24 Oft Hedging, 



more length of trench must be opened at once than can 

 be planted m the course of the day, so that the mould 

 may be always somewhat soft and moist, which will be 

 of essential benefit to the new planted plants ; if the 

 whole length of a side of a field can be set in the course 

 of a forenoon, the plants being pretty well fastened by 

 the hand and the roots completely covered with the 

 mould, the filling in of the whole trench may be perform- 

 ed by the plough, particularly if the soil is soft and clean 

 and the surface evenly. Nevertheless, the whole of the 

 plants are always to be fastened individually afterwards 

 by the feet of the workmen, pressing them on each side, 

 and also in the intervals between every two, and forcing 

 them all to stand upright in the proper range of the 

 hedge ; after which, a little of the soil scattered among 

 their stems, will prevent the earth from cracking, and 

 tend to keep moisture about their roots. 



If the soil^ as well as the weather, should happen to 

 be pretty dry, it will be of advantage to have a tub of 

 water at hand to dip the roots of the plants therein, in 

 successive parcels, immediately before they are plant- 

 ed. The bulk of plants that have been brought out, 

 ought also to be covered from the iiifluence of the 

 weather, and sprinkled occasionally with a little water, 

 if the condition of the roots seem so dry as to re- 

 quire it. 



When a hedge is planted in the fall, if the plants are 

 rather small, it will be of good consequence to draw 

 up some mould, about four or five inches deep on each 

 side of it, forming a ridge with the plants in the centre ; 

 this will serve to prevent them from being drawn up by 



