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Hrft, At every laying to lay down fome old plalhes ; 
or, if the Hedge be thin, young ones •, but they muft 
be fo laid, as to point with their ends to the ditch fide 
of the bank, the ends being kept low on the bank ; 
by being fo ordered, they will the better thicken the 
bottom of the Hedge, and keep up the earth of the 
bank. 
Secondly, To heighten the bank every time you lay 
earth on it, fo as to cover the layers, all but the ends, 
this earth will very much help the Quick ; and by 
heightening the banks, and deepening the ditch, you 
will render the fence the better. 
Thirdly, Not to cut the plafhes too much, but juft 
fo as they may bend down well ; nor to lay them too 
upright, as fome do, but to lay them near to a level •, 
for by fo doing, the fap will the better break out at 
feveral places, and not run fo much to the ends, as it 
will when they lie too much upon the (lope. 
If you have much wood to fpare, you may cut up great 
part of thofe that grow near the ditch, but then you 
ought to hang the bank with bufhes, to prevent cattle 
from cropping them the firft year ; thefe will ftioot 
ftrong, fecure the Hedge, keep up the bank, and 
thicken the bottom of the Hedge. 
Fourthly, Take care to lay the Hedge pretty thick, 
and turn the beard on the ditch fide •, but you muft 
not let the beard hang uncut (though it makes a good 
fhew at the firft making), but you muft cut off all the 
ftraggling boughs within half a foot of the Hedge on 
both fides, which will caufe it to fhoot ftrong at 
thefe places, and make the Hedge much the thicker. 
Fifthly, If the bank be high, make the Hedge fo 
low, that it may juft ferve for a fence the firft year, 
for it will foon grow higher; and the lower the Hedge 
is made, the falter the Quick will grow, and alfo 
will be the thicker at the bottom ; but care muft be 
taken to preferve it from cattle on the field fide for 
the two firft years that it is made. 
Sixthly, If you would have a good Hedge, or fence, 
you fhould new lay it once in fourteen or fifteen years, 
and conftantly root out Elder, Travellers Joy (which 
fome call Bull-bine), Briony, &c. and do not leave 
too many high ftandards, or pollards in it, though the 
Elm is one of the beft ; alfo no dead wood is to be left 
in the bottom of the Hedges, for that will choke the 
Quick ; but if there be a gap, the dead Hedge fhould 
be made at a diftance. 
The Crab is alfo frequently planted for Hedges, and 
if the plants are raifed from the kernels of the fmall 
wild Crab, they are much to be preferred to thofe which 
are raifed from kernels of all forts of Apples without 
diftin&ion ; becaufe the plants of the true fmall Crab 
never fhoot fo ftrong as thofe of the Apples, fo may 
be better kept within the proper compafs of a Hedge ; 
and as they have generally more thorns upon them, 
they are better guarded againft cattle, &c. than 
the other ; befides, the plants of the Crab will grow 
more equal than thofe which are raifed from the ker- 
nels of various kinds of Apples, for thefe always pro- 
duce a variety of plants, which differ from each other 
in their manner of growth, as much as in the fize and 
flavour of their fruits ; fo that Hedges made of thefe 
will not appear fo well, nor can be fo well managed as 
the other. 
Some perfons intermix Crab with the White Thorn 
in their Hedges, but this is not a good method ; for 
the plants of the Crab will grow much ftronger than 
thofe of the White Thorn, fo that the Hedge will not 
be of equal growth ; which is not near fo beautiful or 
ufeful, as when the plants of a Hedge keep pace in 
their growth. 
The Black Thorn, or Sloe, is alfo frequently planted 
for Hedges, and is a ftrong durable plant for that pur- 
pofe, efpecially as it is fo ftrongly armed with thorns, 
that cattle felaom care to brouze upon it but where 
this is planted, the beft way is to raife the plants from 
the ftones of the fruit ; for all thofe which are taken 
from the roots of old trees, fpawn, and put out 
fuckers in fuch plenty from their roots, as to fpread 
over, and fill the neighbouring ground to a confider- 
H E D 
able diftance on each fide of the Hedge ; and tilts 
plenty of fuckers drawing away the nourifhmentfrom 
the old plants of the Hedge, they never grow fo well 
as where there are few or no fuckers produced, which 
thofe plants which are propagated from the ftones 
fend not forth, or at leaft but fparingly, therefore 
may with little trouble be kept clear of them. The 
beft method of railing thefe Hedges is, to few the 
ftones in the place where theHedge is intended (where 
it can be conveniently done), for then the plants will 
make a much greater progrefs than thofe which are 
tranfplanted ; but the objection to this method will 
arife from the difficulty of fecuring the young plants 
from the cattle ; but this can have little force, when it 
muft be confidered, that if the Hedge is planted, it 
muft be fenced for fome years, to prevent the cattle 
from deftroying it ; therefore the fame fence will do 
for it when Town, nor will this require a fence much 
longer than the other. For the plants which Hand un- 
removed, will make a better fence in feven years, than 
that which is planted, though the plants Ihould be of 
three or four years growth when planted ; which is 
what I have feen two or three times, where the experi- 
ment has been tried. The ftones of this fruit fhould 
be fown early in January, if the weather will permit ; 
but when they are kept out of the ground longer, it 
will be proper to mix them with land, and keep them 
in a cool. place. The bufhes of the Black Thorn are 
by much the beft of any for making of dead Hedges, 
being of longer duration, and having many thorns, 
neither the cattle nor the Hedge-breakers, will care 
to meddle with them ; thefe bufhes are alfo the beft to 
be ufed for under ground drains, for the draining of 
land, for they will remain found a long time when 
the air is excluded from them. 
The Holly is fometimes planted for Hedges, and is a 
very durable ftrong fence ; but where it is expoled, 
there will be great difficulty to prevent its being deftroy- 
ed, otherwife it is by far the moft beautiful plant, and 
being an Evergreen, will afford much better ihelter to 
cattle in winter, than any other fort of Hedge-, and the 
leaves being armed with thorns, the cattle will not 
care to brouze upon it. Another objebtion to this plant 
is the flow growth, fo that Hedges planted with this 
plant, require to be fenced a much longer time than 
moft others. This is a reafon which muft be admitted, 
to prevent this being generally praflifed ; but in fuch 
grounds as lie contiguous to, or in fight of gentlemen’s 
houfes, thefe fort of Hedges will have an exceeding 
good effebt, efpecially when they are well kept, as they 
will appear beautiful at all feafons of the year ; and in 
the fpring of the year, when the fharp winds render 
it unpleafant to walk abroad in expofed places, thefe 
Hedges will afford good fhelter, as they will effedual- 
ly keep off the cold winds, if they are kept clofe' and 
thick. The fureft method of raffing thefe Hedges is, 
by fowing the berries in the place where they are to 
ftand ; but thefe berries fhould be buried in the ground 
one year before they are fown, by which method they 
will be prepared to grow the following fpring. The 
way of doing this is, to gather the berries about 
Chriftmas (which is the time they are ufually ripe,) 
and put them into large flower-pots, mixing fome land 
with them ; then dig holes in the ground, into which 
the pots muft be funk, covering them over with earth 
about ten inches thick ; in this place they may remain 
till the following Oftober, when they Ihould be taken 
up, and fown in the place where the Hedge is in- 
tended. The ground for this Hedge fhould be well 
trenched, and cleared from the roots of all bad weeds, 
bullies, trees, &c. Then two drills fhould be made 
at about a foot diftance from each other, and about 
two inches deep, into which the feeds fhould be flut- 
tered pretty clofe, left fome fhould fail ; for it is bet- 
ter to have too many plants come up, than to want, ! 
The reafon of my advffing two drills is, that the 
Hedge may be thick to the bottom, which in a Tin- 
gle row rarely happens, efpecially if there is not great- 
care taken of them in the beginning. When the plants 
come up, they muft be carefully weeded ; for ‘if the 
weeds 
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