STUDIES IN NATURE 



properties we require, and many hedges are 

 made entirely of it. Beech and holly are also 

 frequently used, and both are found to be good 

 in certain parts of the country, the one on a 

 chalk, the other on a clay soil 



We sometimes hear people complain because 

 the hedges are tidied up and kept in order ; they 

 say it spoils them, and they would perhaps like 

 to have them straggling all over the ground. 

 Now it would be much more reasonable if people 

 complained when the hedges were not kept in 

 order, for it would show that they understood 

 something about the nature and use of a hedge. 

 Hedges should be regularly trimmed and clipped 

 every year, and sometimes twice a year, for if 

 they get too big and top-heavy the weight of 

 the snow on their branches in winter-time may 

 break them down ; while if they are choked up 

 with plants and brambles below, the bottom 

 branches will rot and die, so that holes and bare 

 places begin to appear. Moreover, the untended 

 sides of a hedge may become nurseries for 

 growing bad weeds and harmful plants, which 

 will afterwards scatter their seeds over the land. 

 Certain tiny forms of life abide for a time in 

 various hedgerow plants and afterwards appear 

 as blight of various sorts to injure and destroy 

 the crops. For all these reasons then a hedge 

 should be kept clean and tidy, and should be 

 regularly attended to by men who understand 

 these matters. 



(108) 



