be little doubt that it is more advantageous to put up an inexpensive field shelter where the animals can find dry lair, and be sheltered from rain and excessive sun heat. When this is done the manure accumulates so that it can be applied about the pasture instead of being chiefly deposited under the hedges, where it only feeds the hedges or produces rank herbage, which is not eaten but trodden underfoot. A fence as high as a bullock will break the wind, and a thick, well-kept one is more effectual than one which has become weak at the bottom, so that the wind draws through, even though there may be growth several feet high. Hedges thus allowed to run away are more expensive to renovate, and generally big stumps form which are unsightly. Although in laying a hedge it is not necessary to make it more than 4 feet to 4 feet 6 inches in height at the time, a hedge required for shelter as well as for fencing may be allowed to grow as high as 6 feet, up to which height it may be kept in shape with ease, though care is necessary to insure good bottom growth.

III. HEDGES NOT OF WHITETHORN.

OTHER PLANTS SUITABLE FOR FORMING HEDGES.

So much that relates to hedge-growing generally has been stated in the section dealing with whitethorn hedges, that it only remains to mention a few of the more important items relating to other plants suitable for hedges. Nor is it necessary to deal with all the plants that could be grown so as to make a fence, the object of this paper being primarily to discuss such as are of chief practical utility.

The Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) makes a good hedge, particularly on strong loams, which are generally regarded as being plum soils. The hedge is rather more liable to grow away from the bottom than is the whitethorn, and a particularly objectionable feature is the habit it possesses of spreading out into the fields by means of stolons. So strong is the habit of stoloniferous growth that I know of considerable lengths of hedges along ditches on the outsides of arable fields which have grown from bushes, though probably some of the growth has come from seeds which have grown beyond the stump: from whatever source I can testify to their denseness. If there is a place where it can be substituted with advantage over whitethorn it is on strong wet soils. When grown on the side of a ditch blackthorn has great tendency to extend down the bank, owing to its suckers. This is objectionable, as it hinders the cleaning, for want of which the hedge ultimately weakens.

VOL. X. T. S.-37

I

Within comparatively recent years the Myrobella (Prunus Myrobalana) or cherry plum has attracted notice. On plum soils it thrives well, and grows with remarkable rapidity, quickly forming a fence, and providing shelter. In some instances brought under personal observation, when planted on light land it has not been so satisfactory, though I am not in a position to state whether want of more attention previously to planting had any effect on the small success. It possesses the advantage of producing stout thorns after it has been planted a few years. Where it grows well it is decidedly valuable for providing shelter in a short time. Owing to its rapid growth it is necessary to trim it twice a year to keep it from spreading wide and to insure denseness of foliage.

The Beech (Fagus sylvatica) is a favourite hedge in some districts, especially in exposed positions, and in wet situations. As a means of shelter for stock, hop gardens, or orchards it has special value, as it may be trained to a very considerable height without losing its compactness, and great height may be obtained although the fence is narrow. Its rapid growth renders it necessary to fence for protection of the young hedge for a far shorter period than is required by whitethorn. At the same time it cannot be regarded as so good a fence against cattle, and almost all old beech hedges show weakness at the base, big limbs with few lateral interlacing branches being present. Where used for fencing against cattle a ditch may be regarded as necessary to help it. Too close planting induces to speary growth, and the plants should not be placed nearer than 18 inches. Yet at 18 inches apart there is considerable danger of animals working their way through the thornless plants. The hedge should be clipped with hedging-shears in October.

The Common Crab (Pyrus Malus) is sometimes used as a hedge, but there is no good reason for resorting to it in preference to plants previously mentioned. Elm, maple, birch, and hornbeam are also used, but are worse if anything than crab, though the birch is occasionally found useful on thin soils at high altitude. For orchards some of the hardy crabs such as the Siberian may be regarded as deserving a place, as supplying shelter from winds, and also on account of the handsome fruit they bear.

Elder (Sambucus nigra) forms an absolutely bad fence. It is easy to raise, but has a straggling habit of growth; whilst its presence near other hedges is objectionable, because birds carry away so many seeds, and the unsightly elder becomes established in them, smothering out considerable lengths in course of time.

Poplars (Populus) are of little use against cattle, and are chiefly valuable as providing shelter, their rapid growth adapting

them as shelter for orchards and hop-gardens, and as nurseries to other trees.

The Alder (Alnus glutinosa) and the Goat Willow (Salix caprea) or Sallow are suitable for fences on very wet soils where other hedges would not thrive. Willow is easily propagated by placing freshly cut rods in water, when they soon develop a plentiful supply of roots. It is advisable to place them in shallow water, for at whatever depth they are immersed the rootlets form near the surface. Even if planted as cuttings in ordinary moist soil they will grow; the holes should first be made so that the bark does not peel off in planting. For fencing it is best to place them in the form of a trellis, when rods of two or three years' growth, and about 6 feet long. If planted about 18 inches apart so that the rows cross themselves at right angles a hedge quickly forms, and with a yearly trimming will keep a fair fence.

EVERGREEN HEDGES.

Several kinds of evergreen are used for fencing, the best of which is Holly (Ilex Aquifolium), which, from its dense habit of growth, strong wood, and prickly leaves, makes a strong fence against animals and affords the best shelter both summer and winter. It is slow in growth, but once established is very lasting; a tight fence 5 feet in height and 16 inches through will hold in check any bullock. Those who have visited the Royal Agricultural Society's Experimental Farm at Woburn may have noticed the well-known Aspley hedge, where for several hundred yards there is a dense wall of holly thirty or more feet in height, perfectly compact and gapless, showing how dense the bottom growth may be maintained, even though the hedge is allowed to reach such a height. This grows on a thin sandy soil, and holly seems to affect such soils; the soils on which it thrives least are those which are wet and heavy. It is a point in favour of holly that the hedges may be grown perfectly upright, the shade and droppings from the parts above seeming to have no injurious. effect on those below. Not only is this the Not only is this the case, but it grows well even under trees where other hedges do not succeed. Hedgerow timber is the greatest bane to most hedges; therefore, this feature possessed by holly makes it specially valuable.

As a rule, plants twice transplanted, and about a foot high, are used, and cost about 21. per thousand. The process of planting is usually known as holing and covering, being similar to the spading-in of potatoes planted on the flat. The line of planting is indicated by a gardener's line, then a hole is opened along this by the aid of a spade, and a plant inserted and

held in it; a foot further along the line another hole is dug, and the mould thus procured is used to fill in the hole previously made. This, by covering in the roots of the plant being held there, completes the planting. The practice is continued all along the line, the earth being lightly trodden about the roots, but firmly enough to secure the plant, and the work is thus expeditiously done. The bed should be well prepared, clean, friable, and well manured. The plants should be freshly raised, and if dry should be moistened previously to planting. If in the course of a year or two it is evident that the plants have received a check, so that the root growth is not sufficient to maintain the top. the plants should be cut down near to the ground, when they will recover their vigour. With this exception it is better to allow them to grow to the height required as a hedge, and then to trim into shape. Almost any shape may be grown, as by trimming bottom growth may be induced, the plants having a natural tendency to produce lateral shoots low down. Trimming should be done with shears in July.

Furze, gorse, or whin (Ulex europaeus), is an evergreen valuable for fencing on barren sands and in exposed situations where other plants would not be easily maintained. Owing to the difficulty of keeping the bottom growth thick it is advisable to grow it on a bank. A flat-topped bank about three feet in height, wide enough for a line of hedge to be carried, should be prepared, and the seed sown in March or April. The object should be to maintain a short sturdy growth; close clipping should therefore be resorted to in May or June. In the course of years, if weak places appear, new plants should be inserted. Experience has shown that furze hedges decay most readily when clipped at any time from autumn to early spring.

THE history of maize (Zea mays) is obscure, but there seems to be no doubt that the popular name" Indian Corn" was derived from the fact that, at the time of the discovery of America, maize was found growing in cultivated patches and was so universal on that continent that it was incorporated in the religious rites of the ancient tribes. We are now aware that this cereal had names in all the dialects of the red man, and that the aborigines

sowed it round their temporary dwelling-places when they were yet scattered tribes over the American continent. In examining the different accounts as to the place of origin of the maize plant, it will not do to rely in a haphazard manner upon an isolated proof, for there are still a large number of ancient monuments with hieroglyphic inscriptions which have to be deciphered that may throw considerable light on this question. A remarkable proof of the antiquity of Indian corn was furnished by Darwin, who discovered, buried in the soil of the coast of Peru, now eighty-five feet above the level of the ocean, a maize cob which is stated by the Smithsonian Institution to be the oldest known specimen.

As regards the origin of maize, Saint-Hilaire thought that he had found the parent type in a singular form, wherein each grain is entirely sheathed in a separate tunic or husk; it is known in Buenos Ayres as pinsiglo. Some of the older writers were of opinion that the parent type had been changed to the present form of maize by selection and cultivation, or by the influence of soil, climate, or accident. Notwithstanding these assertions the observations of Lindley, and the results of its cultivation by Professor Radic, point to the plant being what is termed a monotype, and indicate maize to be another valuable product for which the Old World is indebted to the New, regardless of the fact that, although America has been explored by many botanists, not one has yet discovered maize in a wild state. If America was not

the place of origin of Indian corn the writers and sculptors in ancient times would have chronicled or left some representation either in Egypt, Greece, or Mesopotamia, for the plant towers so majestically above beholders that they could not but have admired the graceful inclination of its golden heads, the dainty green of its lovely leaves, the luxuriant tints. of its stem, and its magnificent tassels undulating in the breeze. Longfellow, in his "Song of Hiawatha," has woven together many of the beautiful traditions of the American Indians, and in "Hiawatha's Fasting" will be found the cry of rapture of that young Indian on finding "this new gift to the nations,"

"Maize in all its beauty,

With its shining robes about it,

And its long, soft, yellow tresses;
Mondamin!"

It seems certain that "Mondamin," the Indian name of maize, was unknown in Europe at the time of the Romans, so that those writers and botanists who allege that "the friend of