XIII. 
HEDGE-ROW TIMBER. 
TREES are cultivated in hedge-rows for the sake of their 
timber, for shelter to the adjoining fields, and for embellish- 
ment; and in many situations all these valuable objects are 
obtained in the same locality. It is true, that where timber 
generally arises to the greatest size and value, the situation 
which produces it is that which stands least in need of shelter; 
but where trees fail to become specimens of excellent growth, 
on account of the climate and exposure, the value of the tim- 
ber is often compensated for by the shelter which the trees 
impart to the fields in their vicinity. 
The quantity of timber grown in rows along roadsides, 
around the extremities of estates, and in the division of fields, 
throughout England, is supposed to be greater than that pro- 
duced in close woods and forests. Many of her sheltered 
plains are overcrowded, and present the appearance of one 
continuous forest. In Scotland the case is very different ; 
and in numerous instances, for want of the shelter and em- 
bellishment of timber, the country assumes an aspect bare and 
uninteresting. With respect to agriculture, both extremes 
are to be avoided. An excess of shelter exhausts the soil, 
enfeebles the crops, and renders their safety uncertain during 
the humidity of autumn. On the other hand, bareness in 
exposed situations is attended with many disadvantages. In 
unfavourable weather, pasture and crops of every kind are 
retarded; particularly in the opening of the season ; and fields 
are found ill adapted for the more tender kinds of animals 
which aré now to be found everywhere throughout the country. 
The injury also sustained by. winds, both tothe stems of. the 
