492 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE, Part II. 



ground for culture and there is no property without many such situations upon H and In other situa- 

 tions where they would screen fields from the prevailing winds, they not only become useful timber, but 

 ornamental objects in the landscape, objects which fill the eye, rivet the attention, and are vastly more 

 tasteful than any single row of stunted trees can be." {Quar. Jour. Agr. vol. i. p. 623.) 



3036. The hedge and ditch, or hedge and wall, with belt of planting, in exposed situations, 

 is strikingly useful and ornamental, while upon low grounds it is not only unnecessary, 

 but in some instances absolutely hurtful. For instance, in deep and broad valleys 

 surrounded by hills, and sheltered from severe blasts, belts of planting are not only 

 unnecessary, but even hurtful and ruinous by the ground they occupy, which could 

 certainly be employed to greater advantage, and the original expense of enclosing and 

 planting saved. 



3037. The hedge and ditch, or wall, with the corners planted, is employed upon some 

 estates instead of the belt of planting. According to some, it has a good effect upon 

 the scenery of the country, and answers the purpose of general shelter extremely well : it 

 is, however, greatly inferior to the belt of planting, for the purpose of sheltering particular 

 fields ; but as in every field there is a space in each angle that cannot be ploughed, by 

 planting these spaces, which would otherwise be left waste, many valuable trees are raised 

 with little expense, and with scarce any waste of land. 



3038. The furze fence may be had recourse to with advantage whenever such plants 

 are found to grow vigorously in a soil. Fences of this sort are mostly made upon mounds 

 or banks of earth, by sowing the seed of the plant. Sometimes the bank is only sloped 

 on one side, but at others on both ; in the former case the front is perpendicular, and 

 faced with turf or stone. From these fences being raised so considerably above the 

 common surface, they are very liable to injury from frosts and other causes in severe 

 winters. In all cases where they are clipped or cut once a year, or once in every two 

 years, the clippings may be bruised and given to horses or cattle, who are fond of them, 

 and are found to thrive and fatten on this food. 



SuBSECT. 4. Paling Fences. 



8039. Paling fences are only to be considered in a secondary light; for, of whatever 

 wood they are made, however substantially they may be executed, or in whatever situation 

 they are placed, their decay commences the instant they are erected. Where permanent 

 use therefore is required, palings ought never to be adopted ; but for ornament in pleasure- 

 grounds, or for the protection of young thorns, they are highly valuable. In all cases 

 where either dead hedges or palings are used, the decay and ultimate loss of the fence is 

 owing to that part of it which is let into the ground being rotted by the moisture. Where 

 dead hedges are planted, it is no easy matter to provide a remedy against this evil; as 

 the sterns are so numerous, that, to give each of them a preparation that would completely 

 defend it from the effects of moisture would be attended with an expense equal to, if not 

 greater than, the value of the fence. Where palings, however, are used, especially the 

 most expensive and substantial kind of them, and such as are meant both for duration 

 and ornament, it is dsirable to prepare the standards, or upright parts that are placed in 

 the earth, in svich a maimer as will enable them to resist the moisture for many years. In 

 the south of England, the post is always more bulky at the lower end than the upper, 

 and is fixed in the ground by digging a hole, placing it therein, shovelling the soil in, and 

 ramming it round the post till it be firmly fixed. It has been a practice from time 

 immemorial, to burn or char that part of the standards or palings iatended to be set or 

 driven into the earth : the reason assigned for this practice was, that the fire hardened the 

 parts thus subjected to it, and, by rendering them impervious to moisture, made them more 

 durable than they would have been without such operation. But the best defence at 

 present known against the effects of the weather is the bark of the tree. This covering 

 it has from nature, and is possessed of every requisite, being impregnated with oil, resin, 

 and other matters, which secure it completely, not only against moisture, but other 

 injuries arising from the operation of air, light, heat, &c. ; of this we have strong proofs 

 by observing what happens where, by cutting off a branch or otherwise, the bark of any 

 tree is destroyed. If the surface laid bare by the wound is considerable, that part of the 

 body exposed by it begins immediately to decay, and continues to waste, unless some 

 covering be made use of to supply the place of the bark ; for that purpose nothing has yet 

 been found so effectual as a coat either of boiled oil, or of oil-paint, which, by completely 

 excluding both air and moisture, not only preserves the tree from rotting, but also prevents 

 it from bleeding and wasting itself by an effusion of juices from the wound. When 

 trees are cut down and sawn into planks, whether for palings or any other purpose, and 

 are afterwards exposed to the weather, the same thing happens that we have mentioned 

 as taking place with the growing tree when deprived of its bark, but in a much greater 

 degree, as the whole surface is then without a covering. To prevent this decay, the same 

 remedy should be applied, viz. painting the whole of the wood, or otherwise filling the 

 pores wdth oil, in such a manner as to prevent the entrance of moisture. There are now 

 coarse oil-paints sold of all coloui's, so cheap as to enable persons erecting palings, or 



