224 
On Fences. 
out luxuriously on each side and produce sufiBcient spray to keep 
the plants in a healthy state. The tips of the strongest side 
branches should be cat off, so as to induce smaller ones to break 
forth, but no regular system of pruning should be adopted. An- 
other parallel line is to be formed and planted in like manner, 
about 6 yards distant from the other : this distance 1 adopt, so 
that the roots of the trees may not impoverish or reach the soil in 
the centre, which at the proper season should be planted with the 
whitethorn or beech after the ground is trenched in the usual wav. 
Between the parallel lines, at considerable distances, there should 
be cross lines planted so as to break any currents of wind, which 
are oftentimes hurtful in open avenues of this description. If the 
soil is tolerable, and the climate permit, the whitethorn-hedge 
may be introduced 3 years after the planting of the pines ; but in 
the more exposed places, it should be deferred for a year or two 
longer, when the screen on either side will be in a more complete 
state to protect it. At the end of the three years, the beech may 
with every prospect of success be introduced. 
The Furze — Ulex Huroptea. 
40. In very cold elevated districts, where others will not thrive, 
this shrub makes a beautiful and useful fence — beautiful from its 
having such a profusion of bloom, and useful because it is cropped 
in winter by sheep, and the clippings eaten by cattle and horses. 
It is short-lived, however, and is subject to be killed down during 
severe winters. It is apt, also, to become bare and unsightly at 
bottom. In forming a hedge of this shrub, the plan pursued at 
present throughout most parts of England with regard to the 
whitethorn is to be adopted. A bank of earth is to be raised 
5 feet wide at bottom, 3^ feet high, and 20 inches wide at top. 
At the proper season, which is in March, a drill is to be drawn on 
the top alon^ the middle of the bank, and the seeds sown therein, 
and covered to the depth of 1 inch. In the course of two years 
the plants will begin to grow luxuriantly, spreading downwards 
on each side over the bank, so as almost to cover the whole of its 
surface. This fence should be regularly clipped once a-year, 
between November and March, and of course the particular time 
will be regulated by the demand for the cUppings as fodder. 
Sect. III. — Hedges for situations where the soil is damp and 
41. For this section nature seems to have given us no trees or 
shrubs remarkable for their stability or rigidity. They are all 
soft-wooded, without prickles, open growers, but compensating for 
those deficiencies in the quickness of their growth. With such 
