196 
On Fences. 
laneous assemblage of rank herbage. In the parish of Lakenham, 
opposite the church, also in the vicinity of Norwich, is a fence, or, 
more properly speaking, an embankment (though originally made 
and intended simply as the foundation for a fence) thirteen leet in 
width. Dimensions: inner side, made up with rambling spray, 
brambles, nettles, &c., three feet ; outside, composed of rank 
weeds, chiefly nettles and dandelions, six feet and a half ; the hedge 
itself, which has been lately cut down, three feet and a half. About 
two-thirds of the space is thus occupied with luxurious herbage 
which has been allowed to perfect its seeds for a series of years ; 
and the fact is applicable to the most of the fences throughout 
England. 
2. Our present fences are injurious, and that to a great extent, 
inasmuch as they harbour and protect snails, slugs, Sfc. — Whole 
plots of cabbages and turnips, planted alongside one of those fences, 
are sometimes eaten up in the course of a night; and during the 
early part of the season every species of green crop sufters by those 
animals, which shelter themselves among the stones, rubbish, and 
roots during the day. So soon as the sun is down, they proceed 
from under the covering, and, as has been stated, devour every 
green blade within several yards of the hedge line. The most 
destructive enemies to crops which those fences protect during 
winter, are the slugs {Limax ater and Limax agrestis), and the 
common garden snail (Helix hortensis). Out of an old fence, 
where stones and rubbish had been collected about the roots of 
the bushes, I have dug during winter, and within the space of 
a yard, a peckful of the last-mentioned species ; a pretty good 
proof what an asylum those old fences are for such pests. 
3. They are injurious, inasmuch as they harbour a great many 
birds, and afford every encouragement to them in the building of 
their nests. — No man dislikes the song of birds. Careful farmers 
and naturalists are alike pleased in listening to their harmony; 
and, so far as singing birds are concerned, it may be said no one 
meditates any interference with them. Sparrows, however, anil 
greenfinches do unquestionably congregate in large numbers 
wherever there is an old fence, and the damage they do to early 
barley, wheat, peas, and many other crops of the farmer, is incon- 
testable. In thhi, regularly trimmed hedges, birds do not take 
shelter; and though flights of them may alight upon the top of the 
fence, their stay is invariably short. 
4. The fences throughout England are highly objectionable, sim- 
ply on account of their size. — There is a vast length and breadth 
of land occupied and overshadowed by them which might be b;iar- 
ing corn and pastvu'iiig cattle ; and though it may appear some- 
what startling, the tmth is, that were such as are unnecessary 
cleared away, and new and proper ones substituted for the re- 
