Essay xipon Fences. 
485 
reasoning will apply to the carrying of corn and hay, the feeding 
off turnips, &c., in each f>f which cases the injury and delay caused 
by the obstruction of the sun and air are very great indeed. But 
in a wet harvest the total extent of the injury done is yet more 
fullv developed, the crop being frequently laid by the rains, while 
no wind is able to get at the field and shake the wet off the straw, 
the crops consequently fall close to the earth, and should warm mild 
weather succeed, they will become grown, and in any case will be 
found light in yield and deficient in quality. And should rain 
fall in the interval between the cutting and the harvesting of corn, 
it will be found in these sheltered situations always to become 
grown the soonest, and to become very seriously injured ; while 
at the same time corn will be standing in open and exposed situa- 
tions perfectly free from harm. All these facts appear to be so 
plain and conclusive, as to the real injury entailed upon the farmer 
and the growing crops by this large thick kind of hedges, that 
I will now pass to the second head of the question, and endeavour 
to show that " They are injurious to the farmer by reason of their 
excess in number." And I do not know that I can more elucidate 
this point than by referring to the arguments advanced above in 
favour of the one-field system. I will therefore briefly recapitu- 
late the heads of these arguments, adducing some few others as I 
proceed. 
First. That the excess in number of the fences is injurious to 
the farmer, by deterring him from that perfect uniformity of sys- 
tem which he would otherwise be enabled to attain, and which lies 
at the root of all good farming, thereby preventing him from 
having his separate crops in each year lying in distinct pieces, 
each by itself, which would enable the farmer to obtain a great 
saving in labour, in ploughing, and in carriage and corn, (Sec. 
Secondly. They are injurious by reason of those facts adduced 
before against the size of the fences, and which apply with fully 
as much force against their excess in number, viz., the liability of 
the crops to be laid, and become grown, and the exclusion of the 
sun and wind. 
Thirdly. They are injurious because of the amount of fence 
which the farmer is frequently obliged to maintain at a very con- 
siderable cost, and yielding underwood, Sic, insignificant in com- 
parison with the amount of land upon which they stand. For it 
is clear that a vast amount of extra labour is entailed upon a 
farmer in having 10 miles of fence to maintain instead of '1 or 3 
miles. The excess in the number offences is moreover injurious 
to the farmer, who is anxious to thorough-drain his land; for he 
will, in some cases, be compelled to cut through several fences to 
find his drains a proper outlet, and will also be obliged to use 
much more labour in cleansing the ditches, to give them a sufficient 
