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year for fome time, while it is young, and in its moft vigorous ftate.

But, although it may be easily propagated by cuttings, yet it is always adviseable to plant these first in a nursery of rich gardenmold, where they may be allowed to take root, and acquire a little ftrength before they are planted out, where they are to remain in a hedge: For, as fome of these usually do not ftrike root fo readily as others, it would occafion fome irregularity in the growth of the hedge, that may be avoided by this precaution. After they have been nursed a year or two, and have formed good roots, they may be taken up and planted on a bank in the fame manner as thorns, managing them in every respect as the thorns (§ XII, XIII. XIV.); only obferving to put a plant of eglantine for every plant of poplar for the whole length of the hedge. And, as this tree would, in all probability, (for I here fpeak only from analogy, never having feen

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them planted in this way,) make very strong fhoots, they would foon be large enough to form a very strong fence; and the eglantine would furnish the defenfive prickles which this plant stands fo much in need of. But, the way in which I apprehend that this plant might be most advantageously employed in fencing, would be as follows.

Let the young plants remain in the nurfery till they are become as large at the root as the wrift of an ordinary man, which may be expected to be the cafe in four or five years from the time of planting; taking care to dig the earth each year between the rows, that the plants may have abundance of short well formed roots. When the plants are of a proper fize, prepare a ridge to receive them, exactly in the fame manner as was directed for the willows (§ XXII.) and, having firft cut off all their tops at the height of four or five feet from the ground, raise them from the nursery with as great caution.

as

as you can, carry them directly to the ridge, and plant a row of these in the middle of it, in an upright pofition, at the distance of one foot from one another; which will form a fort of railing, as is represented at Fig. 6th; always taking care to put a plant of eglantine between every two poplars, for the reasons already mentioned. And to keep them more firmly together, and in fome measure to prevent cattle from attempting fo readily to rush through between them at first, it will be of ufe to twist fome fhoots of willows along their top, as is represented in the figure; or, in places where these cannot be had, a ftrong rope of ftraw twisted may be employed as a fuccedaneum for it.

Thefe trees would not fail to fend out ftrong fhoots from the top of every ftem, as at E, which would quickly arrive at a confiderable magnitude; and the root-stems encreafing in fize proportionally, would in timę

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time clofe the intervals fo much, as that no animal whatever could break through it. The tops of these trees might be afterwards cut over at the height of five feet from the ground, whenever the fhoots had attained the magnitude that should be thought the most proper for the purpose that they might be defigned for; whether it was walkingftaffs, hurdles, hop-poles, fhafts to carts, or any other use that the peculiarities of the fituation might render moft advantageous; and would thus, in all probability, afford a profit to the farmer much greater than could be drawn from any other kind of fence whatever. Reader, obferve, I do not speak from experience. What I here hint is only probable conjecture; let it, therefore, make no further impreffion on your mind than reason seems to authorise *

§ XXIV.

* Since writing the above, I have met with fome facts that seem to fhow, that the Lombardy poplar is

not

§. XXIV.

Of the Ufe of the Quick-beam, or Rawntree, in Fencing.

Another plant that may be employed for the fame purposes, and in the fame manner as the laft mentioned, is the wild fervice, fometimes called the mountain-afh, or rawn-tree. This is one of the quickest growing trees, for a dry barren foil, that is known in this country. It grows upright, and tapers gradually from the root-is extremely

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not fuch an exceeding quick grower, or valuable tree in other refpects as we were made to believe when it was first introduced into Great Britain. But, as feveral kinds of ftrong upright fhooting willows might be employed as a fence in this way, as well as the elm, hornbeam, &c. I chufe to let the paffage remain without further correction.

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