LITTLE GADDESDEN. 317 



kitchen gardens, &c, than [T. I. p. 313] hedges of all 

 sorts of prickly trees, sometimes also of trees without 

 thorns, and when these are somewhat old they are cut 

 down that new scions may shoot up from the cut-off 

 stubs. A dead fence is in the meantime erected for as 

 long a time as the upshooting scions take to acquire a 

 sufficient height, so that they can themselves fence off 

 the cattle. Now, I have just above described how an 

 entirely new hedge is used to be laid down in England, 

 therefore I will here give in detail the latter, or how to 

 renew an old hedge, and erect a so-called dead-fence, dod 

 hack, &c. I will describe it in the manner in which this 

 work is performed here in Hertfordshire, where it is 

 commonly held that the folk understand this work best 

 of all in the whole of England. 



When a new-planted hedge is nine years old, it is 

 commonly cut down, partly that the owner may get fuel 

 from it, both for himself and to sell to others, partly that 

 he may get a new and better hedge from the upshooting 

 new scions ; for when a hedge has stood for nine years, 

 a part of the trees in it begin to grow old and to go off, 

 so that it is no more so thick as before. In performing 

 this job all the trees are cut down quite close to the 

 ground, which do not grow in a straight line in the 

 middle of the hedge where the dead fence is to be 

 erected ; but a part of the trees which thus stand in the 

 middle of the hedge, as many, namely, as one considers 

 on the spot will be necessary, are left to stand till one 

 has entirely cut down the others. 



After that, staves, stafrar, are taken from the leaf- 

 trees which had stood in the hedge, the twigs, qvist- 

 arna, cut off, and the staves made quite smooth. The 

 length of every staff is made 4 feet 6 inches. The thick- 

 ness is from J [T. I. p. 314] to 2 inches diameter, and 

 sometimes more. These 4 feet 6 inch staves, are set all 



