176 
Journal  of  noRTicuLTiihF  and  cottage  gardener. 
February  20,  18§(5 
years  to  come  would  have  less  occasion  for  complaint  We 
have,  however,  to  take  the  hedge  as  we  find  it,  and  make  it 
fulfil  its  purpose  in  the  economy  of  the  farm.  Occasional 
trimmings  will  suffice,  until,  by  reason  of  age,  unsightly  gaps 
caused  by  dying  or  overgrown  wood  appear  along  the  bottom 
In  the  face  of  pressure  of  work  sometimes  these  places  are 
temporarily  mended,  but  very  “  temporary  ”  the  mending  of  en 
proves,  drastic  measures  had  better  be  taken  at  once. 
About  these  measures  farmers  often  go  in  a  very  half-hearted 
sort  of  way ;  pressure  of  time  or  money,  or  both,  are  the  reasons 
pleaded.  An  easy  way  at  first  often  proves  a  difficult  one  in  the 
end;  the  future  is  so  seldom  considered.  And  so  those  men 
will  find  out  who  resort  much  to  what  is  tnown  as  layering — i.e., 
half  cutting  a  strong  stem  and  intertwining  it  with  the  next- 
This  is  quickly  done,  and  the  new  wood  grows  rapidly,  needing 
little  protection;  but,  bear  in  mind,  the  new  shoots  are  from 
broken  injured  wood.  A  similar  fence  taken  clean  off  apparently 
is  long  before  making  a  start,  and  needs  and  must  have  good 
strong  protection.  But  at  the  end  of  seven  years  it  will  not 
take  a  professional  to  decide  which  is  the  better  fence.  The 
former,  which  made  rapid  growth  to  begin  with,  will  be  found  to 
be  decayed  in  parts — i.e ,  those  branches  that  were  cut  or  split, 
although  sendii  g  out  shoots  at  first,  will  be  found  to  be  quite 
dead,  and  their  removal  will  cause  gaps  that  no  after  treatment 
will  remove  The  latter  will  be  a  good,  sound,  strong  fence 
from  end  to  end,  needing  very  little  atten  ion  for  many  years, 
the  growth  being  fr<m  the  roofs  of  young  vigorous  wood. 
Farmers  raise  great  objections  to  the  trouble  of  protecting 
the  young  fence.  Still  it  must  be  done,  and  done  thoroughly. 
The  best  plan  is  to  make  what  is  called  a  ‘‘beard”  of  strong 
rough  Thorns.  A  trench  must  be  du=;  at  least  a  foot  deep,  and 
the  Thorns  packed  in  straight,  upright  and  thick  as  possible. 
This  well  done  makes  an  impervious  barrier,  which  will  daunt 
any  stock,  or  turn  back  the  most  arrant  trespasser.  A  strand  of 
barbed  wire  on  the  top  (if  you  do  not  live  in  a  hunting  country) 
makes  assurance  doubly  sure.  Some  people  lay  the  Thorn 
“  beard  sid-ways  and  bind  them  down  to  sta'-es,  but  experience 
of  country  life  shows  an  observer  how  easily  such  a  fence  may 
be  broken,  and  that  with  reasonable  care  a  petticoated  woman 
may  get  over  anywhere  ;  it  is  generally  man  that  makes  the  first 
break,  cattle  will  speedily  fol'ow. 
Never  go  rashly  to  work  at  a  high  old  fence  ;  consider 
whether  you  need  some  of  it  lor  shelter  'rom  sun  or  storm, 
and  take  down  a  lit  le  at  a  time  It  may  look  ‘  patchy,  ’  but  you 
must  have  some  provision  for  stock,  and  a  portion  of  the  hedge 
left  is  better  and  cheaper  than  anything  you  can  make.  A 
treeless  country  looks  naked;  rather  let  it  be  so  than  encourage 
hedgerow  timber.  In  pasture  land  how  sour  and  rank 
the  grass  is  under  trees,  and  on  arable  the  bad  effect  is 
even  more  apparent.  Not  only  do  the  roots  draw  off  all 
nourishment  from  the  crop,  but  the  branches  afford  much 
harbourage  for  wood  pigeons  and  the  like.  An  old  Yorkshire 
farmer  said  there  were  three  things  he  hated  to  see — a  big 
cutting  out  of  a  haystack,  a  dog  under  a  kit<  hen  table,  and  an 
Ash  tree  in  a  hedgerow. 
Hedges  are  often  as  much  hurt  by  kindness  as  neglect; 
indeed,  a  little  judicious  neglect  is  advantageous  sometimes.  On 
some  soils  quick  wood  grows  well  and  strongly,  now  trim  and 
make  neat  to  your  heart  s  delight.  On  other  land  the  growth 
is,  as  it  were,  only  on  sufferance,  the  plant  weak,  and  cannot 
bear  much  pruning;  neither  can  it  bear  too  much  cleaning  at 
the  root.  The  bit  of  grass  and  rubbish  alike  keep  off  the  hot 
summer  sun  and  winter  frost.  To  the  sportsman  another  con¬ 
sideration  arises— too  much  hedge  "  titivation  ”  leaves  little 
suitable  ground  for  partridges  to  nest  in.  About  the  trimming 
of  hedges,  the  Yorkshire  method  (and  by  long  experience  we 
have  p  oved  it  a  good  one)  is  to  slash  the  hedge  downwards, 
causing  it  to  assume  a  triangular  shape,  the  base  being  the 
smallest  side  A.  Cutting  upwards  tends  to  make  a  hedge  barrel¬ 
shaped,  and  leaves  great  possibilities  for  holes  at  the  bottom. 
It  is  marvellous  to  what  dimensions  quick  thorn  may  attain. 
Round  the  garden  of  one  farmhouse  on  high  Yorkshire  wolds 
the  hedge  towers  above  the  chimney  pots,  making  an  effectual 
barrier  against  cold  stormy  winds.  The  owner  is  so  proud  of  it 
that  there  is  an  understanding  with  the  tenant  that  on  no 
account  is  it  to  be  meddled  with — i.e,  shortened  Another 
instance  of  curious  growth  where  a  strong  fence  was  needed  but 
low,  that  the  view  might  not  be  shut  out,  was  seen  where  the 
hedge  was  cut  fiat  at  the  top,  making  a  perfectly  level  surface 
2  yards  wide  The  farmer’s  wife,  with  an  eye  to  utility  before 
beauty,  made  it  her  bleaching  and  drying  ground,  and  a  first- 
rate  one  it  was  A  hedge  need  not  of  necessity  be  of  Quick 
Thorn  A  Holly  hedge  is  both  attractive  and  effectual.  Beech 
has  the  good  quality  of  keeping  most  of  its  leaves  on  throughout 
the  winter,  and  thus  affords  shelter.  For  purely  ornamental 
purposes  there  is  nothing  handsomer  than  Privet  or  Yew.  As 
these  notes  are  being  written  the  eye  rests  on  a  Yew  hedge  at 
least  9  feet  high  and  5  in  width,  perfect  in  symmetry  and  form. 
In  various  districts  the  price  of  taking  down  hedges  differs, 
it  is  usual  y  piecework,  and  is  paid  for  by  the  chain.  The 
strength  of  the  hedge  has  to  be  considered,  and  likewise  the 
amount  of  protection  needed,  and  the  price  may  vary  from  Is. 
to  2s.  fid.  per  chain  A  farmer  may  fairly  estimate  that  his 
fencing  all  round  on  a  mixed  occupation  will  cost  him  about 
Is.  per  acre  per  annum. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
Where  the  lighter  soils  have  been  well  moved,  they  are  now 
beginning  to  work  freely,  and  where  there  is  any  material  to  get  off 
(which  will  hardly  occur  on  well-managed  land  after  the  favourable 
weather  of  September)  a  useful  “stitch  iu  time  ”  may  be  accomplished. 
Where  Wheat  has  been  harrowed  it  should  now  be  rolled,  and  if  the 
genial  Thistle  be  absent  the  gate  may  then  be  shut  until  harvest,  and 
what  a  relief  it  is  when  the  gate  is  shut  only  the  farmer  knows. 
Swedes  are  beginning  to  run  to  seed,  and  if  wanted  for  later  use  they 
should  be  taken  up  at  once  and  stored  ;  they  will  rapidly  become  woody 
if  allowed  to  remain  in  the  ground,  and  although  they  will  sprout  and 
grow  a  little  after  being  lifted,  the  loss  of  succulence  will  not  be  so  great. 
N.B. — The  sprouts  of  Swedes  boiled  are  even  more  delicious  than  Seakale, 
which  they  much  resemble.  Roots  are  not  so  plentiful  as  was  thought, 
and  there  is  more  inquiry  for  them  in  some  districts.  The  forward  state  of 
the  pastures,  however,  will  effectually  prevent  any  pinch  in  that  quarter. 
Potatoes  are  beginning  to  grow  in  the  pies,  and  if  not  soon  moved 
there  will  be  a  great  increase  in  the  labour  of  sorting ;  where  the  sprouts 
are  not  too  long  we  have  found  Shore’s  riddle  of  great  service,  as  it 
knocks  off  the  sprouts  and  saves  much  handling.  There  is  a  great 
difficulty  at  present  in  getting  an  offer  for  anything  except  Potatoes  of 
the  finest  quality,  and  the  grower  may  have  no  choice  but  to  “  hold  on.” 
There  has  been  quite  a  panic  in  the  trade,  and  it  has  been  hardly  possible 
to  find  one  optimist.  As  it  is  the  unexpected  that  always  happens,  will 
April  see  a  reaction  1  It  may. 
Bad  as  the  prospect  is  for  the  Potato  holder,  Carrot  holders  are  in  a 
worse  fix ;  unless  they  are  required  for  consumption  at  home  by  stock, 
in  many  cases  they  will  never  be  used  at  all — another  instance  of  over¬ 
production.  There  is  another  farm  vegetable  for  which  a  heavy  amount 
of  labour  is  required,  that  this  year  has  paid  excellently  ;  we  mean 
Celery.  The  plucky  individuals  who,  in  spite  of  losses  by  frost  in 
previous  years,  have  persevered  and  stuck  to  the  ship,  have  had  a  rich 
reward.  Verb.  sap.  Do  not  all  go  mad  on  Celery  trenches  this  year. 
And  so  the  Rose  grower  of  Worksop  agrees  with  “Farmer”  that  small 
holdings  and  allotments  are  not  the“summum  bonum”of  the  agricul¬ 
tural  labourer.  Nothing  is  more  annoying  than  to  be  obliged  to  let  a 
man  off  for  a  day  or  more  just  when  his  services  are  the  most  needed  on 
the  homestead,  especially  when  it  is  remembered  how  often  in  a  slack 
time  employment  has  been  found  (at  some  little  inconvenience)  for  the 
said  man.  If  a  man,  by  some  rare  chance,  have  not  a  large  garden,  then 
let  him  have  an  allotment,  but  it  must  not  exceed  one  rood,  as  a  large 
plot  will  prevent  him  doing  his  duty  to  either  his  master  or  to  his  land. 
The  best-managed  allotments  we  ever  saw  were  in  1-rood  plots,  but  even 
they  got  into  the  hands  of  the  small  tradespeople,  carriers,  woodmen,  and 
so  forth,  and  we  can  hardly  recall  the  name  of  one  farm  labourer  pure 
and  simple  who  was  a  tenant — certainly  there  was  not  one  from  a 
600-acre  farm  in  that  p  irish  ;  it  was  a  farm  where  men  rarely  left. 
METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden  Sqdarb,  London. 
Lat.51°  32'  40"  JT.  :  Lon?.  0°  8/ 0"  W.;  Altitude  111  feet 
Date. 
9  A.M. 
In  the  Day. 
1896 
February. 
M  rrj  • 
2  d  g 
0)  OS  £*■ 
Hygrometer. 
Direc¬ 
tion  of 
Temp, 
of  soil 
at 
1  foot. 
Shade  Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature 
a 
*3 
05 
M  co  c8 
W+J  4) 
CQ  dCO 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Wind. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Sun. 
On 
Grass. 
Sunday  ..  9 
Inchs. 
30-219 
deg. 
47-9 
deg. 
47-7 
W. 
deg. 
41-0 
deg. 
55-0 
deg. 
43-0 
deg. 
81-1 
deg. 
41-8 
Trchs. 
0-010 
Monday  ..  10 
30-410 
35-3 
35-3 
N.W. 
41-0 
49  4 
34-9 
67-0 
32  3 
— 
Tuesday  ..  11 
30*493 
4i-0 
40-7 
W. 
11-6 
50-4 
35-1 
73-9 
34-1 
— 
Wednesday  12 
30-315 
40-0 
38-9 
w. 
4  -5 
55-8 
38-1 
86-9 
330 
— 
Thursday  . .  13 
30  413 
41 1 
42-6 
N. 
41-9 
50-0 
40-1 
80-7 
35-9 
— 
Friday  ..  14 
30-512 
39-6 
35-8 
W. 
41-7 
43-4 
35-6 
47-1 
27-2 
— 
Saturday  15 
30-434 
41-9 
40-1 
N. 
4l-2 
48-4 
39  5 
55-1 
34-2 
— 
30-412 
41-4 
40-2 
41-4 
50-3 
38-0 
70-3 
34-1 
0-010 
8th.— Rainy  from  4.38  A.M.  to  9  A.M. ;  generally  sunny  after  10  A.M. 
10th.— Foggy  morning  ;  a  little  sun  at  midday  ;  cloudy  afternoon. 
11th. — Fine  and  frequently  sunny,  especially  in  afternoon. 
12th. — Bright  sunshine  throughout. 
13th. — Sunny  morning;  generally  cloudy  in  afternoon. 
14th.— Overcast  all  day.  15th. — Overcast  throughout, 
A  warm  week  for  the  time  of  year  ;  almost  rainless,  very  calm  and  very  sunny.— 
E.  J.  Symons. 
