1 90S.] 



Fences and Hedges. 



67 



addition, tenants are constantly changing their farm hands, and 

 as much of the fencing is done by the latter no consecutive 

 management or treatment is maintained. Farm labourers also 

 are, as a rule, bad hedgers. 



Hares and rabbits, where they are numerous, do a consider- 

 able amount of harm to quick fences, through barking their 

 stems. Hedges are sometimes so severely damaged that they 

 have to be cut over at the ground and treated as a newly-planted 



Fig. 1. — Double-Rowed Thorn Hedge, with Guard Fences. 



fence for ten or twelve years before they are strong enough to 

 act as a fence again. Proprietors who keep rabbits down save 

 their fences and trees from the ravages of these pests, and prevent 

 endless trouble in assessing damages. 



The ribbing-in, that is the cutting back of the lateral growth 

 of the main stem of the plant in early autumn, before the wood 

 is matured, is also detrimental to the healthy growth of the 

 thorn. Trees in hedgerows both directly and indirectly cause 

 gaps in hedges by their shade and exhaustion of the soil. 

 Cattle also gather under them and do considerable harm by 

 baring the roots of the plants. 



G 2 



