Book III. 



SHELTERING FARM LANDS. 



755 



4595. The sjKcies qf liedge moods, proper for mound fences, and the oak are the ordinary plants of hedpe mounds. The 

 depends entirely on the soil and situation. On mounds of bad willow tribe have a quality which recommends them, in situ- 

 soil, in a bleak situation, the furze alone affords much shelter, ations where they will flourish ; they grow freely fiom cuttings, 

 and a good fence. The sides being kept pruned, so as to show or truncheons set in the ground ; wheseas, to secure the growth 

 a close firm face rising above the top of the bank, it is a secure of ordinary coppice woods, rooted plsmts are required. The 

 barrier, even against the wilder breeds of Welsh sheep. The rock-willow (Silix c^prea) will grow in high and dry situ- 

 beech is commonly planted in high exposed situations ; and in ations. 



places more genial to the growth of wood, the hazel, the ash, 



4596. On thin-soiled stony surfaces, tall mounds are difficult to raise ; and there stone walls are not only 

 built at a small expense, but are convenient receptacles for the stones with which the soil is encumbered. 

 But a stone wall, unless it be carried up to an inordinate height, at a great expense, is useless as a skreen ; 

 and may be said to be dangerous as such, in a bleak exposed situation, for as soon as the drifting snow has 

 reached the top of the wall, on the windward side, it pours over it, and inevitably buries the sheep which 

 may be seeking for shelter on the leeward side. Hence, in a situation where shelter is required, it is 

 necessary that a stone fence should be backed with a skreen plantation. 



4597. To plant trees for shade may in some cases be requisite for agricultural purposes. Where this is 

 the case, close plantations are seldom desirable, a free circulation of air being necessary to coolness ; 

 therefore trees with lofty stems, and large heads pruned to single stems, are preferable : the oak, elm, 

 chestnut, and beech, for thick shade ; the plane, acacia, and poplar, for shade of a lighter degree. 



4598. An example of sheltering a hill farm by plantation, and at the same time improving the shape and 

 size of fields, shall next be given. No farming subject affords better opportunities of introducing hedge- 

 rows, and strips of planting, than hill-farms. The one under consideration {fig. 719.) is a small estate 

 farmed by its owner : it consists of nearly 370 acres ; and is situated in an elevated, picturesque part of a 

 central English county. The soil is partly a flinty loam or chalk, and partly a strong rich soil, incum- 

 bent on clay. The fields are very irregular, bounded by strips of timber and copse. By the alterations 

 and additions proposed (Jig. 7^0.), all the most hilly and distant spots will be kept in permanent pasture; 

 and the exposed and abrupt places, angles, &c. planted chiefly with oaks for copse, and beech for timber 

 and shelter. 



4599. On hill farms in Scotland, where shelter cannot be given to grass and stock by plantations, small 

 circular inclosures have been adopted for that purpose. The diameter of these circles is from 10 to 30 



3 C 2 



