THE HEDGEROWS OF LEICESTERSHIRE. 
62 
Of the 150 species of mosses, recorded in this county, at least half 
may be found in the hedges and ditches; and of the 850 flowering 
plants about one-third. The Rubi and the Roses of Great Britain 
have each been divided by modern botanists into about 60 or 70 
separate forms. In the Leicestershire hedges there have been 
recorded about half these forms of Rubi and one-third of the Roses. 
The hedge bottoms are also the great refuge of our land molluscs, 
snails, and slugs of many species. In the summer months uncountable 
millions of gnats, midges, and flies of all kinds repose on the under 
sides of the leaves and twigs, coming out towards sunset to sport in the 
air and to feed on the juices of unfortunate humanity. Here also 
spiders, of many species, spread their wonderful nets, for these are 
rich hunting grounds for all insectivorous creatures, and here some 30 
species of our Leicestershire birds build their nests. 
Among Mammals, the hedgehog, the polecat, stoat and weasel, the 
rat, the field-mouse, the short-tailed vole, and the little shrew, all 
haunt the hedgerows and burrow among their matted roots. Of our few 
Reptiles, frogs and newts breed in the ditches, snakes and lizards on 
the banks, and even fishes are represented in the hedgerow Fauna by 
the little Stickleback in those ditches which are permanent 
watercourses. 
It seems evident that if England had carried out the system of high 
farming loithout hedgerows both its Fauna and its Flora must by this 
time have been considerably reduced ; and if foreign competition 
should render it necessary in the future to economise every yard of 
land, to grub up the million miles of hedges in the 40 English 
counties, and so add 500,000 acres to our food-producing area—such a 
reduction of the Fauna and Flora must inevitably result. Among the 
less common of our Leicestershire plants which would almost certainly 
be lost with the loss of our hedges, may be mentioned :— Astragalus 
glyciphyllos, Sviyrnium olusatrum. Viburnum Lantana, Picris arvalis, 
Campanula patula, C. glomerata, Lithospermum officinale, Calamintha men- 
thifolia, Daphne Laureola. It is well, then, that local naturalists 
should bestir themselves to record in the most thorough and complete 
manner, while the opportunity remains, all the species and all the local 
forms and varieties, both of plants and animals, in their respective 
counties, as a chapter of the world’s history which it may be impossi¬ 
ble ever again to write. 
In conclusion, it would be interesting to me to hear from any member 
of the Midland Union evidence as to the antiquity of any particular 
hedgerow; as to the longevity of the Hawthorn or other hedgerow shrub; 
as to the comparative abundance of the two extreme forms of Crataegus 
in any district; the use of any shrub for fencing purposes which I have 
not mentioned; or any other facts respecting hedges, whether historical 
or scientific ; also any opinions as to the figures and statistics which 
I have given. The calculations on which these are founded I have 
purposely omitted in order to save space. 
