STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 247 



Though protective Arboriculture has its meteorological work to perforin, aud a 

 grand and wondrous work it is, there is yet ■ another work it has to do — Barriers are 

 needed. The imperative "Thus far shalt thou go, and no further," must be applied to 

 man aud his servants, the domestic animals. Permanent limits are necessary, and none 

 are so good as the living wall. 



Unfortunately we may not, in this matter, build upon the experience of older lands ; 

 new conditions require new methods and materials, and Americans have had to learn 

 hedging from experience, from its A B C's. Like every other industry which has to be 

 built up anew from its very foundation, failures and disappointments have been very 

 common, even in some sections of the country, being in a ratio of 100 to 1 to the suc- 

 -. yet even in such localities the live fence interest is not dead, nor even dying, but 

 is Increasing. If Madura will not stand the droughts and freezings of the northern 

 counties of Illinois, Gleditschia will, and so will Viburnum, Rhamnus, Craetagus, and 

 plenty more persistent, hardy trees and shrubs ; and when the public mind once gets dis- 

 abused of the erroneous idea that ugly thorns are needed to make hedges, we will soon 

 be able to blend many of the hardy, woody growths into usefulness as barriers. 



Our country needs intelligent experiment in this department of rural economy more 

 perhaps, than in any other, just at present ; for whether the present false system of fenc- 

 ing out is retained or not, the fencing interest must always be a paramount interest in an 

 agricultural section of country. A careful and systematic testing of all the forms of live 

 fence, and all the available hedging trees and shrubs, should speedily take place, and 

 whether such experiments were carried on under the auspices of our Industrial Univer- 

 sity, or of our agricultural or horticultural societies, or in any other manner, it is not 

 material, so the tests be thorough and conclusive ; thus saving in the future the losses 

 which arise by private individuals repeating unknowingly each others' mistakes. 



In this protective department we wish to bring forward two new candidates for use in 

 live barriers, namely ; the Acer negundo, or Honey Maple, and the Viburnum, or Hedge 

 Sloe ; not claiming that either is just the very best and only worthy hedger, but rceoin- 

 mending each in its place for a thorough trial. The general descriptive list, and notes 

 attached to this report, will set forth their known advantages. 



1. nomical arboriculture embraces to a degree, both the decorative and protective 

 departments,- for whatever either beautifies or protects is peculiarly profitable. Add to 

 any homestead a well chosen collection of ornamental trees and shrubbery, embracing 

 all the best evergreens and deciduous growths, and a paying appreciation of the value 

 of the reality is almost sure to ensue. Further, supply the same homestead with live 

 fences, screens and wind-breaks, and it becomes worth enough more to pay all expenses. 

 Then finish the arboriculture! work by putting in a sugar orchard, and groves of the 

 manufacturing woods, and you have the model western homestead, whose acres arc 

 worth hundreds of dollars, while the neighboring bleak barrens of farms are worth tens. 



But from the facl that tin- pecuniary is the all engrossing interest with the many, it 

 becomes necessary to advocate arboriculture mainly on the ground that it pays. When 

 every body knows that to plant and care for trees is to make money — to make much 

 money — the prairie will be dotted with trees. 



The sources of tree planting are many and very diverse, and we shall consider only the 

 principal and most obvious of them, In the order of their importance as follows : 



1st. Profit for Fuel ; 2d. Profit for Manufactures ; 3d. Profit for Fences ; 4th. Profit 

 for Productions ; 5th. Profit for Making Otherwise Waste Places Valuable and Product- 

 ive; 6th. Profit for Renovating Soil. 



