26 HEDGES, WINDBREAKS, SHELTERS, ETC. 



plants are to be set, you may use a spade as you pro- 

 ceed, or a dibble. Spread the roots at the bottom of 

 the trench, and set the plant two or three inches 

 deeper than it was in the nursery row. Firm the 

 soil with great care. This is the most important 

 point in setting out plants of any kind as well as in 

 planting trees. In the case of the hedge plants, it is 

 absolutely necessary. I advise you to tramp the soil 

 as solid as possible with your feet, or let a man follow 

 whose business it is to pound down the soil with a 

 heavy rammer. You may be sure that no harm 

 will be done. 



(5) Spacing. My own preference is decidedly 

 for more room for each plant than is generally given. 

 When placed six inches apart, many plants in the 

 process of growth are dwarfed or weakened in 

 vitality, if not killed outright. I set two or three feet 

 apart. Dr. Warder recommends this in his book on 

 hedges (now out of print) and he did wisely. He 

 says : "I consider that most writers and planters have 

 committed the great error of crowding. The dif- 

 ferent plants used in hedges are so varied in their 

 habits that no fixed rule can be laid down for all of 

 them, but be sure to avoid setting the plants too 

 closely." For the honey locust, which attains in its 

 individual growth a diameter of from one to three 

 feet, Dr. Warder would prefer a distance of twelve, 

 eighteen or twenty inches. I have found this plan 

 far better for every plant that I have ever tried or 

 seen tried. The honey locust, the hawthorn, the 

 buckthorn, the Osage orange and all of the shrubs 

 that attain any size, should be given at least one foot 

 in the row, and from that up to two or even three. 



