THE HONEY LOCUST AS A HEDGE 



PLANT. 



BY J. W. HELME, PRESIDENT OF THE ADRIAN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



Gentlemen, — Thefollowiug is adescriptiouof the Gkditscliia Triacanthus, 

 or three thorned Acacia, or Honey Locust: Thorns stout, often triple or 

 compouud, leaflets lanceolate-oblong, somewhat serrate; flowers greenish and 

 very fragrant; blossoms middle of June; pods linear-elongated, from twelve 

 to eighteen inches long; often twisted, filled with sweet pulp between the 

 seeds. It was named in honor of Gleditsch, a botanist, cotemporary with Lin- 

 naeus. Micheanx, a Frenchman, sent out by that government seventy years 

 ago, predicted that it would become valuable as a hedge plant. In 1838 I 

 found this tree growing on the Mississippi, from St. Louis to Wisconsin. 

 Those on the Mississippi, I think, are not identical with ours, for they are less 

 thorny, and the bark a darker color. A correspondent from Illinois states, 

 that if they stand near the yellow locust they are aifected with the borer, but 

 ours are not, for a few years since all the yellow locusts in our city were 

 destroyed by the borer, but the honey locust, standing side by side with them, 

 were not affected in the least. They will grow on any soil, wet or dry, and 

 will receive no injury from cold at 34*^ below zero. Such is my experience 

 with the honey locust, as to its hardiness. Six years ago I set fifty rods one 

 foot apart, cut back the second year to one foot from the ground, and it would 

 turn stock in four years. To plant a hedge, gather the seeds in the fall; in 

 April mix them with sand; keep them moist and warm until they sprout. 

 Then sow in drills two inches deep; set the plants when one year old, cutting 

 to within two inches of the ground. At the end of two years cut back to 

 three inches, after which trim once a year. A man, with a pair of twelve inch 

 shears, will trim eighty rods per day, and for a wind break I consider it invalu- 

 able. Cut back once a year, and then trim the sides to keep them tidy. I 

 left ten rods of my hedge as an experiment, and it is now six years old, and 

 from twelve to fifteen feet in height, and will turn all largo stock. A corre- 

 spondent of mine says he has been successful in setting plants three feet apart. 

 I have no doubt a good hedge could be thus obtained, for the branches grow 

 at nearly right angles with the trees, and they would have more room and 

 light in this way, and thus be less apt to smother. A gentleman from Leo- 

 nidas, St. Joseph connt}^ writes, under date June 13 : "I raised and set plants 

 one hundred and seventy rods, in the spring of 1871 ; have trimmed it once, 

 and now it is acknowledged, by all who have seen it, to surpass any hedge 

 they have ever seen." And now, in conclusion, I would say, for a hedge, do 

 not let it get over three feet high ; and, furthermore, that time w'ill prove it to 

 ba the only successful hedge plant for Michigan. 



