Farming of Oxfordsltire. 
249 
made, except by roads and the boundaries of properties. Wlien 
tlie land is dry, and requires no ditches, outside fences only are 
necessary to each farm. Sheep are kept in hurdles, or attended 
by a shepherd and dog' when loose. 
The valuer, under the inclosure, sets out the roads and fences: 
these fences have usually two rows of whitethorn quick planted 
very nearly on the surface. There is only a little ditch 18 inches 
deep, the earth from which is placed over the quickset. Of 
course these little hollows, called ditches, are of no use as water 
courses, and it would effect a saving of land, and be less expen- 
sive, to plant the quick upright on the flat where the soil is dry. 
Elm or beech posts and rails are generally erected against the 
new fence, which, if properly attended to, will last four or five 
years, by which time the quicks will be able to dispense with 
their protection. A fence with double rows of rails, to be kept 
in repair for four years, costs 75. per pole, with single rails 55,, 
and quicksets planted without rails \s. 6rf. per pole. 
Tiie expenses of the inclosure are mostly defrayed by the 
sale of some of the waste or common, but where no such land 
exists the cost of inclosing is charged on the several proprietors. 
There is not now so much trouble or expense in the legal part 
of the business. The several parishes to be inclosed in the year 
are grouped in one bill under the General Inclosure Act, and 
passed in the same Session of Parliament. The entire cost may 
amount to 30s. per acre, but where no roads are made the expenses 
have sometimes been as low as 10s. 
The arable land of the county, for the most part, lies in large 
fields, and there are very few districts — Middle Aston and Tew 
excepted — where much damage is done by hedges and timber. 
In these unfortunate exceptions it appears as if all the trees from 
the open parts of the county had been transplanted to these small 
inclosures, to the utter destruction, for agricultural purposes, of 
one-fourth of the land. A very barbai'ous custom prevails in 
some parts of Oxfordshire of lopping off all the boughs from the 
tall hedgerow timber, and leaving only a few sprigs at the top, 
thus injuring the timber and destroying its beauty of appearance. 
Dry stone walls are common in the north-west of the county. 
The fences by the side of the principal roads are neatly 
trimmed : a hook fastened in a long handle is used in preference 
to shears. In addition to the work being done more expedi- 
tiously, there is this advantage, that the young wood is not 
bruised, and consequently does not become knotty as when shears 
are used. The shears may be necessary in cropping a few refrac- 
tory sprigs along the sharp-pointed top of the fence. When once 
the hedge is formed, an expert hand can earn very good wages at 
trimming fences, and make the work look well at ^d. per pole. 
