THE FORESTER. CHAPTER VIII. THE ENCLOSURE OF PLANTATIONS, HEDGING, FENCING, &c. Utility of Enclosure.-In Britain it is the custom that every piece of land laid out for a plantation should be fenced in some way or other previous to its being planted. A fence not only prevents the inroads of sheep and cattle, but at the same time tends very much to shelter the edge of the wood against the drying and exhausting effect of winds. Any proprietor or forester, upon looking through his several plantations, will observe that in all young plantations the most rapid growing and at the same time the most healthy trees in it, are to be found immediately within the shelter of the outer fence; whilst, on the other hand, in all older plantations, the best grown, and at the same time the most healthy trees, are to be found in the centre of the wood, or at least a considerable distance back from the fence. The reasons why the best wood is found in the inner parts of old plantations, while the most rapid growth of the young trees is to be found behind the boundary fence, are not far to seek. During the first eight or ten years of the growth of any young plantation, the boundary fence is the only shelter which the young trees have. It is quite evident that those trees which grow immediately behind the fence will receive most of the benefit of its shelter; consequently, from the circumstance of their receiving more shelter than their neighbours farther off, they can grow more rapidly, until such time as their tops begin to rise above the level of the fence, when they are considerably checked by the cold winds. At this stage they assume a tendency to grow VOL. II. A |