hand of the planter. Even the grasses are offensive, and should be extirpated, with all the care and attention necessary in a seed bed or nursery.

Nor is it enough to defend the young plants from animal and vegetable intruders; the plants themselves must be taught, by judicious PRUNING, how to grow, so as to best answer the purpose which they are intended.

for

THE Hawthorn is naturally a shrubby plant, throwing out strong lateral shoots, down close to the ground; more especially when planted by the side of a ditch, which, by giving room, favors this propensity. These horizontal branches, of course, draw off their share of nourishment from the root, which nourishment would be better expended upon the more upright shoots. They are, at the same time, in the weeder's way, and, by stretching out across the ditch, become a temptation to cattle. They should, therefore, from time to time, be struck off with a sharp instru ment, either of the hook or the sabre kind.

IN performing this, one rule must be observed, invariably; that is, to leave the under shoots the longest, tapering the hedgeling upwards; being very careful, however, not to top the leading shoots; for, by doing this, the upward tendency

of the hedge will be checked; and, while its face is kept pruned in the manner here described, there is no fear of its becoming thin at the bottom.

THUS far we have been speaking of the method of training the SINGLE HEDGE, whether of Crab or Hawthorn. In raising the HOLLY, under either of these plants, a different kind of pruning is necessary; for, notwithstanding the Holly will struggle, in a remarkable manner, under the shade and drip of other plants, yet the more air and head room it is allowed, the greater progress it will make. In this case, therefore, the deciduous plants should be pruned to single stems, in the nursery manner; for all that is required of these is strength and tallness; the Holly being a suffi, cient guard at the bottom of the fence.

THIS may be thought an endless business, by those who have not practised it; but is it not equally endless to prune the young plants of a

nursery? And we here beg leave to remind the young planter, that if he does not pay that care and attention to his hedgelings, in every stage of the business, as he does to his nursery rows, he is a stranger to his own interest. The advantage of obtaining a live fence, on a certainty, in seven or eight years, compared with that of taking the chance of one, in fifteen or twenty, is

scarcely to be done away by any expence whatever, bestowed upon planting and training it,

We are, indeed, so fully impressed with this idea, that we believe every Gentleman would find his account in having even his single Hedges trained with naked stems, in order that they might the sooner arrive at the desirable state above described, a range of living piles. We wish to be understood, however, that we throw this out as a hint to those who wish to excel in whatever they undertake, rather than to recommend it, as a practice, to Hedge planters in general.

NEVERTHELESS, we recommend, in general terms, and in the strongest manner, to keep the face of a young Hedge pruned, in the manner above described; or, if the plants be browzed by cattle, or otherwise become stinted and shrubby, to have them cut down, within a few inches of the ground; and by this and every other method promote, as much as possible, their upward growth. It is some time before a young Hedge becomes an absolute fence, against resolute stock; and the shortest way of making it a blind, is by encouraging its upward growth, to raise it high enough to prevent their looking over it; and, by trimming it on the sides, to endeavour to render it thick enough, to prevent their seeing

through it; giving it thereby the appearance, at least, of a perfect fence,

A HEDGE, pruned with naked stems, requires a different treatment, to perfect it as a fence. As soon as the stems have acquired a sufficient stabi lity, they should be cut off, hedge height; and, in order to give additional stiffness, as well as to bring the live stakes into drill, some strong dead stakes should be driven in, here and there. This done, the whole should be tightly eddered together, near the top. As an adequate fence against horned cattle, the stems are required to be of considerable thickness; but as a sufficient restraint to sheep only, strong plants may be thus treated, a few years after planting; especially those of the Crab bush. Upon a sheep farm, pruning the plants would be eligible, were it only for the purpose of getting their heads out of the way of their most dangerous enemies.

SECTION THE FIFTH.

MANAGEMENT OF GROWN HEDGEROWS.

I. MANAGEMENT of the HEDGE. There is one general rule to be observed, in this business-cut often: for the countryman's maxim is a good one;"Cut thorns and have thorns."

THE proper length of time between the cuttings depends on the species of plant, the soil, and other circumstances: eight or ten years may be taken as the medium age, at which the Hawthorn is cut in most countries.

IN Norfolk, however, the Hedges are seldom cut under twelve to fifteen years; and are sometimes suffered to run twenty and even thirty years, without cutting! The consequence is, the stronger plants have, by that time, arrived at a tree-like size, while the underlings are overgrown and suffocated*: the number of stems are reduced in proportion, and, at that age, it is hazardous to fell the few which remain.

IN Surrey and Kent, seven or eight years old is the usual age at which the Farmers cut down their Quickset Hedges: and, in Yorkshire, they are frequently cut so young as five or six. This may be one reason of the excellency of the Yorkshire Hedges; for, under this course of treatment, every stem, whether strong or weak, has a fair chance the weak ones are enabled to withstand so short a struggle, while the large ones are rather invigorated, than checked, by such timely cropping.

For a remarkable instance of this, see MID, ECON. Vol. II. p. 383.