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out at the top of the first year's fhoots, (which very frequently is the cafe,) thefe fupernumeraries fhould be cautiously pruned away with a knife; taking out all the ftrong upright growing branches, excepting one for a ftem; being always particularly careful to cut them away quite close to the ftem from which they fpring: For, if this caution were neglected, a greater number of fhoots would fpring out from the wound, and the malady be increased rather than diminished.

If these circumftances are attended to, the hedge will need no other care ever afterwards, but to be defended from cattle, kept free of weeds, and clipped in the fides once a-year for fome time; being always careful, at each clipping, to go as close to the last as can be eafily done. But, in a particular manner, be attentive, the first time you perform this ope ration, to clip it as near to the upright stems. as poffible: For, as thefe fide-branches must

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always extend a little farther at every cutting, if this caution is not obferved, these lateral thanks will, in time, become naked; and the interval between the ribs, (as the upright shoots may properly be called,) and the reticular tegument (or fkin) that covers the furface, would be too great, and form a very disagreeable void.

If these rules are obferved for a few years, the hedge, while it advances in height, will become as clofe in the fides as could be wished for. And, although the clipping of the fides should be difcontinued after a few years, it will be in no danger of running into. great disorder; for, as the vigour of the fideshoots will have been much diminished by having been fo frequently divided, none of them will afterwards advance to fuch a diftance as to deform or hurt the hedge; fo that this operation may be difcontinued, unless where very great neatnefs is required.

§ XVII.

§ XVII.

How to recover a Hedge after it has been finted in its Growth.

But if, from the poorness of the foil in which your hedge is planted, or from any other cause, it should fo happen, that, after a few years, the hedge becomes fickly, and the plants turn poor and ftinted in appearance, the eafieft and only effectual remedy for that disease, is to cut the stems of the plants clean over, at the height of an inch or two above the ground; after which they will fend forth much ftronger shoots than they ever would have done without this operation. And, if the hedge be kept free of weeds, and trained afterwards in the manner above defcribed, it will, in almoft every cafe, be recovered, and rendered fresh and vigorous.

This amputation ought to be performed in autumn, or the beginning of winter; and, in the fpring, when the young buds begin to fhow themselves, the ftumps ought to be examined with care, and all the buds be rubbed off, excepting one or two of the strongest and beft placed, which fhould be left for a ftem. For, if the numerous buds that fpring forth round the ftem are allowed to fpring up undisturbed, they will become, in a few years, as weak and ftinted as before; and the hedge will never afterwards be able to attain any confiderable height, strength, or healthfulness.—I have feen many hedges that have been repeatedly cut over, totally ruined, by not having attended to this circumftance in proper time.

If the ground, for fixteen or twenty feet on each fide of the hedge, be fallowed at the time that this operation is performed, and get a thorough dreffing with rich manures, and be kept in high order for fome years after

afterwards, by good culture and meliorating crops, the hedge will profper much better than if this had been omitted, especially if it has been planted on the level ground, or on the bank of a fhallow ditch.

§. XVIII.

Of recovering old open Hedges by Plafhing.

It fometimes happens, that a hedge may have been long neglected, and be, in general, in a healthy ftate, but full of gaps and openings, or fo thin and ftraggling, as to form but a very imperfect fort of fence. On these occafions, it is in vain to hope to fill up the gaps by planting young quicks; for thefe would always be outgrown, choaked, and ftarved by the old plants: Nor could it be recovered by cutting clear over by the

roots;

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