538 
TREES AND SHRUBS FOR FENCES. 
made of it in similarlj situated districts as a 
fence plant. The best examples of it, in tiie 
shape of a hedge, are in Suffoll?;, where it 
skirts the highway for miles between Thet- 
ford and ISTewmarlcet, and where it is made 
to assume all the uniformity and smoothness 
of our twiggy liedge-trees. Three or four- 
year-old plants should be used, but on no 
account should they be taken unless they had 
been transplanted during the previous year 
in the nursery, for otherwise the roots are 
hard and bare. They should be placed six 
inches apart from each other, and the pruning 
may be safely deferred till the second year 
after planting. It will be five years before 
this fence reaches the height of five feet, 
when it will present a complete barrier to 
cattle, and an excellent shelter to surrounding 
crops. This sort of hedge should be allowed 
to spread itself out at bottom to the distance 
of two feet on each side, otherwise the branches 
become unmanageable and refuse to throw 
out small spray. The chief situations which 
I should recommend for this description of 
fence are those exposed and poor districts 
capable of improvement in the highlands, and 
on all poor lands in the lowlands. Though it 
will grow tolerably in unprepared ground, it 
is by no means insensible to kind treatment, 
and I would strongly recommend a trench to 
be opened for the plants, and the soil loosened 
to the depth of two feet. The consequence 
of this is, that a hedge will be formed two 
years sooner than by planting without any 
preparation. A fence of this description in 
ray ground (two-year seedling plants having 
been used,) was formed two years' since, and 
it now averages the height of two and a half 
feet. The soil on which it grows is a loose 
red gravel. 
3. The Larch {Lnrix europcea). — My 
opinion of this tree is that it nearly equals the 
vScotch j)ine in every respect excepting warmth 
in winter. In planting a hedge of this de- 
scription, care should be taken to use those 
plants only which stood thinly in the nursery 
lines, for if those which had been crowded 
together be planted, a serious difficulty will 
present itself in causing the plants to feather 
close to the ground. It will be readily an- 
swered by some, " Cut off the tops and then 
they will be sure to spring at bottom." I find, 
however, that this does not answer, the strong 
leading shoots being indispensably necessary 
to give rigidity to the hedge. The plan, 
therefore, is either to use two-year trans- 
planted plants, which are well branched at 
bottom, or to have those of a younger age, 
which always break out well when free on 
both sides. I hold it as indisputable that the 
leading shoots of a larch fence should not be 
cut till the fourth year, before which time I 
have never seen one with the necessary 
"bones and sinews." Tiiongh it will grow 
in almost all soils, it must not be expected 
that the larch will in all situations wear that 
beautiful green which distinguishes it in loam 
and clay, or on the slopes of hifls ; and in the 
shape of a fence it will be found to display 
considerable diversity in height and vigour, 
according to the differences of soils ; but this 
maybe in a great measure avoided by helping 
the w^eak parts with a little well-rotted manure 
dug in about the roots. There is one advan- 
tage which the larch possesses over every 
other hedge plant, and that is, that grass will 
grow close up to it, and that though the roots 
impoverish the soil, the leaves or shade of 
this tree is not hurtful to pastures. Until it 
is completely formed, the larch should be 
clipped during the latter part of June, and 
again in November ; but after the fence is 
complete, a trimming at the latter date will 
be sufficient. 
4. The Lombardy Poplar (Pojndns fas- 
tigiata) ; and The Box-thorn {Lycium 
euroiKBurn). — The former is a very fast- 
growing tree, but is not very lasting. "When 
subjected to the hedge-bill, it throws out thick 
clusters of spray, which, though not very re- 
gularly disposed over the surface, are yet cal- 
culated to produce considerable shelter. The 
more common sorts of honejsuckle are often 
intermixed with it when planted as a hedge, 
and together they form a tolerably good 
fence. Instead of the honeysuckle, Iiowever, 
a much better substitute is to be found in 
the box-thorn, which grows rapidly, is very 
hardy, and frequently bears spines like the 
hawthorn. This box-thorn will grow any- 
where, and is most readily propagated by 
cuttings. Throughout England, it is very 
currently called the tea-tree, a name which it 
has acquired through a very trifling circum- 
stance, — the label belonging to a tea-plant 
having been put on to this tree by mistake, and 
forwarded, along with other plants, to one of 
the Dukes of Argyle, who, it appears, had one 
sent to him before it was generally known. It 
does not grow sufficiently close to choke and 
eventually overcome the poplars with which 
it is mixed ; so that a fence of this sort will 
last for many years, and bear the hedge-bill 
extremely well. Some recommend the box- 
thorn as a hedge by itself ; but this can 
only apply to gardens where it is not exposed 
to stock, &c. In the fields, it will certainly 
prove a failure if used alone. The cuttings 
of the box-thorn should be planted in the 
autumn, after the falling of the leaf. 
5. The Beech (Fagus si/lvatica). — No 
tree makes abetter fence than the beech ; but 
it restricts itself to arable and pasture lands ; 
and on these even, it will not grow freely 
