53° 



FARM, ORCHARD, DAIRY AND GARDEN. 



HEDGES AND HEDGE PLANTS.— 



Live fences, as they are very properly 

 termed, have long been held in high esti- 

 mation for inclosures when plants suita- 

 ble for the purpose could be secured. The 

 maintenance of efficient fencing is a 

 heavy tax upon all who occupy land, and 

 the cost is greatly increased when the 

 materials are difficult to procure, and re- 

 quire frequent repairs. If the chronolog- 

 ical history of fences should ever be writ- 

 ten it might be divided into three epochs: 

 the temporary, the equivocal and the per- 

 manent; or the period of the wooden 

 fence, the live fence, (possibly including 

 the wire fence,) and the fence of stone. 

 To obtain a good hedge requires a suit- 

 able plant, care in its formation, and 

 proper keeping afterwards. Neglect of 

 any one of these essentials will prove fatal 

 to the object in view, whether as a pro- 

 tection against depredators or as a shel- 

 ter for ameliorating local climates. 



For farm hedges there are only two 

 plants which can be considered as being 

 perfectly satisfactory. These are the 

 •Osage orange and the honey locust. The 

 'Osage orange is perhaps to be preferred 

 in localities where it is sufficiently hardy. 

 It is cheaply produced, of rapid growth, 

 thickens its branches freely when pruned, 

 has formidable thorns, is not liable to in- 

 sect injuries, not eaten by cattle, and will 

 grow in any soil of ordinary fertility. 

 The honey locust is a good plant in more 

 northern localities, where the Osage or- 

 ange is destroyed by cold. It is also well 

 . supplied with thorns, is of rapid growth, 

 . and will make a fence as soon as the 

 • other. It has very beautiful and delicate 

 foliage, and is more robust, but less dense, 

 than the Osage — which is rather an ad- 

 vantage than otherwise for a strong fence. 

 iSome of the best hedges in the country 

 .are of this plant. 



Seeds or plants of either of the preced- 

 ing are easily obtained; but, where time 

 is a matter of consideration, it will be ad- 

 visable to procure plants, which are now 

 produced in large quantities by nursery- 

 men, and sold at prices much less than the 

 cost of growing them on a small scale. It 

 is scarcely possible to form a good hedge 

 iby sowing the seed on the position which 

 the hedge is to occupy. The casualties 

 ,of growth will certainly produce many 

 iareak plants that will be eventually de- 



stroyed by their stronger neighbors, leav- 

 ing unsightly blanks, and greatly dimin- 

 ishing the uniform efficiency of the hedge. 

 When the plants are properly assorted as 

 to size before setting, an equality of 

 growth is at once established. 



In preparing the soil for a hedge-row 

 a breadth of three to four feet will be 

 amply sufficient. If plowed, the ridges 

 should be thrown toward the centre, form- 

 ing a slightly mounded finish. In stiff 

 soils this can be done to a greater advant- 

 age in autumn by throwing the furrows on 

 each side from the centre of the hedge 

 line, so that the frosts of winter may pen- 

 etrate and loosen the subsoil; and then 

 throwing them together in spring, to be 

 ready for planting. 



The best distance to set plants is from 

 ten to fourteen inches apart, and in a sin- 

 gle row. On poor soils, or for a mere 

 ornamental dividing hedge, the closer dis- 

 tance may be adopted ; and for a strong 

 fence, or on rich soils, the wider will not be 

 too great. They may be set either in 

 fall or spring, according to the location. 

 If the position is elevated, and the soil 

 naturally dry, fall planting is to be pre- 

 ferred ; in low positions, or in wet soil, 

 spring planting is safer, as the plants are 

 liable, in such soils, to be thrown out of 

 the ground during winter. Even in wet 

 soils, however, the practice of planting 

 in the fall has of late been adopted, and 

 with perfect success, by placing the plants 

 in a slanting position, instead of an up- 

 right one, and covering them slightly with 

 litter. No hedge will be perfectly satis- 

 factory in soils saturated with water dur- 

 ing winter. 



The perfection of a hedge, even with 

 the best plants, depends altogether upon 

 the treatment it receives in its early 

 growth. Neglect in pruning, during this 

 period, can seldom be remedied in after 

 years; and to this, more than to any 

 other cause, failures in forming good 

 hedges may be attributed. A brief state- 

 ment of the principles involved in form- 

 ing them will, therefore, be given. 



The only form in which a hedge can be 

 kept, to be of service as a fence, is that 

 of a pyramid. When it has attained a 

 height of five feet it should be at least 

 three feet wide at the base or surface of 

 the ground. All pruning must be direct- 

 ed with a view to securing this form. 



