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ORNAMENTAL HEDGES. 1T^ 



tion has been in accordance with that of Mr. Roberts. This question is 

 always coming back to us, as to locality, and it is sometimes misleading. 

 When we talk about the advisability of planting arbor vitae, somebody in 

 the western part of the state is liable to say that the Horticultural 

 Society is recommending arbor vit«, so it must be all right, and it all 

 comes back to a question of where it shall be planted. Some years ago 

 when I was about to make my home in our county, my wife called my at 

 tention to a beautiful arbor vitae hedge there. We thought there was 

 nothing like it, so we planted one because we thought it so beautiful, and 

 we have one just like it, hut when it comes to planting them in all locali- 

 ties it is a different matter; it is very difficult to keep these hedges in our. 

 country in proper condition; they die year after year and eventually we 

 get discouraged and cut them down. I have had a great deal of experi- 

 ence in trimming Dakota spruce; they stand trimming as well as the 

 other — as well as red cedar and they make a fine hedge and I feel surc- 

 they will stand the climate; some of you may be discouraged, but I teli 

 you that you can tie to the Dakota spruce in our country, but this 

 country is not all good for arbor vitae. When I speak of Dakota, I 

 mean the black Hills spruce. 



Mr. Hadkinson: This brings me back to my previous talk, where I 

 spoke of your particular locality, to look around and see what is doing 

 well, and I desire to emphasize that. I am a stickler for a person to stay 

 with something that is doing well in their part of the state — the part of 

 the state they live in. I do not want to recommend arbor vitae for a part 

 of the state where it will not do. However, I want to set my heel down 

 on tte Black Hills spruce, because I do not take to it myself; that is one 

 of the hedges that you can make that I do not take to. 



Question: Don't the arbor vitae do better with a clay subsoil? 



Mr. Hadkinson: I don't think where I saw the hedge at Arlington it 

 had a clay subsoil close to the top. It may have deeper down. 



Mr. Williams: I wanted to call your attention to one of the shrubs 

 that has not been mentioned yet I believe, and that is the spirea. We 

 have three varieties useful for hedges. A doctor and his wife came to my 

 place last fall and looked over my ground for something suitable for a 

 hedge. I showed them the privet, the Russian mulberry, tamarack, ber- 

 berry, and among others three varieties of spirea. They were very much 

 attracted to the spirea. At the time they were there it was October and it 

 still held its foliage and looked well. I know the foliage of the privet is 

 better than that, especially the nursery privet, but the spireas are beauti- 

 ful very late in the season. Take the Hawkeye, it is of a fine form and 

 makes a very symmetrical plant; also the Primerafolia and the Van 

 Houtti ; these three are very desirable varieties. 



Mr. Hadkinson: I mentioned spirea in my list, but we have not dis- 

 cussed it. I wanted to speak of another thing, that is as hardy as a bun- 

 oak, and that is an upright honeysuckle, and it makes a very pretty 

 hedge, and it can be trimmed; it gets somewhat ragged as it grows up; it 

 makes a fine mass of healthy foliage in the early fall. 



