20 SEASIDE TREES AND SHRUBS 



DRY STONE DYKE 



Dry stone dykes are common as boundary 

 fences to fields and plantations in districts where 

 suitable stones are plentiful and easily procurable. 

 They afford good protection for cattle and, when 

 very closely built, against rabbits. 



They are not so useful as affording shelter 

 from the winds as good Quickthorn or similar 

 hedges, for the following reason. When the 

 wind in its onward course meets with any solid 

 obstruction, such as a wall, it sweeps over it, the 

 current forming a sharp, short, abrupt curve ; but 

 when coming in contact with a hedge its force 

 is broken up, the effect of this being felt some 

 distance beyond. 



Dry stone dykes are among the most useful 

 and most desirable fences that can be devised to 

 afford shelter to newly planted hedges, and to 

 nurse them up until they reach the top. When 

 they are extensively used around fields instead 

 of hedges, they are not usually considered very 

 ornamental objects in the landscape, but when 

 placed around plantations the effect is differ- 

 ent, as the trees with their foliage counteract 

 the monotony exhibited by the lines of stone 

 walls, and form rather a striking contrast. The 

 cost of building depends upon the cost of labour 

 in procuring the stone, the distance from which 



