THE IRREGULARITY OF ENGLISH FIELDS. [To THE EDITOR OF THE
" SPEOTATOR."]
Sift,--Mr. Austin, in his charming " Haunts of Ancient Peace-II," in the Spectator of September 15th, says, speaking of English fields, "they sweep in and out in a manner unaccountable." I think their irregular shape may be easily accounted for. At a time when timber-trees were more valuable than now, as often the only source available of fuel, men, in laying out fields, would take the hedges here, there, and anywhere, in order to take in a tree which, left in the hedgerow, might stand, but which, left in the open, would hinder the plough. Once make the fields irregular for this reason, and the lanes must of course twist in accommodating themselves to their shape.—I am, Sir, &c., W. F. HERBERT.
10 Burns Avenue, Nottingham, September 20th.
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