HEDGEROW TREES AND HEDGES 251 
parts of the country for about a farthing a yard 
per annum, or 36s. 8d. per mile of hedgerow, 
while neglected hedges can easily run into ten times 
that amount before they are brought back again 
into really proper, serviceable condition. Regular 
cutting and cleaning are essential for the proper 
maintenance of live hedges. Unless the growth 
of grass and of other weeds is checked, which 
always find their way there through the seeds 
being carried by birds or borne by wind, these 
soon begin to interfere with the lower branches 
of the hedge, and affect its utility. Really well- 
kept hedges should not only be trimmed either in 
late autumn or early spring, but they should also 
be cleaned in June, and, where necessary, again 
in August. Autumn trimming minimises danger 
from snow, while spring pruning makes the 
country more beautiful in winter, and leaves a 
kindly store of food in the shape of hips, haws, 
and other berries and fruits for the farmers’ 
friends among the birds. The earlier the hedger 
does his work with switch and bill before the rise 
and flow of the sap, the better for the hedge. 
During the spring and summer cleaning of 
the hedgerows all herbaceous and woody plants 
