the profit arising from them only would abundantly repay the cost of the whole without any loss of ground. It may possibly be objected by some, that the hedges would often be hurt by the boys climbing up to get the fruit; but those who make it should remember, or be told, that the best kinds of cider-fruit are so hard and astringent at the time of their being gathered, that nobody can eat them, and even hogs will hardly touch them. But the greatest benefit, where no fruit trees are planted, arises from the thorns and wood which quick hedges yield for the fire and other purposes."

The author of the Essays on Husbandry recommends the hornbeam plant as one of the best yet known for making fences, according to the method practised in Germany, where such fences are common. "When the German husbandman (says he) erects a fence of this nature, he throws up a parapet of earth, with a ditch on each side, and plants his hornbeam sets in such a manner, that every two plants may be brought to intersect each other in the form of St Andrew's cross. In that part where the two plants cross each other, he gently scrapes off the bark, and binds them with straw thwart-wise. Here the two plants consolidate in a kind of indissoluble knot, and push from thence horizontal slanting shoots, which form a sort of living palisado or Chevaux de frise; so that such a protection may be called a rural fortification. The hedges being pruned annually, and with discretion, will in a few years render the fence impenetrable in every part.

"It sometimes happens (says Dr Anderson) that a hedge may have been long neglected, and be in general in a healthy state, but full of gaps and openings, or so thin and straggling, as to form but a very imperfect sort of fence. On these occasions, it is in vain to hope to fill up the gaps by planting young quicks; for these would always be outgrown, choked, and starved, by the old plants: nor could it be recovered by cutting clear over by the roots, as the gaps would still continue where they formerly were. The only methods that I know of rendering this a fence are, either to mend up the gaps with dead wood, or to plough the hedge; which last operation is always the most eligible where the gaps are not too large to admit of being cured by this means.

"The operation I here call ploughing, may be defined, 'a wattling made of living wood.' To form this, some stems are first selected, to be left as stakes at proper distances, the tops of which are all cut over at the height of four feet from the root. The straggling side-branches of the other part of the hedge are also lopped away. Several of the remaining plants are then cut over, close by the ground, at convenient distances; and the remaining plants are cut perhaps half through, so as to permit them to be bent to one side. They are then bent down almost to a horizontal position, and interwoven with the upright stakes, so as to retain them in that position. Care ought to be taken, that these be laid very low at those places where there were formerly gaps; which ought to be farther strengthened by some dead stakes or truncheons of willows, which will frequently take root in this case, and continue to live. And sometimes a plant of eglantine will be able to overcome the difficulties it there meets with, strike root, and grow up so as to strengthen the hedge in a most effectual manner.

"The operator begins at one end of the field, and proceeds regularly forward, bending all the stems in one direction, so that the points rise above the roots of the others, till the whole wattling is completed, to the same height as the uprights.

"An expert operator will perform this work with much greater expedition than one who has not seen it done could easily imagine. And as all the diagonal wattlings continue to live and send out shoots from many parts of their stems, and as the upright shoots that rise from the stumps of those plants that have been cut over quickly rush up through the whole hedge, these serve to unite the whole into one entire mass, that forms a strong, durable, and beautiful fence.

"This is the best method of recovering an old neglected hedge that hath as yet come to my knowledge.

"In some cases it happens that the young shoots of a hedge are killed every winter; in which case it soon becomes dead and unlofty, and can never rise to any considerable height. A remedy for this disease may therefore be wished for.

"Young hedges are observed to be chiefly affected with this disorder; and it is almost always occasioned by an injudicious management of the hedge, by means of which it has been forced to send out too great a number of shoots in summer, that are thus rendered so small and weakly as to be unable to resist the severe weather in winter.

"It often happens that the owner of a young hedge, with a view to render it very thick and close, cuts it over with the shears a few inches above the ground the first winter after planting; in consequence of which, many small shoots spring out from each of the stems that has been cut over;—Each of which, being afterwards cut over in the same manner, sends forth a still greater number of shoots, which are smaller and smaller in proportion to their number.

"If the soil in which the hedge has been planted is poor, in consequence of this management, the branches, after a few years, become so numerous, that the hedge is unable to send out any shoots at all, and the utmost exertion of the vegetative powers enables it only to put forth leaves. These leaves are renewed in a sickly state for some years, and at last cease to grow at all—the branches become covered with fog, and the hedge perishes entirely.

"But if the soil be very rich, notwithstanding this great multiplication of the stems, the roots will still have sufficient vigour to force out a great many small shoots, which advance to a great length, but never attain a proportional thickness. And as the vigour of the hedge makes them continue to vegetate very late in autumn, the frosts come on before the tops of these dangling shoots have attained any degree of woody firmness, so that they are killed almost entirely by it: the whole hedge becomes covered with these long dead shoots, which are always disagreeable to look at, and usually indicate the approaching end of the hedge.

"The causes of the disorder being thus explained, it will readily occur, that the only radical cure is amputation; which, by giving an opportunity to begin with training the hedge anew, gives also an opportunity of avoiding the errors that occasioned it. In this case, care ought to be taken to cut the plants as close to the ground as possible, as there the stems will be less numerous than at any greater height. And particular attention ought to be had to allow very few shoots to arise from the stems that have been cut over, and to guard carefully against shortening them.

"But as the roots, in the case here supposed, will be very strong, the shoots that are allowed to spring from the stems will be very vigorous, and there will be some danger of their continuing to grow later in the season than they ought in safety to do; in which case, some part of the top of the shoot may perhaps be killed by the first winter, which ought if possible to be prevented. This can only be effectually done by giving a check to the vegetation in autumn, so as to allow the young shoots to harden in the points before the winter approaches. If any of the leaves or branches of a tree are cut away while it is in the state of vegetation, the whole plant feels the loss, and it suffers a temporary check in its growth in proportion to the loss that it thus sustains. To check, therefore, the vigorous vegetation at the end of autumn, it will be prudent to choose the beginning of September for the time of lopping off all the supernumerary branches from the young hedge, and for clipping off the side-branches that have sprung out from it; which will, in general, be sufficient to give it such a check in its growth at that season, as will prevent any of the shoots from advancing afterwards. If the hedge is extremely vigorous, a few buds may be allowed to grow upon the large stumps in the spring, with a view to be cut off at this season, which will tend to stop the vegetation of the hedge still more effectually.

"By this mode of management, the hedge may be preserved entire through the first winter. And as the shoots become less vigorous every succeeding season, there will be less difficulty in preserving them at any future period. It will always be proper, however, to trim the sides of a very vigorous hedge for some years while it is young, about the same season of the year, which will tend powerfully to prevent this malady. But when the hedge has advanced to any considerable height, it will be equally proper to clip it during any of the winter-months, before Candlemas."

Lord Kames, in his work intitled the Gentleman Farmer, gives several directions for the raising and mending of hedges considerably different from those above related. For a deer-park he recommends a wall of stone coped with turf, having laburnums planted close to it. The heads of the plants are to be lopped off, in order to make the branches extend laterally, and interweave in the form of a hedge. The wall will prevent the deer from breaking through; and if the hedge be trained eight feet high, they will not attempt to leap over. He prefers the laburnum plant, because no beast will feed upon it except a hare, and that only when young and the bush tender. Therefore, no extraordinary care is necessary except to preserve them from the hare for four or five years. A row of alders may be planted in front of the laburnums, which no hare nor any other beast will touch. The wall he recommends to be built in the following manner, as being both cheaper and more durable than one constructed entirely of stone. Raise it of stone to the height of two feet and a half from the ground, after which it is to be coped with sod as follows. First, lay on the wall, with the grassy side under, sod cut with the spade four or five inches deep, and of a length equal to the thickness of the wall. Next, cover this sod with loose earth rounded like a ridge. Third, prepare thin sod, cut with the paring spade, so long as to extend beyond the thickness of the wall, two inches on each side. With these cover the loose earth, keeping the grassy side above; place them so much on the edge, that each sod shall cover part of another, leaving only about two inches without cover: when 20 or 30 yards are thus finished, let the sod be beat with mallets by two men, one on each side of the wall, striking both at the same time. By this operation the sod becomes a compact body that keeps in the moisture, and encourages the grafts to grow. Lastly, cut off the ragged ends of the sod on each side of the wall, to make the covering neat and regular. The month of October is the proper season for this operation, because the sun and wind, during summer, dry the sod, and hinder the grafts from vegetating. Moist soil affords the best sod. Wet soil is commonly too fat for binding; and, at any rate, the watery plants it produces will not thrive in a dry situation. Dry soil, on the other hand, being commonly ill bound with roots, shakes to pieces in handling. The ordinary way of coping with sod, which is to lay them flat and fingle, looks as if intended to dry the sod and kill the grafts; not to mention that the sod is liable to be blown off the wall by every high wind.

Where the wall itself is to be used as a fence without any hedge, a ditch is to be made on each side, beginning a foot from the root of the wall, and sloping outward to the depth of three feet, or at least two and an half. The ditch should be equally sloped on the other side, so as to be four feet wide. A rood of this fence, including every article, may be done for three shillings or thereabouts; and a field of 10 acres thus inclosed, for about £1l., which by a stone wall would cost upwards of £5l. It will also stand many years without any need of reparation; while stone walls require no less than 2½ per cent. of the original cost expended annually to keep them up.

The advantages of a thorn hedge, according to our author, are, that it is a very quick grower, when planted in a proper soil; shooting up six or seven feet in a season. Though tender, and apt to be hurt by weeds when young, it turns strong, and may be cut into any shape. Even when old, it is more disposed than other trees to lateral shoots; and lastly, its prickles make it the most proper of all for a fence. None of these thorns ought to be planted in a hedge till five years of age, and it is of the utmost importance that they be properly trained in the nursery. The best soil for a nursery, his Lordship observes, is between rich and poor. In the latter the plants are dwarfish; in the former, being luxuriant and tender, they are apt to be hurt during the severity of the weather; and these imperfections are incapable of any remedy. An essential requisite in a nursery is free ventilation.

"How common (says his Lordship) is it to find nurseries in hollow sheltered places, surrounded with walls, for raising and high plantations, more fit for pine-apples than the plants..." Hedges. barren trees! The plants thrust out long shoots, but feeble and tender; when exposed in a cold situation, they decay, and sometimes die. But there is a reason for every thing: the nurseryman's view is to make profit by saving ground, and by imposing on the purchaser tall plants, for which he pretends to demand double price. It is so difficult to purchase wholesome and well nursed plants, that every gentleman farmer ought to raise plants for himself.

"As thorns will grow pleasantly from roots, I have long practised a frugal and expeditious method of raising them from the wounded roots that must be cut off when thorns are to be set in a hedge. These roots, cut into small parts, and put in a bed of fresh earth, will produce plants the next spring no less vigorous than what are produced from seed; and thus a perpetual succession of plants may be obtained without any more feed. It ought to be a rule, never to admit into a hedge plants under five years old: they deserve all the additional sun that can be demanded for them. Young and feeble plants in a hedge are of slow growth; and, besides the loss of time, the palings necessary to secure them from cattle must be renewed more than once before they become a fence. A thorn hedge may be planted in every month of winter and spring unless it be frost. But I have always observed, that thorns planted in October are more healthy, push more vigorously, and fewer decay, than at any other time. In preparing the thorns for planting, the roots ought to be left as entire as possible, and nothing cut away but the ragged parts.

"As a thorn hedge suffers greatly by weeds, the ground where they are planted ought to be made perfectly clean. The common method of planting, is to leave eight or nine inches along a side of the intended ditch, termed a scarfement; and behind the scarfement to lay the surface soil of the intended ditch, cut into square sods two or three inches deep, its grassy surface under. Upon that sod, whether clean or dirty, the thorns are laid, and the earth of the ditch above them. The grafts in the scarfement, with what weeds are in the moved earth, soon grow up, and require double diligence to prevent the young thorns from being choked. The following method deserves all the additional trouble it requires. Leaving a scarfement as above of 10 inches, and also a border for the thorns, broad or narrow according to their size; lay behind the border all the surface of the intended ditch, champed small with the spade, and upon it lay the mouldery earth that fell from the spade in cutting the said surface. Cover the scarfement and border with the under earth, three inches thick at least; laying a little more on the border to raise it higher than the scarfement, in order to give room for weeding. After the thorns are prepared by smoothing their ragged roots with a knife, and lopping off their heads to make them grow bushy, they are laid fronting the ditch, with their roots on the border, the head a little higher than the root. Care must be taken to spread the roots among the surface-earth taken out of the ditch, and to cover them with the mouldery earth that lay immediately below. This article is of importance, because the mouldery earth is the finest of all. Cover the stems of the thorns with the next stratum of the ditch, leaving always an inch at the top free. It is no matter how poor this stratum be, as the plants draw no nourishment from it. Go on to finish the ditch, pressing down carefully every row of earth thrown up behind the hedge, which makes a good solid mound impervious to rain. It is a safeguard to the young hedge to raise this mound as perpendicular as possible; and for that reason, it may be proper, in loose soil, when the mound is raised a foot or so, to bind it with a row of the tough sod, which will support the earth above till it become solid by lying. In poor soil more care is necessary. Behind the line of the ditch the ground intended for the scarfement and border should be summer fallowed, manured, and cleared of all grass roots; and this culture will make up for the inferiority of the soil. In very poor soil, it is vain to think of planting a thorn hedge. In such ground there is a necessity for a stone fence.

"The only reason that can be given for laying thorns as above described, is to give the roots space to push in all directions; even upward into the mound of earth. There may be some advantages in this; but, in my apprehension, the disadvantage is much greater of heaping so much earth upon the roots as to exclude not only the sun, but the rain which runs down the sloping bank, and has no access to the roots. Instead of laying the thorns fronting the ditch, would it not do better to lay them parallel to it; covering the roots with three or four inches of the best earth, which would make a hollow between the plants and the sloping bank? This hollow would intercept every drop of rain that falls on the bank, to sink gradually among the roots. Why at any rate should a thorn be put into the ground sloping? This is not the practice with regard to any other tree; and I have heard of no experiment to persuade me that a thorn thrives better sloping than erect. There occurs, indeed, one objection against planting thorns erect, that the roots have no room to extend themselves on that side where the ditch is. But does it not hold, that when, in their progress, roots meet with a ditch, they do not push onward; but, changing their direction, push downward at the side of the ditch? If so, these downward roots will support the ditch, and prevent it from being mouldered down by frost. One thing is evident without experiment, that thorns planted erect may sooner be made a complete fence than when laid sloping as usual. In the latter case, the operator is confined to thorns that do not exceed a foot or 15 inches; but thorns five or six feet high may be planted erect; and a hedge of such thorns, well cultivated in the nursery, will in three years arrive to greater perfection than a hedge managed in the ordinary way will do in twice that time."

After the hedge is finished, it is absolutely necessary to secure it for some time from the depredations of an hedge cattle; and this is by no means an easy matter. "The after it is ordinary method of a paling (says his lordship) is no planted sufficient defence against cattle: the most gentle make it a rubbing post, and the vicious wantonly break it down with their horns. The only effectual remedy is expensive; viz. two ditches and two hedges, with a mound of earth between them. If this remedy, however, be not palatable, the paling ought at least to be of the strongest kind. I recommend the following as the best I am acquainted with: Drive into the ground strong stakes three feet and an half long, with intervals... from eight to twelve inches, according to the size of the cattle that are to be inclosed; and all precisely of the same height. Prepare plates of wood sawed out of logs, every plate three inches broad and half an inch thick. Fix them on the head of the stakes with a nail driven down into each. The stakes will be united so firmly, that one cannot be moved without the whole; and will be proof accordingly against the rubbing of cattle. But, after all, it is no fence against vicious cattle. The only proper place for it is the side of a high road, or to fence a plantation of trees. It will indeed be a sufficient fence against sheep, and endure till the hedge itself becomes a fence. A fence thus completed, including thorns, ditching, wood, nails, &c., will not much exceed two shillings every six yards."

His lordship discommends the ordinary method of training hedges by cutting off the top and shortening the lateral branches in order to make it thick and bushy. This, as well as the method of cutting off the stems two or three inches above the ground, indeed produces a great number of shoots, and makes a very thick fence, but which becomes so weak when bare of leaves, that cattle break through it in every part. To determine the best method of proceeding in this case, his lordship made an experiment on three hedges, which were twelve years old at the time he wrote. The first was annually pruned at the top and sides; the sides of the second were pruned, but not the top; and the third was allowed to grow without any pruning. The first, at the time of writing, was about four feet broad, and thick from top to bottom; but weak in the stems, and unable to resist any horned beast: the second was strong in its stems, and close from top to bottom: the third was also strong in its stems, but bare of branches for two feet from the ground; the lower ones having been deprived of air and rain by the thick shade of those above them. Hence he directs that hedges should be allowed to grow till the stems be five or six inches in circumference, which will be in ten or twelve years; at which time the hedge will be fifteen feet or more in height. The lateral branches next the ground must be pruned within two feet of the stem; those above must be made shorter and shorter in proportion to their distance from the ground; and at five feet high they must be cut close to the stem, leaving all above full freedom of growth. By this dressing the hedge takes on the appearance of a very steep roof; and it ought to be kept in that form by pruning. This form gives free access to rain, sun, and air: every twig has its share, and the whole is preserved in vigour. When the stems have arrived at their proper bulk, cut them over at five feet from the ground, where the lateral branches end. This answers two excellent purposes: the first is to strengthen the hedge, the sap that formerly ascended to the top being now distributed to the branches; the next is, that a tall hedge flagitates the air, and poisons both corn and grass near it. A hedge trained in this manner is impenetrable even by a bull.

With regard to the practice of plashing an old hedge recommended by Dr Anderson, his lordship observes that "it makes a good interim fence, but at the long-run is destructive to the plants; and accordingly there is scarcely to be met with a complete good hedge where plashing has been long practised. A thorn is a tree of long life. If, instead of being massacred by plashing, it were raised and dressed in the way here described, it would continue a firm hedge perhaps 500 years.

"A hedge ought never to be planted on the top of the mound of earth thrown up from the ditch. It ought to be placed on the side of the bank, and be planted in bad soil, and destitute of moisture, it cannot thrive; it is at best dwarfish, and frequently no decays and dies. To plant trees in the line of the hedge, or within a few feet of it, ought to be absolutely prohibited as a pernicious practice. It is amazing that people should fall into this error, when they ought to know that there never was a good thorn-hedge with trees in it. And how should it be otherwise? An oak, a beech, an elm, grows faster than a thorn. When suffered to grow in the midst of a thorn-hedge, it spreads its roots everywhere, and robs the thorns of their nourishment. Nor is this all: the tree, overshadowing the thorns, keeps the sun and air from them. At the same time, no tree takes worse with being overshadowed than a thorn.

"It is scarce necessary to mention gaps in a hedge, because they will seldom happen where a hedge is up gaps trained as above recommended. But in the ordinary method of training, gaps are frequent, partly by the failure of plants, and partly by the treppling of cattle. The ordinary method of filling up gaps is to plant sweet briar where the gap is small, and a crab where it is large. This method I cannot approve for an obvious reason: a hedge ought never to be composed of plants which grow unequally. Those that grow fast, overtop and hurt the slow growers; and with respect, in particular, to a crab and sweet briar, neither of them thrive under the shade. It is a better method to remove all the withered earth in the gap, and to substitute fresh fappy mould mixed with some lime or dung. Plant upon it a vigorous thorn of equal height with the hedge, which in its growth will equal the thorns it is mixed with. In that view there should be a nursery of thorns of all sizes, even to five feet high, ready to fill up gaps. The best season for this operation is the month of October. A gap filled with sweet briar, or a crab lower than the hedge, invites the cattle to break through and trample the young plants under foot; to prevent which, a paling raised on both sides is not sufficient, unless it be raised as high as the hedge.

"Where a field is too poor to admit of a thorn-hedge, if there be no quantity of stones easily procurable, whins are the only resource. These are commonly placed on the top of a dry earth-dyke, in which situation they seldom thrive well. The following seems preferable. Two parallel ditches three feet wide and two deep, border a space of twelve feet. Within this space raise a bank at the side of each ditch with the earth that comes out of it, leaving an interval between the two banks. Sow the banks with whin seed, and plant a row of trees in the interval. When the whins are pretty well grown, the hedge on one of the banks may be cut down, then the other as soon as it becomes a fence, and so on alternately. While the whins are young, they will not be disturbed by cattle, if passages be left to go out and in. These passages may..." Hedges may be closed up when the hedge is sufficiently strong to be a fence. A whin-hedge, thus managed, will last many years, even in strong frost, unless very severe. There are many whin-hedges in the shire of Kincardine not so skilfully managed, and yet the possessors appear not to be afraid of frost. Such fences ought to be extremely welcome in the sandy grounds of the shire of Moray, where there is scarce a stone to be found. The few earth-fences that are there raised, composed mostly of sand, very soon crumble down.

In the fourth volume of Mr Young's Northern Tour, the author recommends the transplanting of old hedges, which his correspondent Mr Beverly says he has tried with prodigious success.

Mr Bakewell, we are told, is very curious in his fences, and plants his quicks in a different manner from what is common in various parts of the kingdom. He plants one row at a foot from set to set, and making his ditch, lays the earth which comes out of it to form a bank on the side opposite to the quick. In the common method the bank is made on the quick side above it. Reasons are not wanting to induce a preference of this method. The plants grow only in the surface the earth uncovered from the atmosphere, which must necessarily be a great advantage; whereas, in the usual way of planting, that earth, which is always the best, is loaded by a thick covering obliquely of the earth out of the ditch. If the roots shoot in the best soil, they will be out of the reach of the influences of the air; the consequence of which is, that they cannot have so large a space of that earth as if set on the flat. The way to have a tree or a quick thrive in the best manner possible, is to set it on the surface, without any ditch or trench, that cuts off half its pasture. But if a ditch is necessary, the next best way must of course be still to keep it on the flat surface; and the worst way to cover up that surface, by loading it with the dead earth out of a trench. To say that there are good hedges in the common method is not a conclusive argument, unless both were tried on the same soil and exposure.

In the 7th volume of the same work, a correspondent, who signs himself M.M., observes, that notwithstanding all the improvements that have been made in the construction of hedges and fences, there are many soils in England, which, from their sandy and gravelly natures, are little adapted to any of the plants in common use, and are therefore subject to all the inconveniences of dead hedges and gaps. Of this kind are all the sandy and gravelly inclosures, which constitute so large a part of many districts in the island. For these our author recommends a triple row of furze; though notwithstanding its advantages, he says it is liable to be destroyed by severe winters, contrary to the assertion of Lord Kames above-related. "It is liable (says he) to be completely cut off by a severe winter, that I have seen tracks of many hundreds acres laid open in the space of a few weeks, and reduced to as defenceless a state as the surrounding wastes. On such soils therefore he recommends the holly; the only disadvantage of which, he says, is its slow growth. On most of these soils also the black thorn will rise spontaneously; and even the quick, though slowly, will advance to a sufficient degree of perfection. The birch, however, he particularly recommends, as growing equally on the driest and on the wettest soils, propagating itself in such numbers, that were they not destroyed, all the sandy wastes of this kingdom would be quickly covered with them. He recommends particularly the keeping of a nursery for such plants as are commonly used for hedges. "I generally (says he) pick out a bit of barren land, and after ploughing it three or four times to bury and destroy the heath, I find it answer extremely well for a nursery. Into this spot I transplant quicks, hollies, and every tree which I used for fences or plantations. By establishing such a nursery, a gentleman will always be able to command a sufficiency of strong and hardy plants which will not deceive his expectations. I look upon thorns of five or six years old, which have been twice transplanted from the seed-bed, to be the best of all; but as it may be necessary to fill up casual gaps in hedges that have been planted several years, a provision should be made of plants of every age, to 12 or 14 years old. All plants which are intended to be moved, should be transplanted every two or at most three years; without this attention, they attach themselves so firmly to the soil as renders a subsequent operation dangerous. All who transplant quicks or hollies ought to begin their labours as early as convenient in the autumn; for I have found by repeated experience that neither of these plants succeed so well in the spring."

Where the fences of a track of ground are in a very ruinous condition, it is absolutely necessary to throw up the ditches, throw up the banks, and secure the whole immediately by the firmest dead fences we can procure. If there is a total want of living plants, the cultivator can do nothing but plant new hedges; but if, as is generally the case, the banks are furnished with a multitude of old stems, though totally unconnected as a fence, the time and labour requisite for the intended improvement will be considerably abridged. All the straggling branches which add no solidity to the fence are to be cut off; after which the rest of the stems must be shortened to the height of three or four feet. The method of cutting down everything to the ground, which is now so general, our author highly condemns. "Such a fence (says he) has within it no principle of strength and connection; it is equally exposed in every part to depredations of cattle and sportmen; and even should it escape these, the first fall of snow will nearly demolish it. On the contrary, wherever these vegetable palisades can be left, they are impenetrable either for man or horse, and form so many points of union which support the rest."

Another method of strengthening defective fences, is to bend down some of the lateral shoots in a horizontal direction, and to spread them along the line of the farm like espalier trees in a garden. A single stem, when it rises perpendicularly, will not secure a space of more than two or three feet, but when bent longitudinally, they will form a barrier at least sufficient to repel all cattle but hogs for 12 or 14 feet on each side. By bending down, our author does not mean plashing of the common plashing method, which is very injurious to the plants; but the spreading two or three of the most convenient branches along the hedge, and fastening them down either by pegs or tying, without injury. jury to the stem, until they habitually take the proper direction. Those who make the experiment for the first time will be astonished how small a number of plants may be made to fill a bank, with only trifling intervals. The birch is particularly useful for this purpose; being of so flexible a nature, that shoots of 10 or 12 feet in length may be easily forced into a horizontal direction; and if the other shoots are pruned away, all the juices of the plant will be applied to nourish the selected few: by which means they will in a few years acquire all the advantages of posts and rails, with this material difference, that instead of decaying, they become annually better. It is besides the property of all inclined branches to send up a multitude of perpendicular shoots; so that by this horizontal inclination, if judiciously made, you may acquire almost all the advantages of the thickest fence; but when the stems are too old and brittle to bear this operation, it will be advisable to cut off all the useless ones close to the ground, and next spring they will be succeeded by a number of young and vigorous ones. Select the best of these to be trained in the manner already directed, and extirpate all the rest, to increase their vigour. The shoots of such old stems as have been just now described will attain a greater size in three or four years than any young ones that can be planted will do in twelve.

Another method which our author has practised with the greatest success is the following. The tender shoots of most trees, if bended downwards and covered with earth, will put forth roots, and being divided from the parent stem at a proper time become fresh plants; an operation well known to gardeners, under the name of laying. This may be as advantageous to the farmer, if he will take the very moderate trouble of laying down the young and flexible branches in his fences. Most species of trees, probably all, will be propagated by this method; but particularly the withy, the birch, the holly, the white thorn, and the crab, will also take root in this method, though more slowly; the latter being an excellent plant for fences, and not at all nice in the soil on which it grows. The advantage of laying down branches in this manner over the planting of young ones is, that when you endeavour to fill up a gap by the latter method, they advance very slowly, and are in danger of being stifled by the shade of the large trees; whereas, if you fortify a gap by spreading the branches along it in the manner just mentioned, and at the same time insert some of the most thriving shoots in the ground, they will advance with all the vigour of the parent plant, and you may allow them to grow until they are so fully rooted as to be free from danger of suffocation.

It frequently happens, that the fences of an estate have been neglected for many years, and exhibit nothing but ragged and deformed stems at great intervals. In this case it will be proper to cut them all off level with the ground: the consequence of this is, that next year they will put forth a great number of shoots, which may be laid down in every direction, and trained for the improvement of the fence. When this operation is performed, however, it ought always to be done with an ax, and not with a saw; it being found that the latter instrument generally prevents the vegetation of the plant. All the shoots laid down in this manner should be allowed to remain for several years, that they may be firmly rooted. Thus they will make prodigious advances; and it is to be observed, that the more the parent plant is divested of all superfluous branches, the greater will be the nourishment transmitted to the scions.

Our author, however, is inclined to suspect that the most perfect form of an hedge, at least in all but those composed of thorns and prickly plants, is to train up as many stems as will nearly touch each other. The force of every fence consists chiefly in the upright stems: where these are sufficiently near and strong, the hedge resists all opposition, and will equally repel the violence of the bull, and the insidious attacks of the hogs. It is absolutely proper that all hedges should be inspected once a year; when not only the ditch ought to be thrown out, and the bank supported, but the straggling shoots of all the live plants ought to be pruned. By these are meant all such as project over the ditch beyond the line of the hedge, and which add nothing to its strength, though they deprive the useful stems of part of their nourishment. Where an hedge is composed of plants of inferior value, it will be proper to train those in the manner just now recommended, and to plant the bank with quick or holly. When these last have attained a sufficient size, the others may be extirpated; which is best done by cutting down all the shoots repeatedly in the summer, and leaving the roots to rot in the hedge.

In the 13th volume of the Annals, W. Erskine, Esq.; Mr Erskine gives an account of a method of fencing very much resembling that recommended by Lord Kames, and which construction has been already described. That gentleman is of the opinion, that in some cases dead stone walls, as they are called, are more advantageous than hedges. "That hedges (says he) are more ornamental, cannot be denied; and they are generally allowed to afford more shelter: but the length of time, the constant attention, and continual expense of defending them until they bear even the resemblance of a fence, induces many people in those places where the materials are easily procured, to prefer the dry stone walls; for though the first cost is considerable, yet as the farmer reaps the immediate benefit of the fence (which is undoubtedly the most secure one), they are thought on the whole to be the least expensive; besides, the cattle in exposed situations, and especially in these northern parts, are so impatient of confinement at the commencement of the long, cold, wet nights, that no hedges I have ever seen, in any part of this island, are sufficient to keep them in."

From considerations of this kind, the late Sir George Suttie of East Lothian was induced to think of a fence which might join the strength of the wall to the ornament of the hedge. His thorns were planted in the usual manner on the side of the ditch: but instead of putting behind them a post and rail or paling on the top of the bank, he erected a wall two feet and a half high; and being well situated for procuring lime, he used it in the construction of these walls which Mr Erskine greatly recommends; "as the satisfaction they afford, by requiring no repairs, and the duration of them, more than repay the expense: but where the price price of lime is high they may be built without any cement, and answer the purpose very well if the work is properly executed."

In making a new fence of this kind, the surface of the ground should be pared off the breadth of the ditch, and likewise for two feet more, in order to prevent as much as possible the thorns from being injured by the growth of grass and weeds. The ditch should be five feet broad, two and an half in depth, and one foot broad at the bottom. Leave one foot for an edging or scaracement, then dig the earth one spit of a spade for about one foot, and put about three inches of good earth below the thorn, which should be laid nearly horizontal, but the point rather inclining upwards, in order to let the rain drip to the roots; then add a foot of good earth above it: leave three or four inches of a scaracement before another thorn is planted; it must not be directly over the lower one, but about nine inches or a foot to one side of it; then throw a foot of good earth on the thorn, and trample it well down, and level the top of the bank for about three feet and an half for the base of the wall to rest on. This base should be about nine or ten inches, but must not exceed one foot from the thorn. The wall ought to be about two feet thick at the bottom and one foot at the top; the cope to be a single stone laid flat; then covered with two sods of turf, the grass of the undermost to be next the wall, and the other sod must have the grass side uppermost: the sods should be of some thickness, in order to retain moisture; so that they may adhere together, and not be easily displaced by the wind: the height of the wall to be two feet and an half, exclusive of the sods; which together should be from four to six inches, by which means the wall would be near to three feet altogether. The expense of the fences cannot be easily be counted, on account of the difference of the prices of labour in different parts. Mr Erskine had them done with lime, every thing included, from 10s.4d. to 13s. per ell (which is equal to 37 inches 2 parts), according to the case or difficulty of working the quarry, and the distance of it from the place where the fence is erected. The lime costs about 6d. per boll of about 4872667 bushels; and from 15 to 16 bolls of lime are used to the rood, of 36 square ells Scots measure; and there are upwards of 43 Scotch ells, or 44 English yards. When the common round or flint stones are made use of, as they require more lime, it is necessary to use 30 or 35 bolls of lime to the rood. The thorns are sold from five to ten shillings per thousand, according to their age, reckoning five score to the hundred. Making the ditch, laying the thorns, and preparing the top of the wall, generally cost from 7d. to 8d. every six ells. About 50 carts of stones, each cart carrying from 7 to 9 cwt. will build a rood; the carriage at 2d. per cart for half a mile's distance.

Warmth is undoubtedly as beneficial to hedges as trees; and the walls give an effectual shelter, which in exposed situations is absolutely necessary for raising young hedges; and they likewise preserve a proper degree of moisture about the roots. If the hedges have been planted for six or seven years before the wall is built, cut them over to two or three inches above the ground with a sharp tool, either in October or November, or early in the spring; and erect the wall as quickly in that season as possible (the spring in this country can scarcely be said to begin till the end of March). It is almost impossible to imagine the rapidity with which hedges grow in favourable situations. Mr Erskine had one cut over in the spring, and by the end of the year it was almost as high as the wall. In three years he supposed, that not even the Highland sheep, who easily overleap a wall of four feet and an half in height, would have been able to break through it.

Notwithstanding, the reasons that have been given for already against the planting of timber trees in hedges, planting we find the practice recommended by some authors as one of the best situations for raising ship-timber. The reasons are, that the roots have free range in the adjoining inclosures, and the top is exposed to the exercise of the winds; by which means the trees are at once enabled to throw out strong arms, and have a large spreading head at the same time; so that we thus at once obtain quickness of growth, with strength and crookedness of timber. Well trained timber trees it is alleged are not prejudicial to hedges, though pollards and low spreading trees are destructive to the hedge-wood which grows under them; neither are high trees prejudicial to corn-fields like high hedges and pollards, which prevent a proper circulation of air; and in Norfolk, where the cultivation of grain is carried on in great perfection, such lands are said to be wood-bound. But when an hedge is trimmed down to four or five feet high, with oaks interperled, a circulation of air is rather promoted than retarded by it; and a trimmed hedge will thrive quite well under tall stemmed trees, particularly oaks. For arable inclosures, therefore, hedges are recommended of four or five feet high, with oak-timbers from 15 to 25 feet stem. Higher hedges are more eligible for grass lands; the grasses affect warmth, by which their growth is promoted, and consequently their quantity is increased, though perhaps their quality may suffer some injury. A tall fence likewise affords shelter to cattle, provided it be thick and close at the bottom; but otherwise, by admitting the air in currents, it does rather harm than good. The shade of trees is equally friendly to cattle in summer; for which reason it is recommended in grass inclosures to allow the hedge to make its natural shoots, and at the same time to have oak-trees planted in it at proper intervals. Upon bleak hills, and in exposed situations, it will be proper to have two or even three rows of hedgewood, about four feet distant from each other; the middle row being permitted to reach, and always to remain at, its natural height: whilst the side rows are cut down alternately to give perpetual security to the bottom, and afford a constant supply of materials for dead hedges and other purposes of underwood.

Much has been said of the excellency of the holly as a material for hedges; and indeed the beauty of the plant, with its extreme closeness, and continuing and rising green throughout the winter, evidently give it the pre-eminence to all others; and could it be raised with equal hedges, ease, there is no doubt that it would come into universal practice. Besides the above properties, the holly will thrive almost upon any soil; but thin-foiled stony heights seem to be its natural situation; and it may properly enough be said, that holly will grow where- wherever corn will. Its longevity is likewise excessive; and being of slow growth, it does not suck the land, as the farmers express it, or deprive the crop of its nourishment, as other hedges do. The difficulty of raising holly may be obviated by planting it under crabs, which have a tendency to grow more upright than hawthorns, and consequently affording more air, will not impede its progress though they afford shelter. It may even be raised alone without any great difficulty; only in this case the dead fence, to secure it, must be kept up at least ten or twelve years, instead of six or seven, as in the other case; and indeed, considering the advantages to be derived from fences of this kind, they seem to merit all the additional trouble requisite.

The holly may be raised either under the crab or hawthorn in two ways, viz. by sowing the berries when the quick is planted, or by inserting the plants themselves the ensuing midsummer. The former is by much the more simple, and perhaps upon the whole the better method. The seeds may either be scattered among the roots of the deciduous plants, or be sown in a drill in front; and if plants of holly be put in, they may either be planted between those of the crab, or otherwise in front in the quincunx manner.

Where furze or whins are to be used either as a fence by themselves or an assistant to another, it is better to use the French feed than that produced in this country, as the former seldom ripens in this country, and consequently cannot like the latter over-run the adjacent inclosure. It may be had at the seed-shops in London for about 15d. per pound, and one pound will sow 40 flatute rods. When used as an assistant to an hedge, it is more proper to sow it on the back of the bank than on the top of it; as in this case it is more apt to overhang the young plants in the face of the bank; whilst in the other it is better situated for guarding the bank, and preventing it from being torn down by cattle. The method of sowing is as follows: Chop a drill with a sharp spade about two-thirds of the way up the back of the bank, making the cleft gape as wide as may be without breaking off the lip; and having the seed in a quart bottle, stopp'd with a cork and goose quill, or with a perforated wooden stopper, trickle it along the drill, covering it by means of a broom drawn gently above and over the mouth of the drill. Closing the drill with the back of the spade, shuts up the seeds too much from the air, and thus keeps them too long from rising.

**Hedge-Hog** See **Erinaceus**.

**Hedge-Sparrow** See **Motacilla**.

**Hedyacrya**, in botany: A genus of the polyandria order, belonging to the dioecia class of plants. The calyx of the male is cleft in eight or ten parts; there is no corolla, nor are there any filaments; the anthers are in the bottom of the calyx, four furrowed, and bearded at top. The calyx and corolla of the female are as in the male; the germs pedicellated; the nuts pedicellated and monospermous.

**Hedyotis**, in botany: A genus of the monogynia order, belonging to the tetrandria class of plants; and in the natural method ranking under the 47th order, *Stellaria*. The corolla is monopetalous and funnel-shaped; the capsule is bilocular, polyspermous, inferior.

**Hedysarum**, in botany: A genus of the decandra order, belonging to the diadelphia class of plants; and in the natural method ranking under the 32d order, *Papilionaceae*. The carina of the corolla is transversely obtuse; the seed-vessel a legumen with monospermous joints. There are 59 species of this plant, of which the most remarkable are, 1. The gyran, or sensitive hedyarum, a native of the East Indies, where it is called *burrum chundalli*. It arrives at the height of four feet, and in autumn produces bunches of yellow flowers. The root is annual or biennial. It is a trifolious plant, and the lateral leaves are smaller than those at the end, and all day long they are in constant motion without any external impulse. They move up and down and circularly. This last motion is performed by the twisting of the footstalks; and while the one leaf is rising, its associate is generally descending. The motion downwards is quicker and more irregular than the motion upwards, which is steady and uniform. These motions are observable for the space of 24 hours in the leaves of a branch which is lopped off from the shrub if it is kept in water. If from any obstacle the motion is retarded, upon the removal of that obstacle it is resumed with a greater degree of velocity. 2. The coronarium, or common biennial French honeyfuckle, hath large deeply striking biennial roots; upright, hollow, smooth, very branchy stalks, three or four feet high, garnished with pinnated leaves; and from between the leaves proceed long spikes of beautiful red flowers, succeeded by jointed seed-pods.

**Culture.** The first species being a native of hot climates, requires the common culture of tender exotics; the second is easily raised from seed in any of the common borders, and is very ornamental.

**Heel**, in anatomy, the hind part of the foot. See **Anatomy**, No. 66.

**Heel of a Horse**, the lower hinder-part of the foot comprehended between the quarters and opposite to the toe. The heel of a horse should be high and large, and one side of it should not rise higher than the other upon the pattern. To recover the heels of a horse that is hoof-bound, you should take out his sole and keep his heels very wide, by which they will be restored in a month.

**Heel of a Horseman.** This being the part that is armed with the spur, the word is used for the spur itself; "This horse understands the heel well." To ride a horse from one heel to another, is to make him go sideways, sometimes to one heel and sometimes to another.

**Heels**, in the sea-language. If a ship leans on one side, whether she be aground or afloat, then it is said she heels a-starboard, or a-port; or that she heels off-wards, or to the shore; that is, inclines more to one side than to another.

**Heeler**, or **Bloody Heel Cock**, a fighting cock, that strikes or wounds much with his spurs.

The masters know such a cock, even while a chicken, by the striking of his two heels together in his going.

**Heem** (John David), an able painter, born at Utrecht in 1604. He excelled in painting flowers, fruit, Heemskirk fruit, vases, and instruments of music, which he performed in such a perfect manner, that a person was apt to attempt taking them in his hand. His colouring is agreeable, and the insects in his pictures appear alive.

He died at Antwerp in 1674.

Cornelius de Heem, his son, was also a good painter, though inferior to his father.