LIVE FENCES.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume III, Issue 295, 1 September 1882, Page 3

LIVE FENCES.

JJTO THB BDrfpß OF THE STAB. . Sir, — Yon kindly inserted a letter. of mine last week re the above, and your contributor "Y." has replied to it; though, lam sorry to say, too briefly. I , liave ( resided in .Qanterbary fqr, fouc yeare, and can fully bear out "YVs remarks about the good land being known 4>y the • fentfes ; and poor sandy soil by the straggling 1 , spreading gorse hedges^ Good , fand is as a rale, taken up by pepple - with oajpital, who can afford to employ' labour in having tho fences kept within ' bounds, and poor sandy or shingly land fs as a role occupied by poor straggling settlers, who cannot afford either time or ihe money to cutting tbeir* fences. I have known good land overrun , with gorse through the neglect of the owner of a.sectiqn< The following are the pros and cons, of' goree fences :— Pros.— J,st.. It grows ' /rapidly,, and soon affords a gdod shelter for ■' cattle and sheep: 2nd. Its prime cost is little. Cons. — Ist! It requires cattiug twice a-year to keep it within bounds; 2nd. The • centre of the hedge goon getfrfilled np 4 wifh dry particles of gorse, which'aro of a too'st inflammable nature. I have seen three or four chains of gorse fence destroyed by a single lighted match being thrown into the hedge. In fact the only way of putting a large burning gorse fence out is by cutting away large gaps on . either side. Brd. As it 6eeds twice a year, and- : the seeds get blown out by the wind, it spreads rapidly. 4th. It affords a too splendid shelter for rabbits — a scourge worse than wild pigs. I know nothing of box thorn beyond what I heard a practical gardener in Christchurch sny : That it grows very rapidly for the first three or four years, after which time, if kept clipped, it grows much more - slowly and ■ forms an impenetrable fence, beautiful to the eye, and at the same time the desideratum for ■ fanners* The box thorn Is, I believe, of comparatively recent introduction k into New Zealand from Cape Colonj ; and if ' there is. a settler >in this district who hails from that distant colony, I hope he will kindly give us the pros and cons, of hox tborn.— l am, &c, ' • Scrutator, Manaia, August 26. t