The use of trenching ground which is afterwards to be covered permanently with grass, or trees and shrubs, is, to enable the roots of the grass and other plants to reach a greater depth, and thus to be more out of the reach of drought in summer; also, to increase the capacity of the soil for retaining water, in order to keep the grass, as well as the trees and shrubs, green during the warm season. By trenching also, in connexion with manuring, draining, irrigating, etc, as already described, the growth of the trees and shrubs, immediately after being planted, will be much more rapid, and the final effect desired by the planter much sooner attained. It must not be forgotten, also, that the effect will be equally astonishing on the growth of the grass as on that of the trees and shrubs; and thus, not only a more intense green turf will be produced, but a greater quantity of hay and pasture for milch cows or sheep. We mention hay and pasture, because in many places of only two or three acres in extent, and in all places of five acres and upwards, that are not over-planted, a proportion of the lawn, or grassy surface, may be mown for hay every year; and portions of surface, also, may be hurdled off, for being pastured by cows or sheep.

By some, no doubt, this kind of management may be disapproved of, as interfering with the smoothness and high polish of the lawn; but by others it will be considered as adding greatly to the value of a country residence, and to the interest and variety of the operations carried on in one.

267. The boundary fence to small places should, in most cases, be a wall, as being that which is most impervious to the smaller animals. Close palings of oak or larch, or of some other kind of wood, Kyanised, may be used; or a wall about 3 ft. high may be built, and a hedge placed immediately within it, and cut as it advances in growth, so as to form a continuation of the height of the wall; which, in this case, would be sufficient to keep out vermin at the base of the hedge, while the upper part of the fence would answer all the other purposes of protection and defence. A deep ditch on the outside, and a thorn hedge inside, will also form a good boundary fence; but, where the soil is a deep sandy loam, a hedge of holly is the best of all.