8 HEDGES, WINDBREAKS., SHELTERS, ETC. 



estimated to save at least $90,000,000. It was a dis- 

 tinct triumph of progressive agriculture. A secon- 

 dary result was to greatly decrease the call for 

 material for live fences. The use of wire had already 

 begun and shortly completed the revolution. From 

 that time, about 1885, the enthusiasm for live fences 

 waned. I have not seen such a fence planted in 

 central New York during the last twenty years. It 

 is only in conjunction with hedges and windbreaks 

 that the live fence topic remains of any importance. 

 I shall be excused if I give to this branch of my topic 

 only this brief chapter. 



Confirmatory of my own views of live fences, 

 I shall give at this point two or three letters from 

 some of the most eminent horticulturists of the 

 United States: 



ITHACA, N. Y. 

 Dear Mr. Powell: 



Hedge fences, or live fences, are no longer used to any 

 great extent in America, so far as my observation goes; and 

 there are several reasons for it. The chief of these is, I think, 

 that timber has become so very cheap ; another is that labor is 

 high priced, and another that our distances are so great that 

 the expense of putting in live fences has proved to be con- 

 siderable. Perhaps the dry and severe climate has something 

 to do with it. I presume the national taste or temper also has 

 an influence. Hedges are used for small effects about build- 

 ings, but it is comparatively rare that they are used for the 

 main fences of the farm. In fact, fences are no longer looked 

 upon as necessary features of the farm. They are liable to 

 be in the way of the requirements of grazing changes. The 

 farmer is no longer obliged in New York state to keep up his 

 line fence. Yours very truly, L. H. BAILEY. 



GERMAN-TOWN, PA. 

 Dear Mr. Powell: 



Live fences as means of turning cattle have been practically 

 abandoned in Pennsylvania, but as fences for ornament they 

 are very popular. Some little is being done by combinations 

 of galvanized wire and inclined Osage orange fastened to the 



