418 PICTURESQUE IMPROVEMENT. BOOK I. 



inclosing sunk areas, or indeed any common wooden rail, as 

 fig. 1., Plate XVIII. , if placed over an excavation two or three 

 feet deep, or even less, would at once be a barrier against all 

 sorts of cattle, freely admit the human species to pass over it, 

 and at the same time be more completely unseen than any 

 fence hitherto used. It was first erected at Kingswood Lodge 

 in 1803-4, to separate a sheep pasture from that used for 

 cattle and horses; it completely answered my expectations, and 

 continues to effect all the purposes mentioned above. It is 

 erected on a smooth declivity, in the room partly of the sunk 

 fence and hedge, the former of which appears in Plate XXIV.; 

 and in Plate XXV. a slight shade is made, only to shew the 

 direction of this fence; for at such a distance it is quite invi- 

 sible. It may be proper to remark here, that two or three 

 trees are supposed to be removed from the valley between the 

 foreground and the fence, in order to render its situation more 

 conspicuous, the chief design of this plate being to shew the 

 effect of this fence. 



The whole process of constructing the invisible fence may 

 be learned from Plate XVIII.— Fig. 1. is the form of the rail 

 when made of wood, which ought to be that of larch or oak: 

 the former, if young and with the bark on, would be much the 

 cheapest and most durable. The ends of the rails are made 

 round or blunt, in place of being pointed, lest cattle should 



