TREES AND SHRUBS FOR FENCES. 
537 
TREES AND SHRUBS FOR FENCES. 
(^Excepting the Hawthorn.) 
BT THE LATE JAMES GRIGOR OF NORWICH. 
Having had considerable experience in 
the formation of hedges under every variety 
of circumstance, and in all descriptions of 
soils, I proceed to lay before the public the 
result of my practice, passing over, agreeably 
to the conditions, the common Hawthorn, a 
plant which is universally known in the con- 
struction of fences. 
I shall enumerate the kinds according to 
their importance as fence plants. This im- 
portance I measure by the vai-iety of soils 
and situations in which they thrive, their 
rate of growth in a given time, their rigidity 
so as to withstand pressure, their branchiness 
so as to cause shelter, and their durability. 
Agreeably to this plan, then, I begin with the 
Black Sallow {Salix caprea). — This 
tree, which is frequently called the Goat 
willow, is not generally known or cultivated ; 
but it has of late years attracted notice in 
some districts as a plant which successfully 
withstands the effects of the sea air. It is, 
however, destined to accomplish a great deal 
in inland situations in the shape of hedges. 
I have seen it in every description of soil, 
except peat moss — on dry hard gravel very 
much exposed, by the side of rivers where 
there is an excess of moisture, and on all in- 
termediate soils and situations with the single 
exception referred to. Its chief merit, per- 
haps, is that it forms a protection at once. 
From the day on which it is planted, it be- 
comes entitled, so far as security of property 
is concerned, to take its place with a haw- 
thorn fence of seven years' standing. These 
facts I gather from a hedge of this tree now 
grooving on my own ground ; and in order 
that I may be clearly understood, I shall give 
the details of how it was formed. My first 
trial with this tree was with small cuttings of 
fourteen inches in length, placing them at 
about nine inches apart from each other. 
Those grew well, but the fence so formed is 
not strong enough, and gives way when sub- 
jected to pressure. In order to have a rigid 
framework at the commencement, I procured 
a waggon load of strong strait rods, six feet 
in length, and about one and a quarter inch 
in diameter at the lower end. Those I planted 
in the autumn, fourteen inches deep, in the 
way here indicated — tying them tightly to- 
gether with willows at each intersection, 
which prevents their rubbing against each 
other during high winds, and adds greatly to 
their power of resistance As soon as planted, 
they were sufficiently strong to keep in cows, 
sheep, &c. The first year they made shoots 
about nine inches in length, those shoots 
being very regularly disposed over the rods, 
and not, as might have been expected, on the 
tops of the rods only. It is of importance to 
observe here that the more slanting the shoots 
are placed, the more regularly will the buds 
break all over, and that if set perpendicularly, 
or nearly so, ihrj can scarcely be made to 
assume a hedge-like character, strong leading 
shoots rising from the tops without sufficient 
spray underneath. It is also of importance 
to observe that the shoots, of a necessary 
thickness and straightness, can be only had 
from stools grown and treated in the same 
way that the underwood throughout England 
is managed ; that is, when hurdle-wood is the 
object. A plant of a few years' standing is 
cut down in autumn close to the ground : in 
spring it sends up several straight vigorous 
shoots eight or ten feet in height : these are 
allowed to remain three years, when they 
undergo the same process by being cut down. 
Without such a nursery, the proper materials 
for this kind of fencing cannot be had. The 
great value of this tree consists in its adapta- 
tion to almost all soils and situations, and 
particularly in its being available at once as a 
protection, which is not the case with any 
other tree. It would grow freely as a fence- 
plant throughout the highlands of Scotland, if 
a trench were opened for the rods, and the 
soil properly loosened at bottom. This de- 
scription of fence should be trimmed or 
clipped every season during the month of 
June : a second growth will follow the dress- 
ing at this date, which will considerably 
thicken the spray ; and in situations near to 
dwellings, &c. the fence had better be reduced 
to an even and uniform outline in the latter 
part of October, which will also tend to its 
closeness and beauty. 
2. The Scotch Pine (Pinvs sylvestris). 
This tree triumphs over a great variety of 
soils and situations, and perhaps it no where 
more forcibly shows itself adapted to the most 
barren and exposed districts than in the north 
of Scotland, on the left hand side of the 
Grantown road, before reaching the Dava 
Inn, on the property of the Earl of Seafield. 
In this particular district, it forms the only 
species of tree to be seen ; and I refer to it 
in this instance to show what use miirht be 
