FLORA AND SYLVA. 



as if the iron and wire fence were the best — a 

 serious error. The wood should fence itself, and 

 there are no plants so good as those found in our 

 woodland naturally, such as Quick and Sloe. 

 Worst of all, iron and wire fences give no shel- 

 ter, and nothing but ugliness and danger. 



To Reduce the Extent of Fencing is one 

 of the motives which should lead us to plant in 

 more visible and natural masses. In the com- 

 mon way or ring, specimen, and spinney plant- 

 ing there is often more fence visible than plants. 

 No mechanical fence that the wit of man can 

 invent is half as simple, enduring, easy to keep 

 up, or effective as a Quick hedge set on a turf 

 bank. The cost of this should be less than that 

 of the iron fence. Even when we are obliged 

 in badly-infested places to use the iron fence to 

 support barbed wire, we should always plant a 

 Quick fence inside it at the same time, to pro- 

 vide for the future fencing of the wood. The 

 only weak point about the Quick fence is that 

 the plants are usually so small that it is expen- 

 sive to protect them. In many places it would 

 be an excellent thing to lay down an acre of 

 Quick and let the plants get into a bushy state, 

 and then, in forming our fence, we should only 

 have to send the cart for stout bushes, which 

 would at once form a fence. I know nothing in 

 woodland work that would be more useful than 

 such a store of Quick. We can buy small Quick 

 everywhere, but it is difficult to get it really 

 strong, and impossible to get the bushes a yard 

 high and nearly as much through unless we 

 grow it ourselves. About ten years ago I made 

 a fence with old bushy Quick of this sort, plant- 

 ing it on the turf bank common in the district ; 

 the tough bushes were placed close together and 

 formed a fence at once, but as there were large 

 bullocks nearly always in the pasture on one 

 side, it was thought best to slip a single line or 

 the slender and waste tops from a Larch plan- 

 tation through the bushes at 2 feet from the 

 ground. The fence made itself at once, and no 

 bullock ever got through or injured it. I went 

 to look at it the other day and found the Larch 

 tops still sound ; the fence, however, has no fur- 

 therneedof them. Thus the expense of fencing 

 the Quick itself was wholly got rid of ; a very 

 important point if we think of the trouble taken 

 in this way. But to carry out this plan it is essen- 

 tial to put out young Quick and let them grow 

 3 feet or more high, and the stouter the better. 



They transplant easily and without risk at any 

 time in autumn or winter. 



In planting rough corners of fields running 

 into or near a wood we may often simplify the 

 fencing by taking a short or easy line, so that 

 the fences within the line become useless, and 

 if among these useless fences there is one ot 

 Quick which is not very old, it is often well 

 to move the plants and form the new fence 

 with them, cutting down the plants one-half 

 their height. Having had occasion to move a 

 bank and fence of not very old Quick, I levelled 

 the bank and took the plants elsewhere for fenc- 

 ing. In the course of the following year the 

 roots of the Quick left in the ground began to 

 come up and make nice little plants, and in 

 another year there was quite a strong line of 

 Quick in the line of the old fence ; these were 

 easily transplanted when wanted. 



The Best Plants to Use. — There has 

 been much talk of the Cherry Plum as a fence 

 plant, but it is quite inferior to the Quick in 

 toughness and endurance, and in every way. 

 At first there may be a little quicker growth, 

 but not in the end, as the Quick grows freely 

 enough. I have much greater faith in some of 

 the American Hawthorns, such as the Scarlet 

 and Cockspur Thorns, which are well armed, 

 tough, sturdy, and fine in colour in autumn. 

 The difficulty is to get a stock of them, as nur- 

 serymen are not yet aware of their value, and 

 they are mostly grown for pleasure grounds, 

 and grafted. I have often bought them grafted, 

 which means, of course, that the native Quick 

 will in time kill the foreigner. I have used 

 some thousands of the Sweet Briar, and with 

 excellent effect. In one way it is better than 

 the Quick, namely, that cattle will not touch 

 it, and creatures of any kind give it a wide 

 berth. A rough woodland fence made of this 

 and Quick, or Cockspur Thorn, is the best pos- 

 sible protection against stock. Barbed wire is 

 not half as fierce as old Sweet Briar, which is 

 impassable to the boldest boy, even one who 

 would laugh at the idea of barbed wire stop- 

 ping him. 



Where shelter for animals is desired the 

 most beautiful and effective fences are of Holly, 

 self-sown hedges, giving as good shelter about 

 a field, as a shed. Such Hollies, though free 

 enough almost anywhere, are finest in stoney, 

 sandy, or open ground. Ivy, Sloe, and Bullace 



