32 HEDGES, WINDBREAKS, SHELTERS, ETC. 



Successful horticulture is a happy combination of 

 wit and grit. Failure in farming is mostly the result 

 of leakage of power and waste of crops. However, 

 when economy of time is very greatly desired, the 

 trimming of the first three or four years can be per- 

 formed with a sickle. Give a quick motion in the 

 way the branch grows that is, with a slant upward. 

 Hold the sickle reversed and strike sharp and quick ; 

 a slow movement will drag the branch. This tool 

 is satisfactory for all fairly strong and stiff shoots. 

 But as the hedge gets shaped, and the shoots 

 become finer, they require more smooth and 

 accurate cutting. Bear in mind that I do not 

 recommend the use of such tools, but by all 

 means would prefer the shears. 



Can the spring pruning of a deciduous hedge be 

 as well done in midwinter, or March ? I can only an- 

 swer this with a very positive negative, when you are 

 dealing with an evergreen hedge, but it may be 

 advantageously done in the case of such plants as 

 buckthorn, hawthorn and Osage orange. There is 

 no reason why a sharp heading-in of a thoroughly 

 hardy plant shall not take place at any time after 

 nature has laid aside her tools, and the hedge is in a 

 state of absolute rest. I would not, however, begin 

 the work before near the close of winter. There is 

 one advantage in following this line of advice, 

 because you can observe more completely the condi- 

 tion of the leafless branches, and determine where 

 nature is being too sharply turned or forced from 

 her natural tendency. Where there is a mere bunch 

 of twigs starting instead of a good number of 

 branches, remove part of them. This is always a 



