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GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



sing very long, sharp thorns, and bright red fruits. It is 

 very showy. 



Cvdonia Japonka, Japanese quince, also is attractive as 

 a Spring hedge. Its brilliant scarlet tlowers appear in 

 great profusion in very early Spring and are followed by 

 pear-shaped yellow fruits. 



Glcditsia, or Glcdifschia triaciDithtis. thorny honey 

 locust, which is armed with thorns three to four inches 

 long, is a rapid growing tree and makes a formidable 

 hedge. Long twisted pods follow its flowers, and though 

 so thorny, this tree has a delicate, handsome foliage. 



Madura aurantiaca, Osage Orange, makes an impen- 

 etrable hedge when carefully set. I'lanted singly this 

 grows into a medium size tree, but when used in a hedge, 

 can be kept at the desired height. This tree is very spiny ; 

 has bright green leaves, which turn yellow in the Autumn, 

 and bears inconspicuous greenish flowers, followed by 

 inedible greenish yellow fruits. This has been much used 

 as a hedge plant in the Middle West and is hardy as far 

 north as Massachusetts. 



Several species and varieties of Thuja make excellent 

 evergreen hedges. Thuja fastigiata, or pyramidalis, has a 

 compact dense habit of growth, a columnar form, and light 

 green foliage. This is known as the pyramidal arborvitas. 

 T. occidcntalis, the common American arborvit.-e, has 

 short horizontal branches, scaly, bright green leaves, with 

 a yellowish under color; T. occidcntalis, "Little Gem," is 

 very dwarf, growing broader than high, and has dark 

 leaves; while T. occidcntalis lutca, known as George Pea- 

 body's Golden Arliorvitce. T. occidcntalis U'arcana. or 

 Sibirica, has a pyramidal form, a dense and lower growth 

 and stouter branchlets than the species itself, and glaucose 

 green leaves. All of these arborvitc-e are favorites for ever- 

 green hedges, the choice largely depending on the desired 

 height, the form of growth, and the color of the foliage. 



Ta.viis baccatus rcpandcns. English yew. will grow in 

 almost any position and is the hardiest of all the prostrate 

 yews. Its slender pointed leaves have an upward curve 

 and are a lustrous green. Taxu-s cuspidata, or capitata. 

 and T. cuspidala nana or breiifolia are both suitable for 

 hedges. The species cuspidata keeps its fresh color all the 

 year round, endures our severest Winters, and is an up- 

 right, fast grower. The variety, nana, has a rich, deep 

 green, short foliage and a spreading growth. 



Tsuga canadensis, hemlock, is a graceful, handsome 

 evergreen. The pendulous, slender branches of the tree 

 give to a hedge a soft efl:'ect not to be obtained through 

 any other evergreen. It is an excellent evergreen for 

 forming a wind break hedge. 



Picca excelsa, Norway spruce, is a tree of pyramidal 

 form attaining a height of forty to fifty feet, but is suit- 

 able for a hedge. The sijruce has a handsome dark green 

 foliage, is very hardy and makes. ])erhaps. the heaviest 

 and tallest hedge of any of the evergreens. 



Passing from the evergreens and conifers, we have 

 available for a hedge two broad-leaved evergreens. The 

 first is Ilex crcnata, Japanese holly, which is a rapid 

 grower: has small .green, smooth ii\al leaves, and funns a 

 compact, dense bush which, like boxwood, can be ])rnne(l 

 into various shai)es. The second is Buxus sempcrvircns, 

 without argument one of the finest of all hedge shrubs 

 and excellent for that ]nir])f)se in a latitude and location 

 where it will be neither killed by an extremely low Winter 

 temperature or burned brown by Winter's winds or .Sum- 

 mer's sun. 



There are some factors in the jjroblem of making a 

 good hedge to which close attention must be given. The 

 grmmd where the hedge shrubs or trees are to be planted 

 should be dug nj) to the depth of two or more feet. \ 

 spread of stable manure, six to ten inches deep, should be 

 thoroughly dug in and incorporated with the soil in the 



Autumn, if the hedge is to be set in Spring, and vice 

 versa. If this has not been done in advance, it is not 

 advisable to use any stable manure just before setting the 

 hedg'e shrubs for the roots to come in direct contact with, 

 but to incorporate a moderate quantity of pure ground 

 bone in the soil and to apply more of this on the surface 

 after the shrubs are planted during the growing season 

 and to rake it into the soil, or to apply sheep manure to 

 the surface in the same way. These aijplications may be 

 made several times from early Spring till mid- Autumn. 

 After the ground is frozen a few inches deep in early 

 \\inter each year, a spread of stable fertilizer may be 

 applied as a top dressing. This will keep the ground 

 from alternate freezings and thawings. 



Shrubs and trees of nearly the same height should be 

 ])lanted together in making a hedge. This is especially 

 necessary in the case of some broad leaved evergreens 

 such as boxwood, where to prune back severely to make 

 the shrubs of the same height would be to cut back into 

 the old wood and disfig^ure the shrub. The height to 

 which it is desired that the hedge grow should be decided 

 on ai)proximately soon after the hedge is set. The hedge, 

 however, in the case of larger shrubs and trees should 

 not be allowed to reach its full height in one season's 

 .growth, even where that is possible, and perhaps not in 

 several seasons. In most instances, in pruning, the new 

 growth should be each time cut back to within a few 

 inches of the old wood, but not to it. This method of 

 pruning one or several times during the growing season, 

 according as the shrub is of slow or rapid growth, keeps 

 the hedge thick from bottom to top, and broad, and at the 

 desired height. \Mien once a hedge from neglect of 

 pruning begins to grow its own way, it is brought back to 

 the desired shajDe, if at all, with great difliculty. 



It is almost impossible to formulate exact rules for 

 pruning hedges but a good general rule is to have a vision 

 of what we would like our hedge to be, and then to 

 prune each time with care so that we may realize our 

 vision. 



RHODODENDRON MAXIMUM 



""PHE only evergreen Rhododendron which grows in the 

 •'■ northeastern states, with an extensive Appalachian range 

 southward to Georgia, is one of the handsomest of the 

 broad-leaved evergreen plants which can be grown in this 

 climate. The flowers are [jink and white or nearly white 

 and, like those of some other late-flowering Rhododen- 

 drons, are more or less hidden Ijy the branches of the year 

 which usually make a considerable ])art of their growth 

 before the flowers open. /\. inaxinmni grows well in any 

 soil not .'mpregnated with lime and flourishes in shade 

 and when fully exposed to the sun, but when growing in 

 open positions it is often seriuusly injured bv the lace- 

 wing lly which was first brouglu to Xew F.ngland on 

 plants of this Rhododendron collected in the south. Hy- 

 brids of R. luaxiniuni and /\. cala7>.'bieuse hybrids have 

 been raised. ( )ne of the earliest and best known nf these 

 hybrids. A', delicatissimum, has lustrous foliage and white 

 llowers tinged with i)ink which ojien two or three weeks 

 before those of R . nuixiniuin and are not hidden bv young 

 branches. Tins hybrid is one of the hardiest, handsomest 

 and most desirable of the large growing Rhododendrons 

 whicli can be planted in Massachusetts. — Arnold .Irborc- 

 tuui IhiUetin. 



I'lflorts to be permanently useful must be unit'nrnily 

 joyous, a spirit all sunshine, graceful from very gladness, 

 beautiful because bright. — Thomas r.vui.vr.K. 



The most manifest sign of wisdom is continued cheer- 

 fulness. — Mo,\T.\i(;\F. 



