OUT-OF-TOWN PLACES 



thorns are liable to the attacks of insects (far 

 more pestiferous with us, it would seem, than 

 in Europe), which seriously abridge their use. 

 The white-willow, so trumpeted by bagmen 

 throughout the country is thoroughly a hum- 

 bug. It is indeed sadly derogatory to the good 

 sense of our rural population that pretenders 

 could ever foist a claim in favor of a willow, 

 of any known habit of growth, upon their ac- 

 ceptance. The osage orange in certain por- 

 tions of the West, and of the Southwest, 

 promises to be very efifective. It starts late 

 in the spring, but holds its foliage until the 

 frost withers it. In the extreme North, and 

 in the Northeast, its shoots are liable to be 

 winter-killed, and its own rampant growth is 

 also against it, as an economic plant for hedg- 

 ing. For effective treatment it requires two 

 or three clippings in the year. This is more, 

 we fancy, than the holders of Western prairie 

 farms will be willing to bestow. After ma- 

 ture years it may possibly show a more trac- 

 table dispositicm in this respect. The honey- 

 locust has been adopted in many quarters, and 

 has its sturdy advocates. But it is open to the 

 same objection of a too luxuriant growth on 

 congenial soils, and of the still more odious 

 objection of a disposition to "sucker," or send 



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