CHAPTER XIII 



FIELDS AND HEDGEROWS 



WHEN we look over a large tract of country, 

 one of the first things to draw our attention is 

 the shape, size and colour of the fields, and the 

 way in which they are separated from each 

 other. In some districts the fields are small, 

 and their boundaries seem to run hither and 

 thither across the face of the land without any 

 particular reason. In other places the fields 

 are large and square, and the partitions between 

 them are straight and uninteresting. Now, 

 although there does not appear to be any very 



feneral rule on the point, on the whole we shall 

 nd the small fields in pastoral countries and 

 the large ones in agricultural districts. If the 

 farmer has to provide morning and evening 

 pasture for his cows, meadows for his calves 

 and other young animals, and grazing-ground 

 for his sheep and lambs, he will require a good 

 many enclosures in order that he may, if neces- 

 sary, separate his stock and vary their feeding- 

 ground, and give the grass a chance to grow up 

 again when it has been eaten off and trampled 

 on. On the other hand, if he intends to grow 



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