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REMARKS ON HEDGES. 



In our own country, where the forests af- ) 

 ford a superabundance of timber, we have 

 made a general use of that article, in various 

 forms, for our fences. But howevci cheap 

 this latter article may be with us, it is a 

 question whether it is equally economical 

 with a live fence ; and it is certainly very 

 far inferior to it in point of beauty and du- 

 rability. 



There are also some sections of our coun- 

 try, in which even the advantage of super- 

 abundance of forests does not exist, and this 

 is so much so in the prairie states of the 

 West, that the most important object to 

 them is the cost of fencing their lands. 

 Our country is now becoming wealthy, and 

 very many persons, even in those states 

 where forests abound, are inclined to de- 

 vote attention as well to the beauty of their 

 enclosures, as to the economy of their ar- 

 rangement. 



Few persons can conceive the enhanced 

 beauty that live hedges impart, when con- 

 trasted with the gloomy post and rail fences 

 with which our farms abound. In England 

 and France, where live fences are general- 

 ly adopted, they impart, at the floral season, 

 a degree of enchantment to the scene ; and 

 at all periods, they serve to greatly enliven 

 the landscape scenery of those highly culti- 

 vated countries Live hedges also afford 

 great protection against severe winds, and 

 they may be trimmed so as to occupy as 

 little or as much space as suits the proprie- 

 tor. 



In England, the Hawthorn is most gene- 

 rally planted for this purpose ; and the snow- 

 white flowers of the ordinary variety, inter- 

 spersed here and there with a tree of the 

 pink and the crimson Hawthorn — these lat- 

 ter being allowed to rise above other por- 

 tions of the hedge — impart a degree of 

 beauty that can scarcely be surpassed. The 

 Italian Privet is a more beautiful shrub for 



a hedge than the Hawthorn, and in France 

 is far more generally adopted for this object. 

 Its growth is much more rapid; its foliage 

 myrtle-like and beautiful ; and its spikes of 

 snow-white blossoms, rising amid the luxu- 

 riance of foliage, neat and chaste in the 

 extreme. It has also the advantage of be- 

 ing a subevergreen, holding its foliage very 

 late, and in mild climates, during nearly 

 the whole winter. As the Hawthorn pro- 

 duces its flowers in May, and the Privet in 

 June, it would be a pleasant arrangement 

 to form a hedge composed of sections of 

 each 



The Buckthorn is much used for hedges 

 in the vicinity of Boston and Salem, and is 

 well suited to the object. The Madura or 

 Osage Orange, is used for the same pur- 

 pose in the vicinity of Philadelphia and 

 south of it ; but, being^a southern tree, it 

 will not be found appropriate for the north- 

 ern and eastern states. 



The Pyracantha, a subevergreen, is per- 

 fectly hardy, and forms a beautiful hedge, 

 blooming in May, with flowers assimilating 

 to those* of the Hawthorn, and clad in au- 

 tumn and winter with profuse clusters of 

 scarlet berries, which have entitled it to the 

 cognomen of " Burning Bush." 



Evergreen hedges, of the most beautiful 

 description, are formed of the Arbor Vitas, 

 the American, Siberian and Chinese species 

 being used for this purpose. They form, 

 after a few years, most admirable appen- 

 dages to pleasure grounds, and maybe used 

 to equal advantage for fields of any extent. 

 The American and Siberian species being the 

 most hardy, are the most appropriate for lati- 

 tudes north of New-York; but in the vici- 

 nity of New- York, the Chinese flourishes 

 admirably. 



The Swedish and the Irish Juniper form 

 fine evergreen hedges ; and even the com- 

 mon Red Cedar may be used for the same 



