HIGH FARMING. 193 



great deal of room, their shade and their roots are both 

 hurtful to the crops, and they give shelter to a host of 

 birds, which devour the seed. The majority of pro- 

 prietors are still opposed to their destruction ; first, be- 

 cause the prunings and thinnings of the hedgerow trees 

 bring them in an income, and then because these hedges 

 contribute greatly to the beauty of the landscape. But 

 some have already cleared them away, and the rest will 

 have to yield, at least to a certain extent; for the public, 

 impressed with the importance . of the question, declares 

 itself more and more every day in favour of the farmer. 

 A similar fate is evidently reserved for the game, the 

 increase of which has hitherto been favoured by the 

 severity of the Game Laws, to the great injury of. crops. 

 Opinion, so favourable in England to large property, and 

 at the same time so exacting with regard to it, begins 

 to make it a matter of duty with landlords to sacrifice 

 their pleasure to the new necessities of production. 



While assisting in this peaceable contest, the issue of 

 which cannot be doubted, one cannot help feeling that 

 abuses of the same nature w r ere one cause of the French 

 Eevolution. In order to preserve themselves from the 

 ravages of the seignioral hares and rabbits, our farmers 

 found no better method than to demolish the chateaus, 

 and kill or drive out their proprietors. English farmers 

 exhibit more patience and moderation, and they are no 

 less successful in attaining their end without violence. 

 Their only weapon is the obstinate representation of their 

 grievances. They quietly calculate how many acres of 

 land are thrown out of cultivation by large hedges how 

 many hares it takes to consume the food of one sheep. 

 It is a common and frequent saying among them, that 

 they are obliged to pay three rents the first to the 

 proprietor, the second to his hedges, and the third to his 



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