ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. 531 



When the plants are first set out they should 

 be pruned back to within three inches of 

 the ground, and allowed to grow undis- 

 turbed during the first season, their 

 growth in the meantime being encouraged 

 by judicious cultivation. At the termi- 

 nation of the yearly growth the plants 

 should again be pruned down to within 

 four inches of the first pruning, and the 

 side shoots below this point also be re- 

 moved to within an inch of the main 

 stem. This severe pruning of the branch- 

 es will give to the roots a vigorous 

 growth; and, when the buds burst in 

 spring, strong shoots will immediately 

 follow. During this second year's growth 

 the hedge may be partially shaped by 

 repressing the growth of the strongest 

 perpendicular shoots, and encouraging 

 those of horizontal tendency. Practical- 

 ly this is accomplished by going over the 

 plants about the end of June, and cutting 

 all upright shoots back to a point about 

 eight inches above the previous winter 

 pruning, taking care not to disturb a 

 shoot or leaf on the side branches below 

 that point. In thus cutting back the up- 

 right shoots, the side growth will be in- 

 creased, and a breadth of base secured, 

 which, at this stage of growth, is the most 

 important point of all. In the following 

 winter the hedge, if it has progressed at 

 all favorably, may be pruned down to 

 fourteen inches in height from the ground 

 surface, with the horizontal branches ex- 

 tending from nine to twelve inches on 

 each side. The principles of pruning 

 are that growth is repressed by summer 

 trimming, and encouraged by pruning 

 after the leaves have fallen. By keeping 

 these facts in mind, and practicing ac- 

 cordingly, the shaping of a hedge is only 

 a work of time. The lower branches 

 can always be retained as healthy, and 

 produce as much density of foliage as the 

 upright portion of the plants, if the pyr- 

 amidal form is strictly maintained ; but if, 

 at any time, the upright growth predomi- 

 nates, the lower limbs will proportionate- 

 ly lose vigor. The upright shoots should, 

 therefore, be pruned during summer, in 

 order to weaken the growth at that point, 

 and to strengthen and keep the base of 

 the hedge vigorous and close. The prin- 

 cipal pruning of the lower branches 

 should be performed during winter. 

 This is the only way in which a hedge 



can be made that will be effective as a 

 fence; and the neglect of the principles 

 here suggested is generally the origin of 

 the conflicting opinions with regard to the 

 value and efficiency of hedges as farm 

 fences. They may receive some atten- 

 tion for a year or two, but when it be- 

 comes thoroughly understood that they 

 cannot be preserved unless trimmed dur- 

 ing summer, when attention is wholly 

 given to ordinary crops, farmers are not 

 always disposed to give hedges the atten- 

 tion necessary to keep them in good con- 

 dition ; and therefore they fail to be of 

 service. It should, however, be remem- 

 bered that, as the hedge becomes perfect, 

 the yearly labor to keep it in order grad- 

 ually becomes less ; and at no time does 

 it require so much labor as that required 

 to keep a common wooden fence in good 

 repair. 



For purposes of protection and shelter 

 to gardens, or as dividing lines in the 

 grounds of country and suburban resi- 

 dences, hedges are of the greatest utility. 

 For these purposes there is an extensive 

 choice of plants, both evergreen and de- 

 ciduous. A well-grown evergreen hedge 

 is found to be as congenial a protection 

 for the garden as a brick wall. The com- 

 mercial value of shelter, in accelerating 

 early crops, is not so generally known as 

 it deserves to be ; yet it is fully appreci- 

 ated and adopted by many of the most 

 successful cultivators; and, as a means of 

 arresting drying winds ana lessening 

 evaporation in level tracts destitute of 

 trees, no just estimate can be made of the 

 intrinsic value of close-foliaged hedges. 



Among evergreen plants the Norway 

 spruce is the most valuable where a high, 

 strong, wind-break is necessary ; and, for 

 the purposes of sheltering orchards and 

 vineyards, it is unsurpassed. It will, in 

 time, form a very close and compact 

 hedge when trimmed; but to produce 

 an effective shelter in the shortest period, 

 the plants should be set four to six feet 

 apart in the row or line, and allowed to 

 grow undisturbed, so far as pruning is 

 concerned, until the leading or top shoot 

 reaches the required height. Then by 

 merely trimming the top, so as to keep it 

 at this height, the side branches will 

 spread and interlace, forming a screen 

 quite as effective and more beautiful than 

 a closely-clipped hedge. 



