318 kalm's enoland. 



in a row, where the fence is to be, the one staff after the 

 other, never two staves abreast, so that just 2 feet length 

 is left between every staff, sometimes a little more, and 

 sometimes a little less. These staves are driven a good 

 4 inches, if not 6 inches down into the ground, and, that 

 this may be done more easily, the carl has a little mallet 

 with which he drives them down. Hereupon be it noted 

 that, if any of the trees which grow along where the 

 fence is to be erected, are found not to be particularly 

 long and thick, they are cut off 4 feet above the ground. 

 The remaining 4 feet stub, is made quite smooth from 

 twigs, and left to stand to be used as a staff or ' hedge- 

 pole,' stafver. The more one can get of these the better 

 it is, because they, as root-fast trees, make the dead fence 

 stand steady and fast. After that, the carl takes the 

 longer trees left remaining in the hedge, cuts them more 

 than half through, about 4 inches above the roots, and 

 bends them so, gently and cautiously down along the 

 hedge. This down-bending is begun at one end of the 

 hedge thus : — Let the hedge, for example, go in a straight 

 line from north to south. If the carl intends to begin to 

 tress, at flata, the dead hedge at the south end, he cuts 

 the tree standing there a little more than half through, 

 4 inches or more above the ground, which cutting is done 

 on the north side of the tree. After that he takes hold 

 of the tree, bends it softly and carefully down towards 

 the south ; and as the lower parts of these trees are thick, 

 so that after they have been thus bent down they will 

 not further admit of being bent somewhat serpentiformiter, 

 if I [T. I. p. 315J may so call it (by which I mean when 

 it is first on one side of the one staff and immediately 

 after on the other side of the next), he causes the thick 

 stem to lie close against one side of the staves, and that 

 commonly on the twiggy side — of which more anon. Yet 

 he regulates this according to the situation of the tree, on 



