appearance of artificial wildness, wliicli is most un- 

 pleasing. I know that where other fuel is dear and 

 scarce, the poor must have furze, or perish from cold ; 

 but in such case, thorns may stand in front, while 

 furze have possession of the back, of the chtch ; and 

 among the thorns, at the distance of three or four 

 feet from each other, I would have you plant alter- 

 nately, ash, oak, sycamore, and birch quicks. In moist 

 places osiers and sallows would be most profitable — 

 cradle making alone, in Ireland, causes a great demand 

 for timber of this description. When these grow up 

 among the others, they form a fine hedge-row, and 

 become valuable to the planter, as well as creditable 

 to his taste and judgment. 



One word about planting your thorns : Get 4 year 

 old plants if you can, and when making a new fence, 

 do not take away the corn earth from the seat on 

 which your plants are to be laid, for by so doing you 

 rob them of their nourishment. There is no use in 

 planting them if you take away their means of sup- 

 port. Now in dry lands (where open dykes are use- 

 less,) you need only throw up a spit or two of earth, 

 two feet in breadth, to plant the thorns in. In this 

 case, however, you cannot let yom- cattle enter on the 

 ground until the hedge be full grown. If you are 

 bent on pursuing the old grazing plan, of course 

 the thorns can only be safe in the breast of a (Utch 

 with a wide trench, where they will take care of 

 themselves. A dry wall, or hedge, such as I have 

 above recommended, takes up about two feet in 

 breadth. What a saving is here I In Scotland,* in 

 parts of which, land is set to farmers for 6/. and 11. 

 per acre, these narrow low fences are general ; the 

 hedges there are trimmed and short, to prevent birds 

 from lodging in them, and to jjermit the ripening of 

 corn on the head-lands. Now, is it not grievous to 

 see such waste of land — such ugly and extravagant 

 fences, on almost every Irish farm ? I cannot con- 

 * la Berwickshii-e aud East Lothian, 



