whins. The garden of Mr Traill of Woodwick, at Kirkwall, Orkney, affords another remarkable instance of the benefits of wall-shelter. But the benefits derived from plantations are far more extensive and important, not only in affording shelter, but in improving poor land. "Previous to the division of the common moor of Methven (in Perthshire) in 1793," says Mr Thomas Bishop," the venerable Lord Lynedoch and Lord Methven had each secured their lower slopes of land adjoining the moor with belts of plantation. The year following I entered Lord Methven's service, and in 1798 planted about 60 acres of the higher moor-ground, valued at 2s. per acre, for shelter to 80 or 90 acres set apart for cultivation, and let in 3 divisions to 6 individuals. The progress made in improving the land was very slow for the first 15 years, but thereafter went on rapidly, being aided by the shelter derived from the growth of the plantations; and the whole has now become fair land, bearing annually crops of oats, barley, pease, potatoes, and turnips; and in spring 1838, exactly 40 years from the time of putting down the said plantation, I sold 4 acres of larch and fir (average growth) standing therein for L.220, which, with the value of reserved trees, and average amount per acre of thinnings sold previously, gave a return of L.67 per acre.' In some situations trees will afford better shelter than stone-walls, the latter being most available near the sea-side in warding off the blighting effects of the sea-breeze. On the summit of Shotley-fell, 16 miles W. of Newcastle-uponTyne, Mr Burnet of Shotley-bridge enclosed 400 acres of moorland with high stone-walls, and he cropped the ground in an easy manner for the soil. The land was thus kept in good heart, but the soil being very poor, stock advanced but little, and consequently the land would not have let for above 6d. an acre, even under the best management, and after all that had been done for it; but the centre part of each field was then put within a plantation, and the improvement was then surprising. The mode of planting by the proprietor was this:He put the trees (nearly all larch) about 1 foot or 2 feet from the centre of each ridge, alternately on one side of the top of the ridge and on the other, and about 4 yards asunder from each tree, in the direction along the ridges. The width of the ridges varies, and also of the belts; but the ridges are just as they were when in tillage, from 10 to 15 feet wide, and the belt of the width of 2 or 3 ridges according to circumstances." A portion of ground was planted as it arrived at the end of the rotation of cropping. "That took about 1000 trees, or about one-fourth the number usually planted. He put no stock into the plantation till the trees got so high that sheep could not hurt them; he then pruned off the lower branches, and put the sheep in. Perhaps 5 or 6 years elapse between the planting and the stocking with sheep; but the consequence is, that these new plantations now carry above 4 times, and I would rather say 6 times, the stock that the same land had carried before being planted. I never was more surprised than I was to see the abundance of the herbage; the cock's-foot grass 3 or 4 feet high, equal to that on lands L.3 the acre value; and in the oldest plantations, his young cattle were going to 4 times the stents the land had ever kept before it was so planted."+ Besides protection, the means employed to afford shelter by plantations beautify the appearance of the country. "The plantations of Muirton" (in Ross-shire), says Mr Mackenzie, "has already (1836), and will yet in a greater degree improve the climate of the sur * Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, vol. xi. p. 327. † Ibid., vol. xii. p. 51. scene. rounding district, as well as afford shelter and warmth. Already the plantations relieve and delight the eye, and spread a beauty and freshness around the Muirton formerly looked a bleak and barren wild, while the opposite highly cultivated estates of Brahan and Coul were the delight of every passing traveller; but with these it may now vie both in richness and beauty. The hill of Muirton as a pasturage was not worth 6d. per acre, whereas, by the expending of a small sum, it may be expected to realize from 15s. to 20s. per acre of yearly rent, from the date of planting, even at the distance of 8 miles, as Muirton is, from the shipping-places of Beauly and Dingwall. Besides the price of the wood, the value of the enclosure as a wintering for sheep will be considerable.' These proofs of the advantages derivable from enclosures to stock and crop are quite sufficient, I should imagine, to prove to you the great importance of protection and shelter to both.† 24. OF THE PLANTING OF THORN-HEDGES. "Next, fenc'd with hedges and deep ditches round, DRYDEN'S VIRGIL. (601.) Immediately in connection with the subject of enclosures is the construction of the fences by which the fields are enclosed. There are only two kinds of fences usually employed on farms, namely, thornhedges and stone-dykes. As winter is the proper season for planting, or running, as it is termed, thorn-hedges, and summer that for building stone-dykes, I shall here describe the process of planting the hedge, and defer the description of building the dyke until the arrival of the summer season. It may be that the farm on which you have entered as a pupil, or that which you have taken on lease, may not require to be fenced with thorn-hedges. Still it is requisite that you should be made acquainted with the best mode of planting them. (602.) The proper time for planting thorn-hedges extends from the fall of the leaf, in autumn, to April, the latter period being late enough. The state of the ground usually chosen for the process is when in lea. I recommended lea as the best state for the process, in a paper on thornhedges which appeared some years ago; but experience has since con * Prize Essays of the Highland and Agricultural Society, vol. vii. p. 474. † See paper by me on Enclosures in Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, vol. iv. p. 843. It will be found in the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, vol. i. p. 843. vinced me that that is not the best state of the ground for the purpose; because grass grows up from the turf around the young thorn-plants, and cannot be easily removed, but with the removal, at the same time, of a considerable portion of the earth upon which the young plants rest. A much better time, therefore, is after the ground has been thoroughly fallowed during the summer, that is, after it has been perfectly cleared of all weeds, well stirred and commixed with the plough and the harrow,—and pulverised, if need be, with the roller,—freshened by lengthened exposure to the air,―amply manured with good dung, to promote the growth of the young thorn-plants,—and sufficiently limed to prevent worms traversing the soil, and, in consequence, moles mining in quest of them. If the field in which the line of hedge is proposed to be planted is not intended to be thoroughly fallowed,—that is, by a bare fallow or a crop of potatoes or turnips,-the part to be occupied by the hedge should be so treated, in order to render the soil as clean, and fresh, and fertile as possible; and the expense incurred by this treatment of the soil will be repaid by the increased health and strength of the hedge for many years thereafter. There is no doubt that lea-sod affords a firmer bed for the young thorn-plants to rest upon than fallowed ground; but it is of much greater importance to secure the ground from weeds, and health and strength to the young plants, than mere firmness of soil under them, but which peculiar advantage may be attained, too, partly by allowing the fallowed ground to consolidate for a time before commencing the operation, and partly by trampling the soil thoroughly while in the act of planting. (603.) The ground having been thus prepared, the planting of the hedge may be proceeded with forthwith. If its line of direction is determined by existing fences; that is to say, if one side of a field only requires fencing, then the new fence should be made parallel with the old one that runs N. or S., and it may take any convenient course, if its general direction is E. and W. Should a field, or a number of fields, require laying off anew, then the fences should be set off according to the principles already laid down in the instructions in the preceding section on enclosures, namely, the N. and S. fences should run due N. and S., for the purpose of giving the ridges an equal advantage of the sun both forenoon and afternoon. To accomplish this parallelism a geometrical process must be gone through; and to perform that process with accuracy, certain instruments are required. (604.) In the first place, 3 poles at least in number, of at least 8 feet in length, should be provided. They should be shod and pointed with iron at one end, marked off in feet and half-feet throughout their length, and A a each painted at the top of a different colour, such as white, red, blue, green, or black, so as to form decided contrasts with each other when set in line. Three of such poles are required to determine a straight line, even on level ground; but if the ground is uneven, 4 or more are requisite. These poles will be found of use, not merely in lining off fences, but they will be required every year on the farm, to set off the breadths of the ridges of fields after being fallowed. 2. An optical square, for setting off lines at right angles, or a cross-table, for the same purpose, should also be provided. The optical square costs 21s., and the cross-table 7s. 6d. 3. You should also have an imperial measuringchain, of 66 feet in length, which costs 13s., for measuring the breadth or length of the fields, in the process of fencing; or of drills, drains, and any other species of work set by piece to labourers at other times. Iron pins, for marking the number of chains measured, generally go along with the chain. (605.) Being provided with these instruments, one line of fence is set off parallel to another in this way. Set off, in the first instance, at right angles, a given distance from near one end of the old thorn fence, if there be one, or of the ditch, and let this distance be 6 feet from the roots of the thorns, so that a space or scarcement of 1 foot on the edge or lip of the ditch be left, and there plant one of the poles. About 100 yards' distance plant another pole in the same manner, and so on along the length of the fence from which the distances are set off. If there be no fence to set off the distances from, then let a pole be set perpendicularly up in the line the new fence is intended to occupy, and at noon, in a clear day, observe the direction the shadow of the pole takes on level ground, and that is N. and S.; or a pocket-compass can give the direc tion required, deducting the variation of the needle, which in this country is about 27° W.; but the plan with the pole is the simplest and most handy for work-people. Poles, at about 100 yards' distance, should be set up in the line of the shadow; but you should bear in mind that the first two poles should be set up quickly, otherwise a short lapse of time will make a material difference in the line of direction of the shadow. Twenty minutes make a difference of 5° in the direction of the shadow of the poles, and 5° at the first pole will make a considerable deviation from the true line of N. and S. at the farthest end of the line of the new fence. Adjust the poles with one another to form the straight line, and this line forms the base line of your operations. This line is cu in fig. 36, projected by shadow in the manner just described, or set off from the old hedge a b. Let c d and e be 3 poles planted in that line. Let f be the crosstable erected in the line betwixt, and adjusted by looking at the poles e с and d. Let g, h, and i, be poles set and adjusted to one another by the cross-table in the line ƒ k, which is the breadth of the field, and which distance is measured by the chain to contain a number of ridges of given breadth, as any fractional part of a ridge left at either side of the PLAN OF SETTING OFF FENCES PARALLEL TO EACH OTHER. field afterwards proves inconvenient for work. In like manner, let the line 7 p be drawn from the cross-table at 7, by setting the poles m, n, o, p. Then set the pole q in a line with the poles k p, and measure the distance betwixt q and u, along the line r s t, with the chain, which distance, if the two previous operations have been accurately conducted, should be exactly equal to the distance betwixt ƒ and k, or l and p; but should it prove greater or less than either, then some error must have been committed, and which can only be rectified by doing the operation over again. The arrows shew the directions in which each line should be measured. Great accuracy should be observed in running these lines of fences parallel, for if a similar error is committed at each successive line of fence, the deviation from parallelism may prove very considerable betwixt the first and last lines. Three poles only being employed to set off the lines ƒ k and lp, the ground may be supposed to be nearly level; but wherever such an inequality of ground is found as to cause you to lose sight of 1 of 3 poles, as many should be employed as to have 3 of them in view at one time. This point should be constantly kept in view in setting the poles. (606.) A line of fence being thus set off, the next process is to plant it with thorns, and for this purpose certain instruments are required. 1. A strong garden line or cord, of at least 70 yards in length, having an iron reel at one end, and a strong iron pin at the other. Its use is to shew upon the ground the exact line of the fence betwixt the poles. |