CHAP. ii. MANAGEMENT OF QUICKSET HEDGES. 799 



portance except for the sake of appearance at the time. In the third year, 

 if there has been a fair growth, the whole hedge should be cut down, as 

 above recommended, to within 6 or 8 inches of the ground, so as to form 

 in the future a dense bushy bottom growth. Though the hedge must at 

 all times be kept clear of weeds, yet in this and the following years it 

 is particularly important to give the side shoots a full chance of 

 growing. The cutting of the hedge should be done in the autumn, 

 and, as on all occasions when cutting hedgerows, the strokes should be 

 made upwards and not downwards, for the wood is cut cleanly so, 

 whereas, when it is cut down it is apt to split. The best shape for a 

 hedge is A, for the strength is required more at the base than the top. 

 Neglected hedges too often take the form of V, and soon become 

 gappy and unreliable. Hedges require cutting at least once a year, 

 and this is generally looked upon as autumn work, though those who 

 desire to have their fences particularly neat have them lightly swished 

 in July, when the weeds are cleared out. In course of time they 

 become weak at the bottom, and when this is the case one of the two 

 rows of thorn should be cut down to within a few inches of the ground 

 so that a growth of fresh wood may be obtained at the base. When 

 this side has made good growth the other row may be treated in a 

 similar manner. By such means the whole hedge becomes again 

 formed of young wood. As old hedges become gappy, the small gaps 

 may be stopped by laying down young shoots in them, but if the fence 

 is very weak it should be allowed to run up for a few years in order to 

 grow long sticks or boughs for layering, so as to form a live wattle 

 hedge. 



When laying a hedge it is better to have live stakes than to 

 have to insert dead ones around which the layers may be wattled, for 

 the former are much stronger and more durable. Inexperienced 

 hedgers are liable to commit the error of leaving too much wood, as 

 their idea is to make a fence at once ; whereas a laid hedge should grow 

 into a fence. When much wood is wattled into a hedge it becomes 

 smothered by the new shoots and dies for want of air. The middle or 

 heart of the hedge thus becomes rotten, and permanent injury is done. 

 The thorns which have been cut shoot out and quickly grow into a 

 fence, strengthening that which has been wattled, and in a year or two 

 a better fence is grown than when it has been wattled in too thickly. 

 On all occasions where possible the use of dead wood should be 

 avoided, as it tends to choke and destroy the hedge, but if there is not 

 sufficient growing wood to make the fence secure it is economical to 

 put in rough posts and rails, which do not hinder the growth of young 

 wood. A newly laid hedge requires binding on the top to keep the 

 layers in position ; this is effected by means of " edders " or " headings," 

 which are thin poles wattled and twisted round the stakes in such 

 a manner that cattle cannot throw them off. When cutting hedges it 

 is preferable to use a long hedging bill, worked with an upward swing, 

 than to clip them with shears. 



In addition to the plants already recommended for the construction 

 of fences, may be noticed the HOKNBEAM tree (Carpinus Betulus, nat. 



