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By careful weeding you will not only promote the growth of the crops, but you may likewise provide manure for the following season. All the weeds should be collected into a heap, and as soon as they begin to sprout, turn them over, putting what was outside at the bottom; repeat this till they have rotted, and become thoroughly decomposed into a fine mould, which is equal to the best dung. Your children and servants should be taught never to pass a weed, either in the field or on the road, without rooting it up, and carrying it to the heap.

FENCES.

Every field must be surrounded by a fence, which is alike necessary for its protection, whether it be arable or pasture. Fences serve likewise to shelter the land in severe weather, and greatly help vegetation, for no crops thrive so well on open and exposed plains, as in enclosed and sheltered lands.

Fences are made in various ways,-palings, stonewalls, turf-banks and dikes, and thorn or quickset hedges, are all used in different parts of the country; but the latter are by far the most general, and except in certain situations they are by far the best. The thorn hedges afford more shelter than any other, both to cattle and crops, and greatly improve the appearance of the country; more especially if there are a few hedge-row trees, at intervals, which is commonly the case in England.

There is no more certain indication of industry and careful management in a farm, than having the fences in good repair, and the gaps neatly closed; whilst their being only half mended, or stopped up with a cart, or a plough or a harrow, or any other makeshift, is a sure indication of bad and slovenly management.

Before the quickset or thorn is planted, the ground should be trenched, and the turf laid at the bottom, and every root-weed be carefully picked out; and it should afterwards be hoed and kept clear from weeds,

or the plants will not thrive or thicken at bottom. The season for planting is either early in the spring or late in the autumn, it is not very material which, and the farmer may choose his own time according to the other work in hand. The plants should be set four inches apart, and the usual mode of forming the fence is ditch and hedge, the earth taken from the ditch forming the mound for the hedge. The roots of the thorn do not naturally strike deep into the soil, but rather spread near the surface, and they should not therefore be covered deep, or overloaded with earth, or they will not thrive, but become stunted. If the land is in tillage, it will not be necessary to protect the young fence; but if in grass, a post and rail, or other guard, must be put up to keep the sheep and cattle from eating the young shoots, which they will else be sure to do.

It is obvious that the ground occupied by the fences on a farm, is not available for grazing or tillage, and the farmer should therefore be careful in forming his fences, to have as little of the land thus occupied as possible. The larger the enclosures, the less of course will be the waste of ground in fences, and a straight fence occupies less ground than one that is crooked. In the ploughing of a field, moreover, there will be a material saving of time and labour, and the work will be better done, if the fences are straight; and if there is a good length of furrow, fewer turns of the team will be required.

The size of the farm must in some measure regulate the size of the fields, which ought to be as large as they conveniently can be, and of a square or oblong form, the fences running straight. Where a field is disproportionately small, or where the hedges are crooked and irregular, the labour and cost of removing a fence in the one case, and of straightening it in the other, will be well repaid by the ground which will thereby be gained. It may moreover be remarked, that the earth accumulated in old banks and hedges is highly fertilizing, and forms an excellent top-dressing for grass lands.

Except in very bleak and barren situations, quickset or hawthorn hedges form the best kind of fence; care being taken in planting, and keeping them clear from weeds, and also in trimming them as they grow up. The thorn is a hardy plant, and if cleaned and properly trained when young, and regularly cut when matured, it forms a beautiful fence, and is better adapted for the purpose than any other plant.

In high exposed situations, however, with cold moorish soils, and on hilly land composed of pulverized granite, thorn hedges are seldom found to thrive. In such situations, the beech has proved superior to every other plant, either as an assistant or a substitute for the thorn. The beech will retain possession of the soil, and continue to thrive, when thorns decay or die out; and when regularly and judiciously cropped, it forms a compact fence, which few animals will attempt to break through.

As a hedge-plant, the beech will thrive in any climate or soil; and it retains its leaves during winter, giving warmth and shelter in that bleak season, besides being highly ornamental. This is exemplified in the fences formed of late years, in the higher and more exposed districts of Scotland. The thorns planted were found to die out; various plants were tried as substitutes, such as birch, hazel, willow, privet, &c.; but ultimately, it was found, that none were so well adapted for this purpose as the beech. In a hedge which was planted fifty years ago, composed of two thorns and one beech alternately, upon a thin moorish soil in an elevated situation, the thorns have all died, and the hedge, now consisting entirely of beech, is at present equal to any for strength and beauty.

Every unnecessary ditch on a farm is so much land lost, and care should be taken to have as few of them as possible. The loss of land caused by every useless fence is obviously great, reckoning the space between the trench or gripe, and the back of the ditches, together with that lost by the crookedness of the line,-all which would be saved if the ditches were levelled, and the fences straightened.

Furze, or gorse, sown on the top of turf-dikes, make a good fence, and will grow best if some gravelly earth or sand be mixed with the turf when the seed is sown. Furze have a rugged appearance if neglected, but they may be cut and kept neatly trimmed, and with a single rail on posts two feet high, placed amongst them, on the top of the dike, an excellent fence is formed; whilst the young shoots, if cut off and chopped small, will be found very useful as food for horses, cattle, or sheep.

If stones are abundant, they will form the most durable enclosures of any, although stone fences do not afford the same degree of warmth and shelter to the land that hedges of thorn or birch afford, neither have they the same pleasing appearance.

Trees are objected to in hedges, as being injurious to the crop on each side of the fence, as well as to the fence itself; but trees afford great shelter from the wind, and in summer serve as a refuge for the cattle, when annoyed by the sun and flies. A few trees in the corners of the fields, and at intervals in the hedgerows, are at once ornamental and useful; and as shelter to the farm-house and offices, and to the garden and the orchard, they are indispensable.

ROADS.

Good roads are of the utmost importance to the farmer. Without the means of communication by roads, a country is hardly habitable, and the expense of making a good road, is often covered by one year's saving of time, and wear and tear.

In forming roads in hilly countries, they should be kept to a level as nearly as possible, by winding round the hills, rather than crossing them. The former is often nearly as short, and is always much easier for the cattle. A long-continued dead level is, however, fatiguing to cattle, the same muscles being always employed in the draft; whilst on a road having gentle rises and falls, the different muscles are alternately rested and called into action.

If there be a thin stratum of soft soil where the road is to be made, pare it wholly off; but if it be deep, as in bog or moss, it will form a good elastic foundation, and may be left, cutting deep drains on each side to make it perfectly dry; then cover it over with a layer of turf, before putting on the gravel, or broken stone, which should be laid on pretty thick, excluding all stones above the size of an egg.

All roads should be raised a little in the centre, so as to give them a gentle fall on each side, for the rain to run off freely. A width of fifteen feet will allow two carts to pass, which is sufficient for merely agricultural purposes, although double that width is necessary for a common road. Make open drains on the upper side of the road, if it runs along a slope, and let them be carefully kept clean to carry off the water. Fill up all ruts and holes as soon as they appear; and when the road passes over bog, open all round the hole till you reach where the covering of turf appears sound; then join a new covering of turf to the old part, and re-cover with stone or gravel. Without first laying on fresh turf, the putting on stone or gravel will be useless, as the materials would sink into the bog.

The state of the roads is well deserving the attention of the farmer, whose teams will suffer if they are not kept in good repair; and he should therefore not be backward in doing what is necessary himself, and in urging others to do the same, for keeping them in a proper state. The art of road-making is now so well understood, that it does not seem requisite to give any special directions on the subject; it is sufficient to say, that roads can only be made, or kept in a proper state of repair, by the application of hard durable materials, such as broken stones, flints, and gravel: good roads cannot be made with earth or mud.

ORCHARDS.

In certain districts, the orchard constitutes an important appendage of a farm, on account of the cider

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