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THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



should be planted a foot apart for a close hedge, and 

 the plants must be headed down to ten inches to insure 

 a dense bottom. Unforttmately, hawthorns in Amer- 

 ica have many foes, such as borers, leaf-miners, scale, 

 red spider, aphis, etc., and some bad fungoid affections. 

 For this reason they will never become popular. 



Deutzia Lemoinei makes a splendid hedge plant. 

 Set out twenty-four inches aj^art and allowed to grow 

 nattirally, it soon makes a dense hedge and in May or 

 early June, according to latitude, will each year be a 

 mass of white flowers. D. gracilis also makes a fin° 

 hedge plant. It does not, of course, produce an imme- 

 diate eft'ect, as in the case of privets. 



A few other deciduous ]:)lants which can be used for 

 hedging purposes are : Hydrangea paniculata grandi- 

 flora ; this, of course, needs heading back well each 

 winter ; it makes a grand floral display in late summer. 

 Fagus sylvatica, European beech, is useful if a tall 

 hedge is desired. Rosa rugosa is also a strong grower, 

 but it is not adapted to small grounds. Syringa vid- 



Coitrtcsy of Florist Rcriczv. 



BERBERIS THUNBERGI MAKES A SPLENDID HEDGE. 



garis, lilac, makes a satisfactory hedge. Acacia, or 

 honey locust, is good as a defensive hedge. Rhamnus 

 cathartica, buckthorn, is good where a tall, strong- 

 hedge is desired. Philadelphus Lemoinei. the new 

 French hybrid, is more moderate growing than the old 

 P. coronarius and makes a splendid natural hedge, 

 flowering profusely while small. 



These do not at all exhaust the l.)est of desirable 

 hedge plants of a deciduous character. Various spiraeas, 

 viburnums, carpinus, stephanandras and others are 

 available. 



Coming to evergreens, we find the list a much more 

 restricted one. Probably the variety most in use is 

 Thuya occidentalis, American arborvitae. This makes 

 a neat hedge, is hardy, withstands dry conditions well 

 and is a quick grower. Objections to its use are that it 

 turns a brownish color in winter, and no matter how 

 well headed in it may be, it is thrown out of shape to 

 seme degree by heavy snows. 



Picea excelsa, Norway spruce, makes a splendid 

 thick hedge, one which can be closely cropped an- 

 nually. I have seen hedges of this spruce in New 

 England ten feet high and as much across, which are 

 perfect pictures, grand windbreaks and afford shelter 

 and nesting places for hundreds of birds. Set the 

 Norway spruces twenty-four to thirty-six inches 

 apart, according to size. 



Tsuga Canadensis, or hemlock, when ])laced in a 

 suitable position, one not too dry or windswept, makes 

 easily the finest of all evergreen hedges, coming the 

 nearest to the English yew of any of our North Ameri- 

 can evergreens. It suffers from dryness at the root 

 more than other evergfreens, but when it is given suf- 

 ficient moisture, we have no evergreen equal to it. It 

 lasts longer than Xorway spruce or arborvitfe. 



A few C)ther available hedge plants are ; Buxus sem- 

 [)ervirens, boxwood : useful as a bordering for flower 

 beds, etc. Juniperus \'irginica, common red cedar; I 

 have seen excellent hedges made of this plant. Re- 

 tinospora pUnnosa. Japanese cypress; this and its 

 golden sport, aurea, make neat hedg^es. Euonymus 

 Japonicus and E. Sieboldiantis r these have handsome, 

 dark green, shiny leaves, are erect in habit and make 

 splendid hedges. Taxus cuspidata T>revifolia, yew, and 

 Taxus baccata, English yew ; the last named succeeds 

 moderately well near Philadelphia and at ])oints south, 

 but is not hardy farther north. 



To make a success of hedges, the ground should be 

 |)re])ared in advance and turned over to a depth of two 

 feet, deeper if possible, and two or three feet wide. 

 Incorporate some thoroughly decayed manure with 

 the soil. Be sure not to use any fresh manure. If 

 planting cannot be done tmtil spring, it is a great help 

 to prepare the groimd in the fall. Generally speaking, 

 evergreens succeed better if planted in spring than in 

 fall, but most deciduous plants do as well or better if 

 planted in the fall, provided the work is not done too 

 late and care is taken to firm the roots thoroughly. In 

 the case of evergreens, it is especially necessary to 

 keep the roots moist, not only at planting time, but 

 through the season. Dryness at the root is account- 

 able for more dead evergreens than winter's cold. 

 Therefore, in the fall, when there is any likelihood of 

 evergreens having dry roots, soak them thoroughly 

 before the ground becomes sealed by frost. 



WOOD ASHES MAY FURNISH SOURCE OF 

 POTASH. 



If the European war should cause our large annual 

 imports of potash to dwindle, mauA- farmers will look to 

 wood ashes among other substances to replenish the 

 potash supply. Wood ashes are now a factor in Canada, 

 besing considered a regular commercial commodity, and 

 the large lumber mills and other plants using wood or 

 sawdust for fuel in this countr)- which at present make 

 no use of the ashes from their furnaces or waste piles 

 may find it profitable to store and sell them if the de- 

 n^and warrant it. 



Besides the potash, ashes contain other ingredients 

 which are of value to plants : namely, about 1 or 2 per 

 cent, of phosphoric acid, a little magnesia and a great 

 deal of lime. 



Ashes from hardwoods (deciduous trees) are richer in 

 both phosphorus and potash than those from pines and 

 other softwoods (conifers). Ashes from oak, elm, 

 maple and hickory have more potash than those from 

 pine. The ashes of twigs ( faggots, for example) are 

 worth more for agricultural purposes than the ashes of 

 heart-wood taken from the middle of an old tree. The 

 smaller and ^-nungcr the vcond burned the better ashes. 



