The Fanning of Cheshire. 99 
y 
much abounds on this kind of land, a luxuriant herbage presents 
itself, consisting of red and white clover, trefoil, and other grasses, 
of which the cattle are so fond that they eat up almost everything 
before them ; even thistles and rushes are very much weakened, 
and eventually reduced, by being constantly eaten off by the stock 
after the pastures have been " bone-dusted " 
Fences. 
The fences in many parts of the county are sadly neg- 
lected, some farmers scarcely ever thinking it necessary to cut 
a hedge, unless when thorns are wanted to repair the gaps, and 
then the work is performed in a careless manner. Many fences 
are allowed to run so wild that they cover two or three yards on 
each side of the ditch, and are so high as in a great measure to 
exclude the air from the fields ; and if perchance a few quicksets 
are put into the old copse, they are never more thought of, and 
soon become choked with couch-grass or weeds, and are eventually 
destroyed. On some of the best-managed farms great attention 
is paid to the fences ; on a field being put into tillage the hedge 
is neatly cut to the height of about two feet, the ditch is cleansed, 
and as much of the contents as is required is thrown in among 
the quicks, and the remainder is put on the opposite side to be 
carted away as compost ; the field remains in tillage four or five 
years, and by this time there is a good fence, affording shelter for 
cattle. If the fence be old and ragged at the bottom, all the 
strong stems are sawn off near the roots ; and when there are any 
young slender shoots, they are reserved for the purpose of plash- 
ing or laying, and are fastened down with short hook pegs, the 
cop having been previously " breasted up," as it is termed, with 
the contents of the ditch; if there should not be young wood 
enough to form a sufficient .fence to the field, a small beard of 
thorns is put along the top of the cop. Where there is a great 
deficiency of quick thorns in a fence, and those left are old or 
decaying, it would be much better to remove them altogether, 
level down the old cop, form a new one not too high, and replant 
with quicksets of four or five years' growth, cutting off the tops, and 
taking care to put some rotten manure in the trench before plant- 
mg. Sufficient attention is seldom paid to the protection of young 
fences, and as good hedges form an important part of an estate, it 
would be well if landowners would find good strong quicks, and 
posts and rails to protect them, the tenant planting, manuring, 
and keeping them clean. 
Some farmers not only never think of cutting their fences till 
thorns are wanted, but they never cleanse their ditches until they 
become so full that the water from them begins to flow over the 
adjoining land. There is also great and very general neglect as 
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