250 OUR FORESTS AND WOODLANDS 
Just as it is infinitely preferable and cheaper in 
the long run to keep farm buildings and out- 
houses in good repair, rather than have consider- 
able outlay forced upon one from time to time, 
so also is it in every way economical to see 
that all hedges around fields or plantations 
are kept in proper order. In not a few parts 
of Britain the neglect, or even the disloyalty 
of tenants, in this matter is only equalled by 
what at first thought might seem the apathy 
of estate agents and landowners. This, however, 
is merely one phase of the agricultural depression 
spreading over the last quarter of a century. 
Tenants will naturally endeavour to save as much 
as they can on the tending and maintenance ot 
hedges, while agents and landowners are often 
only too glad to have tenants at all on the farms 
to insist too stringently on the letter of the lease 
in this respect. But there can be no doubt that, 
while the maintenance of the hedges in clean and 
good condition is easy and not unduly expensive, 
the repair of neglected hedgerows is truly ‘ spend- 
thrift,’ costly alike as to money and time. Good, 
well-kept hedges, properly cleaned and pruned, can 
be maintained on well-managed estates in different 
