THE NEW FORESTRY. 107 



found in the Fens, takes time, and the work can only be pro- 

 ceeded with as the water is gradually drawn off. In the case 

 mentioned, Mr. Webster, author of the paper, states that 

 after draining, the bog sank two feet, becoming dry and firm 

 and fit for planting. Timber and other crops grow freely in 

 pure peat soils, thoroughly drained as described, but as such 

 soils consist to a large extent of vegetable matter, they are 

 much benefited by heavy dressings of lime laid. 1 on the surface. 

 All drains should have an incline to a deeper main drain of 

 sufficient capacity to carry the water readily off to the nearest 

 outlet. This work, should of course be completed before 

 planting is begun, and as drains in woods soon get choked by 

 fallen leaves and branches, and become overgrown at the 

 edges by coarse vegetation, they should be cleaned out at 

 intervals. The general preparation of the land for the raising 

 of plantations from seed is the same generally as for planting, 

 but other operations connected therewith will be more properly 

 dealt with in a future chapter on the subject. 



SECTION III. — FENCING. 



Fences for plantations are of various descriptions. On 

 most estates all fences abutting on woods are kept up by the 

 proprietor, and as on many estates the fences extend to many 

 miles, their maintenance is one of the most expensive items 

 connected with the woods. In German forests there are few 

 or no fences along either wood-roads or highways, or indeed 

 anywhere where they can be dispensed with, and where they 

 do exist they are made chiefly of materials from the forests 

 close by. The quick thorn hedge is the most popular live 

 fence in this country, sometimes mixed with privet, beech, 

 holly, or elm, but the beech makes the best live fence round 

 woods. Hedges are, however, going out of favour owing to their 

 cost The state in which live fences are generally found after a 

 few years, especially in England, shows great neglect, due 

 mostly to want of time to attend to them. Such fences get 

 thin and scraggy, owing to the shade cast by the trees and 

 being left uncut, perhaps for years, they get too high and 

 consequently thin at the bottom, and in many places die off 

 altogether. To mend this state of things, the live portions are 

 slashed and laid anyhow and the gaps made up with stakes, 

 dead brushwood, or bindings, which have to be renewed 

 often. Young live fences also need protection from 



