HEDGEROW TREES AND HEDGES 241 
foliage. Who shall affirm that the spring beauty 
of wild cherry or laburnum surpasses the autum- 
nal glory and richness of field maple, rowan, 
and service tree, or vice verse? Of these a 
larger store than of big trees can be reserved in 
the hedgerows without prejudicing the growth 
of the crops so much; and some of them yield 
useful small timber for ordinary estate purposes. 
It is, indeed, very much open to question if the 
selection of hedgerow trees has hitherto received 
anything like the attention it deserves; yet it is 
often not one of the least important points in 
the rural economy of certain parts of England. 
In some places even good fruit trees might be 
grown there with profit, like the apples, pears, 
and plums planted along public roads in many 
parts of Germany, which not only cover the 
cost of maintaining the highway, but also yield 
a good annual surplus. 
With regard to the live hedges themselves, 
they are subject to precisely the same law as 
the woodlands,—highwoods, copses, and coppice- 
woods,—the law of demand for light and of 
capacity for bearing shade. The best hedges are 
formed by trees and shrubs having the thickest 
Q 
