STONE WALLS — HEDGES. 



189 



is desirable to preserve an apparent continuity of out- 

 line in a glade, or an expanse of grass on a level or 

 slightly inclined surface, on which, perhaps, even. the 

 inconsiderable constraint of a wire fence might be 

 objectionable. The wall of the sunk fence should 

 never face the principal point of view; and from 

 such points it is not an advantage for the line of di- 

 rection to be seen on end, and so to be enfiladed by 

 the eye. A low wall, thirty inches in height, forming 

 a sunk fence two feet in depth, with two wires along 

 the top, affords a good, cheap protection for plantations 

 where stones are abundant. 



Stone Walls are good permanent fences; but on 

 flat or slightly undulating surfaces, they often hide a 

 considerable breadth of view, especially when em- 

 ployed as internal divisions. For plantations they 

 are less objectionable, as the trees overhang and vail 

 them. They are /best suited for hilly and mountainous 

 countries, and in these they may be freely employed, 

 as the objections which may be made against walls in 

 other places are there less applicable. 



Hedges afford a cheap sort of fence * They are not, 

 however, generally speaking, very suitable for the park; 

 for however neatly they may be cut and dressed, it is 

 needful, when they form the boundaries of clumps or 

 plantations, to keep the trees trimmed back, in order to 

 prevent them from injuring 'the hedges, and so they 

 impart a more formal and constrained outline to grow- 

 ing wood than almost any other species of fence does. 

 Hedges may be planted with good effect on the inside 

 of the boundary walls of the park, to clothe them 

 when they are not screened by plantations. 



*Not in this country.— Ei>. 



