No. 85.] 321 



may be now, 1 cannot say : but Mr. Simnaons had hedges of both 

 kinds of thorn, — and I thought the cockspur decidedly the best — 

 while it occupied no more space than the other. With respect to the 

 culture and management of the thorn, for hedges, I would for the 

 sake of brevity, refer to McMahon's American Gardener's Calendar, 

 for the best practical instructions, I am acquainted with. It is a work re- 

 plete U'ith goo ! common-sense remarks and directions. My experi- 

 ence having been confined to the Washington thorn, I may remark, 

 that my hedges were planted with young quicks, two years old from 

 the seed, — and that they were laid in about eight years from the 

 planting. I think, however, mine were laid rather young. I should 

 now prefer to let the plants acquire a more stout and rugged growth, 

 before they were laid. The ground, where a hedge is to be planted, 

 should be well prepared — as directed by McMahon ; and, for the 

 first three or four years, the young plants require as much careful 

 culture as a row of Indian corn. Indeed, it is worse than labor lost, 

 to plant a hedge, and then neglect to protect it, and allow grass and 

 weeds to grow among the young plants. Instead of a fence, it will 

 become a nuisance. Many attempts to raise hedges have come to 

 nought, by slovenly neglect of the owners ; and, in the language of 

 Mr. McMahon, " I would advise such to hold fast by the post and 

 rail, and not lose time in doing more harm than good." 



As to the other plants mentioned by McMahon for hedges, I do not 

 believe any of them will be found to answer the purpose in this coun- 

 try. Indeed, he gives the decided preference to the cockspur thorn, 

 and I entirely concur with him. Possibly, the Madura aurantiaca^ 

 or Osage orange, may yet be made to form an effective hedge ; but I 

 have no practical acquaintance with it in that capacity. It seems to 

 be a hardy, thrifty plant, and has exceedingly sharp spines. I have 

 seen a small specimen of a Madura hedge at Germantown, near Phi- 

 ladelphia, which looked very well. Where timber suitable for fenc- 

 ing is scarce, and the soil suitable for hedging, I should be in favor of 

 giving the cockspur thorn a fair trial. I still incline to think it will 

 do if properly managed, but not otherwise. Mr. McMahon seems to 

 prefer the hedge and ditch ; but on our upland farms, where land is 

 valuable, I am rather disposed to give the preference to what he calls 

 ground hedges, such as we now have — they take up less room, are 

 attended with less labor, and I think may be made to answer better 

 than the ditch and bank in this hard freezing climate, which has a 

 tendency to molder away the bank and fill the ditch. 



With respect to trimming hedges, I would observe, that I prefer 

 to have ihem first well laid and interwoven, — and ^^en trimmed to the 

 proper height and shape, with a sharp, falcate knife, fixed on a han- 

 dle of suitable length. It would seem that, in Europe, ^Aear^ are al- 

 together used for trimming hedges — and Mr. McMahon speaks only 

 of shears, for that purpose ; but Mr. Simmons (the gentleman above 

 mentioned,) invented a knife which is vastly preferable, in every re 

 spect. I have tried both instruments, and can affirm, that with Mr. 

 Simmons' knife, an expert hand will trim a hedge equally well, in one- 



[Senate, No. 85.] V 



