it were a continuation of the inclination of the side of the ditch, and beat it 

 also, and smooth it ; then pare away the upper face of the inverted sod, keeping its edge next you 

 (which should be cut sharp with the spade) the highest, and sloping the back of the sod down towards the 

 back of the hedge. Place another similar sod quite close to the end of that now placed ; use it in the 

 same manner ; and continue so with the rest, going backwards, so as to see your finished work before you, 

 and taking care to connect all the sods together as neatly as if they were only one. While the principal 

 labourer, or hedger, as we shall call him, is doing this part of the work, the other two should be stripping 

 the sods from the surface of the whole ditch, and throwing them immediately behind the inverted sod, or 

 thorn-bed, as it is called. The sod first raised and inverted, and which is meant for the bed of the 



thorns, should be taken up as entire as possible ; but the more 

 comminuted the others are, the better for vegetation. This con- 

 ducts us to the end of the first part of the work, a vertical 

 section of which [fig. 462.) represents the surface of the ditch with 

 the sod removed \a), the sod in its new position inverted (6), and 

 the turfy mould thrown oft' the surface of the ditch (c). 



3003. Preparing of the thorns to plant. The thorn-plants {fig. 463.), as they are taken out of the layer, 

 with their top and root and fibres on, must be prepared for planting by 

 cutting off" the tops {fig. 464.). To accomplish this, take the plant, 

 and, grasping it firmly in the left hand, immediately above the root, cut 



^g^the stem through above your hand with a sharp knife, giving the cut an 

 inclination upwards, towards the top of the plant, and the cut thus made 

 will be about five inches from the root. Cut away the long part of the 

 tap root, and any of the diseased or injured parts of the roots and fibres. 

 Bury or burn the tops which are cut off, as they are very troublesome in 

 sheep's wool; but if they are not completely covered up with earth, they 

 will vegetate. Take great care in a frosty day to cover up the prepared 

 roots in earth, as frosted roots will not vegetate In such a day, take 

 but a few at a time out of the layer, and as soon as these are cut ready 

 for planting, relay them immediately in the earth. In frosty weather, avoid planting in the 

 afternoon, as you will probably not have time to cover the plants with a sufficient quantity 

 of earth on the thorn-bed, to resist the effects of frost. Indeed, in such weather, when the 

 ground is becoming hard, leave off the work altogether, not only on account of the unfitness of the earth 

 for work under such circumstances, but of the chilliness of the frosted earth probably injuring the fibres. 

 On the other hand, in dry weather in spring, when the hedge is to be planted on dry land, put the root* 

 of the prepared plants in a puddle of earth and water, in a shady place, for some hours before laying them 

 on the thorn-bed, and their vegetative powers will be much accelerated. All the men assist at the pre- 

 paring of the plants, as it is rather a cold and tedious work. When the plants are quite ready, lay them 

 firmly, by giving them a squeeze on the thorn-bed, the stem inclining upwards, and projecting about a 

 quarter of an inch at farthest beyond the face of the bed, and the root lying'toward the heap of mould 

 behind ; and place them from one another, at a distance varying from four to eight inches ; the former 

 distance being adapted to weak land, and the latter to a soil in good heart. While the two men are lay. 

 ing the plants, let the hedger, with his spade, shovel up, from the surface of the ditch next the thorn-bed, 

 all the fine mould earth which had been left after the ditch had been divested of its turf; and inverting 

 his spade dexterously, place this earth on the bed above the stems of the plants, which will then be kept 

 firmly in their places. The two men having accomplished laying the thorns, which should never exceed 

 by one span a distance which all the men can have time to cover with earth thickly before the usual 

 time of quitting work, let them take their spades, and dig and shovel up all the black mould which remains 

 in the ditch, and throw it upon the roots and stems, till a sort of level bank of earth is formed over the 

 laid plants. As the hedger will have finished his part of the work first, and while the other two are 

 employed at clearing the ditch of the mould earth, let him step upon this bank of earth with his face to 

 the ditch, and compress it firmly and equally with his feet, as far as the plants extend. By the time this 

 process is finished, all the mould will have been taken off the ditch. When this quantity of earth is laid 



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