A CHAPTER ON HEDGES. 373 



desired, it is not allowed to grow any larger. Two shearings or 

 clippings are necessary, every season, to keep it in neat order one 

 in June, and the other at the end of September. 



Counting the value of the plants at the commencement at five 

 dollars per thousand, the entire cost of the hedge, at the end of the 

 sixth } r ear, including planting, cultivating, and shearing in the best 

 manner, would here be about seventy-five cents a rod ; which, for 

 an everlasting fence, and one of so much beauty, we think a very 

 moderate sum. 



We have said nothing about the temporary fencing which our 

 hedge will need, till it is at least five years old that is, if it is a 

 boundary hedge, or is bordered on one or both sides by fields where 

 animals run. It is evident enough that for this purpose, in most 

 cases, the cheaper the fence the better. A very indifferent wooden 

 fence will last five years, and a light barrier of posts and rails will 

 best suit the taste of most farmers. A much more convenient, and very 

 excellent one for the purpose, is the movable hurdle fence, made of 

 light chestnut rails, which costs but little, and may be readily re- 

 moved from one place or field to another, as the case requires. 



No better tail piece can be given to this long article, than the 

 following sketch, representing the remarkably fine specimen of the 

 buckthorn hedge in the*grounds of John C. Lee, Esq. of Salem, Mass. 



Fig. 5. Mr. Lee's Hedge. 



