STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 24I 



PKKPARATION OF THE HEDGE ROW. 



The hedge row ought to have a preparatory plowing in the fall before 

 planting. Plow your first fuiTow on the Une of the contemplated hedge 

 and bed up a width of eight or ten feet. This preparatory plowing 

 insures the necessary drainage, and exposes tlie soil to the action of the 

 winter's frost, making it much more friable the following season. In 

 the spring as soon a.s your hedge row is in good order to work, take a 

 good team and plow the hedge row very deeply, throwing the soil out 

 and making the dead furrow where you want the hedge. Hanow 

 thoroughly, and, if necessary, roll the ground. Then plow again, com- 

 mencing in the dead furrow and bedding up as before, after which 

 harrow again, if necessary. Much time in transplanting is saved by 

 tliorough preparation of the ground. This mode of preparation can 

 hardly fail to give satisfoction. A very deep and mellow seed-bed is 

 obtained, and the drainage is very much assisted by the deep plowing. 

 It may be well to remark here, that in low places it will be necessary to- 

 bed up the row above the water, as the plants will not succeed where 

 water is allowed to stand about them. To insure a straight line, set 

 stakes along at intervals, as if to set a fence, then take a steady tean^ 

 and draw a fuirow \ ery deeply on the line of the stakes. If the plow 

 has been kept to its place, and given a deep, clear fuiTOw, you may think 

 yourself ready for planting. The plants should be carefully examined, 

 and all dead or doubtful ones thrown out. Failure in hedging, as well 

 as tree planting, often results from an admixture of worthless plants. 

 The tops should be cut oft' some three inches above the yellow pail of 

 the plant. Place the plants along the row, leaning them on the bar side 

 of the furrow. Follow with a hoe or garden rake, which is better, and 

 draw a light covering of the soil up against them, after which press the 

 dirt on the plants by placing the foot on every one. This fills up the 

 vacant places about the roots, and assists in retaining moisture, after 

 which a plow may be used to fill up. The plants should be almost 

 entirely covered up, as this protects the buds from the drying influence 

 of the sun and winds. It will be observed that those plants which shoot 

 from below the surface are generally the most vigorous in their growth. 

 *rhe distance between plants is a question which is not yet fully settled 

 among growers. The most of the hedges now growing in this country 

 were probably planted at a distance of from four to six inches asunder. 

 It has been observed in these close-planted hedges that the plants will 

 not all prosper and maintain their relative strength in the hedge. Some 

 will make a very vigorous growth, w hlle adjoining plants, being sapped 

 by their stronger neighbors, will pine and die. This results in gaps,, 

 whicli have to be closed by plashing. Admitting these facts, I shoukl 

 plant with a view to plashing, at the start, and should plant far enough 

 apart that every plant would })e able to maintain itself. About one foot, 

 I think, to be the proper distance to set the plants. When the buds begin 

 to burst on the plants, cultivation mavl'e very much forwruded b\ taking 



