32 THE MANSE GARDEN. 



roots, and preserving of moisture, it is of no small 

 use to throw around every stem a quantity of loose 

 stones, which take in all the rain that falls, and ex- 

 clude the sun. For protection, the top being high 

 enough to surmount all bestial, nothing more is re- 

 quisite than a handful of thorns tied round the stems, 

 to ward off the necks of cattle, the teeth of sheep, 

 and the poisonous grease of their wool. There is 

 no nicety of seasons as to planting : any time of soft 

 weather, from the fall of the leaf to the middle of 

 April, will do ; but the earliest is the best chance, 

 save where too much wet might cause rotting and 

 in that case, it is better to plant just on the opening 

 of the bud. 



It is gratifying to remark, that the whole expense 

 of lifting, transporting, (where the distance is within 

 a mile,) making pits, planting and defending, does 

 not exceed thirty shillings per hundred a number 

 quite sufficient to relieve the stiffness of the garden 

 fence, and ornament every field of the glebe. And 

 why, throughout the country, are fields so generally 

 bare why is the harshness of stone dykes so long 

 unmitigated ? One pound is no great price for an 

 elm ; and in how short a period might not the thirty 

 shillings grow into a hundred pounds ! England 

 has less plantation than Scotland, yet England seems 

 all wood, and Scotland all bare. The explanation 

 is the hedge-row, which, besides beautifying, brings 

 money, and, without marring the plough, gives more 

 to the field by shelter than it takes away by shade. 

 In the letting of grass parks, the earlier verdure 

 tempts to the highest price for that field which is 

 surrounded by the thickest row of trees. Remember 



