NO GULLIED, WEED-FILLED ROADS 69 



All hedges were planted in double or triple rows to make com- 

 pact growth and allow of artistic pruning. Many shrubs were 

 readily propagated by thrusting the prunings into the ground in the 

 shade of the shrub itself, and transplanting in the open the following 

 season. 



Several beautiful effects in privet hedge we obtained by the use 

 of the ogee curve on a down grade corner, in this case planting the 

 tri-color. A very docile hedge is the privet, America's general substitute 

 for the English yew. It was forced to assume many more or less 

 attractive, and, in some cases, grotesque shapes in an effort to get 

 out of a rut, a characteristic w r hich often led to unnecessary and 

 possibly unwise but interesting expenditures. The sloping top of 

 one hedge was pruned to spell Hillcrest.* 



Privet edged one side of a set of entrance steps and was trimmed 

 to match each step outline, it also solved an oft-met horticultural prob- 

 lem by its thrifty growth under shade. Another credit for privet 

 was gained during the past winter by the delicately-fibred Japanese 

 variety that stood with impunity an occasional bath of salt spray. 



Barbarity of the Wire Barb. 



In early farming days we ignorantly used cruel barbed wire 

 fences, but a wounded colt convinced us there was a better way, 

 and thereafter squared and knotted galvanized wire barriers were 

 substituted ; these were graduated upward from a four-inch to a ten- 

 inch mesh and scantling nailed atop the posts, making the fence 

 plainly visible to the galloping colts. When using trees as posts for 

 fencing the wire was stapled to wooden blocks nailed to the trunk. 

 As it grew, the wood moved outward, and trees were uninjured. 



Climber and trailer, as exampled in woodbine, honeysuckle, ram- 

 bler rose, and the wistaria, one of our earliest and latest bloomers, 

 beautified the ugliest wire fences. The more delicate climbers of 

 sparse foliage when trained on sun-exposed wires sometimes shriveled 

 and died. 



Roads and gutters were important factors in our effort toward 

 Arcadian living, and to them were given much time and thought. 

 Weeds growing in cobble-stone gutters along the highway were a 

 problem, but a dose of kerosene oil from a watering-pot eliminated 

 the tedious work of pulling. One application was generally as effi- 

 cacious as the kill-weed liquors. 



Splitting Raindrops. 



Stone gutters on farm roads were dispensed with by dumping 

 and spreading on the centre of all steep inclines trap rock, mixed 

 chip and pigeon-egg sizes. In this way the falling raindrops scattered, 



*By close to the ground pruning- we successfully transplanted a fifty-year-old privet 

 hedge some thirty-five years ago and it is today a compact thrifty wall of verdure over eighty 

 years old. 



