On Fences. 
2-25 
materials, it is clear that an open ditch is an important and indis- 
pensable accompaniment. 
The Elder — Samhucus nigra. 
42. This tree is remarkable for the ease with which it may be 
cultivated, its rapidity of growth, and the cheapness attending its 
formation into a fence. Trenching the ground in this case may 
be dispensed with, for if the soil is dug over one foot deep the 
roots will find their way into any damp soil. Even rooted plants 
need not be used, but cuttings or truncheons inserted instead of 
them. A ditch should be cast as a fence on one side, and the 
soil taken out of the ditch shoidd form a bank on the other. This 
hedge should be trimmed with a hedge-bill at the end of the first 
year, and every subsequent year, as recommended for the others. 
In such parts as have failed, fresh plants with roots shovdd be in- 
serted in the ensuing autumn, and at the end of 3 years the bank 
may be removed. 
The Lombavdy Poplar — Populus fastigiata. 
The Black Italian Poplar — Populus monilifera. 
43. Both these trees are admirably fitted as fences in moist soils. 
Plants one year old, which are generally about 4 feet in height, 
may be had at the nurseries at \d. each, and those will form a 
tolerable hed^e the first year. If the soil is duer over and nia- 
luued several months previous to planting, strong cuttings may be 
inserted about a foot apart, and these will make shoots varying 
from 3 to 5 feet in height during the first season. At the end 
of the second year, during the month of November, the top of 
the fence shoidd be regularly reduced with a hedge-bill to the 
height of 5 feet. This will strengthen the sides of the fence, and 
consequently increase the stability of the stems. A very good 
plan is to tie rods of wood to the young trees at 2 or 3 feet from 
the ground, until they have become sufficiently strong of them- 
selves to resist the pressure of cattle. When properly attended 
to, by keeping them free from weeds, and trimming them regu- 
larly every autumn, those fences become highly useful and orna- 
mental, and are at once amongst the cheapest and readiest of any 
that can be raised. Tlie form of the hedge should be the same 
as that of the hawthorn, only a little wider at bottom, and trimmed 
up in a wedge-like shape as already explained. 
The Alder — Ahius glutinosa. 
44. As a hedge plant, the alder is not so good as the poplar; 
but as it is the most aquatic British tree that we have, it is woithy 
of being mentioned here as suitable to a class of soils and situa- 
tions in which the poplar will not grow freely. It delights in wet 
swampy lands, and will grow tolerably even in the water. The 
VOL. VI. Q 
