VOL. XIX. NO. SO. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 



395 



position of ground. Oi>c on a bank, with a ditch 

 on the side ; tlie other on the level ground. 



The soil is prepared by plowing twelve or four- 

 teen inches deep ; or, which is better, by trenching 

 two feet deep, and making the earth very fine. 

 The plants are selected from the nursery, as near 

 Qs possible of eqnat size, else some get the start of 

 others, subdue them, and keep them down, and this 

 makes an uneven hedge, with weak parts in it. If 

 tlie plants be two years old, have been transplanted, 

 and are at the bottom as big ns a larf^e goose quill, 

 they are every thing that is required. 



The roots of the platits are pruned to within 

 four inches of the part that was at the lop of the 

 ground, or in other words, the root is left but four 

 inches long, and all the fibres are cut clean away, 

 or they would die and do hnrui if left. 



The ground and the plants being thus prepared, 

 a straight cut or drill is made about six inches 

 deep, anil the plants are put in, but not deeper 

 than they stood before taken from tlve nursery. 

 The distance between each plant is six or eight 

 inches ; some people prefer them twelve inches 

 apart, and plant another line drawn six inches 

 from the first, and put in the plants, not to stand 

 opposite those in the first row, but opposite the 

 middles of the intervals. When the plants are in, 

 the soil between and around them is gently press- 

 ed down with the foot, then hoed a little and left 

 neat. 



This work is done early in October, or as soon 

 as the ground is suitable in the spring. Tiie first 

 or second week in October would be the most 

 proper time to plant here, even though the leaves 

 should yet be on the plants, as the roots would 

 strike, in this fine month, before the severe frosts 

 commence, and the plants would be more vigorous 

 and etnrt earlier in the spring. If the planting 

 could not be done in the fall, it should be done as 

 Boon as the ground is fit in the spring ; or the heat 

 and drought might como and retard the growth of 

 the plants. 



In both cases, the plants are out almost close to 

 the ground. If planted in the fall, they are cut 

 down as soon as the frost is out of the ground in 

 the spring, and before the buds begin to swell ; 

 if planted in spring, they are cut down as soon as 

 planted. This cutting down to within half an 

 inch of the ground, is indispensably necessary, for 

 without it there would be no hedge. 'Ihe ground 

 between and all about them is also kept clean and 

 frequently hoed. 



Some people cut down again the next spring, 

 but it is much better to defer the second cutting 

 until two years after the first one, and then to cut 

 all close down to the ground as possible in the 

 spring ; the shoots then come out so thick and so 

 strong that they never need to be cut down any 

 more. Bat about the middle of the following July, 

 the top, and sides near the top, are clipped off a 

 little, and the bottom left still less clipped, so that 

 the hedge may be wide at bottom and narrow at 

 the top. In October, the new shoots are clipped 

 again, but not quite down to the last cut, the sides 

 being still left in a sloped form, wide at bottoi« and 

 sharp at the top; when kept in that form the hedge 

 grows close and bushy down to the ground, so as 

 . to form a completely close fence ; but if left broad 

 ' at the top, the bottom becomes open and the fence 

 is not so good. 



The clipping is performed twice in each of the 

 first four or five years, with shears to be had for 



that purpose; afterwards with a long handled bill- 

 hook. 



The ground is also hned and kept clean near 

 the roots of the plants for the first five or six years 

 from the time of |)lanting ; the fence will then be 

 about five feet high, and is usually allowed to at- 

 tain the heiglu of seven or eight feet in meadows 

 and fields, and ten or twelve feet around gardens 

 and orchards, and from two to five feet wide at the 

 bottom. 



Of the beauty of auch a hedge it is impossible 

 for any one who has not seen it, to form an idea. 

 The leaf is beautiful in color and in shape; it is 

 one of the very earliest in the spring, and preserves 

 its bright hue during the summer heats. Its blos- 

 soms, which are white and fragrant, burst forth in 

 the middle of May, and give the most gay and 

 fruitful appearance to the meadows, fields and gar- 

 dens which they encircle. Its usefulness in giv- 

 ing protection, slieller and shade, render it superior 

 to any other sort of fence. The branches grow so 

 thick and present thorns so numerous, rind those so 

 sharp, as to make the fence impenetrable. The 

 shelter it gives in the spring and fall, and the 

 shade it gives in the heat of summer, are so much 

 more effectual than those given by wood or stone 

 fences, that there is no comparison between them. 

 This is important to the farmer whose profits de- 

 pend much upon the good condition of his cattle, 

 which improve more rapidly and are in every re- 

 spect more profitable when thus protected from the 

 chills of cold and wet weather, and also from the 

 scorching rays of the summer's mid-day sun. 



Another advantage which a quickset hedge pos- 

 sesses over any other sort of fence is, that it effec- 

 tually protects gardens from the depredations of 

 poultry. Fowls will alight on wooden, brick and 

 stone fences ; but never on a quickset hedge, 

 which affords no steady lodgement for the feet, and 

 which wounds their legs and tliighs and bodies 

 with its thorns. It not only gives protection against 

 intruders, but also affords shelter in cold weather 

 and shade in hot. On the south side of a high 

 fence, peas, lettuces, radish, and many other things, 

 can be had ten or twelve days earlier in the spring 

 than in the unshaded ground ; and during the heat 

 of summer all these and many others thrive best in 

 the shade, and continue to do so long after they 

 will no longer produce in the sun. 



The hawthorn is the favorite plant of England ; 

 it is seen as a flowering shrub in pleasure grounds ; 

 it is the constant ornament of paddocks and parks ; 

 the first appearance of its blossoms is hailed by 

 old and young, as the sign of pleasant weather ; 

 the youth, of both sexes, adorn themselves with 

 garlands made with flowers, and join in merry dance 

 and rural sports around the hawthorn bush on the 

 village green ; whilst the more aged, seated be- 

 neath its shade, direct the joyous throng, and re- 

 count with pleasing recollections, all the pastimes 

 and pleasures of their youth. In short, take away 

 the hawthorn, and you take away the greatest beau- 

 ty of the English fields and gardens. 



And why should America not possess this most 

 beautiful plant? She has some of the English fol- 

 lies and English vices; and why not English hedg. 

 es, instead of post-and-rail and board fences.' If, 

 instead of these sterile-looking and cheerless en- 

 closures, the gardens and meadows and fields in 

 the neighborhood of cities and towns were divided 

 by quickset hedges, what a difference would the 

 alteration make in the look, and in the real value 

 too, of those gardens, meadows, and fields? 



N. B. If the white thorn plants cannot be pro- 

 cured here, they may be had from Liverpool or 

 London in the spring; or the berries may be ship- 

 ped from any port in Great liritain, in barrels, half 

 sand and half berries, in November. Three bar- 

 rels would fence a farm ; and might be had for 

 little more than two dollars a barrel, at any port in 

 England. 



With due regard, yours, R. M. 



Mbany, March 22, 1841. 



CEDAR HEDGES. 

 Hugh Gaston, who makes some inquiries on this 

 subject, is informed that the berries of the Cedar 

 are to be gathered in December, thoroughly cleans- 

 ed by rubbing off the resinous matter, put into un- 

 slaked ashes, and after two weeks, plant them in 

 rows like peas. They may be transplanted in 

 about two years, into a rich light soil, formed for 

 the purpose, and in seven or eight years with prop- 

 er trimming, make a beautiful hedge. If at the 

 expiration of the two weeks' preparation in ashes, 

 the ground should be frozen, they must be mixed 

 up with earth in a box, and placed in an exposed 

 situation, until the first thaw, or till the earth can 

 be fitted for their reception. In trimming the ce- 

 dar, or pruning, care must be taken not to disturb 

 the centre or leading shoot, as in that case the tree 

 frequently perishes. — lb. 



PEACH WORM. 



Messrs Editors — Has there been any preventive 

 discovered to the ravages of the peach worm or 

 grub, which threatens to destroy this most deli- 

 cious of fruits ? 1 have some fine trees which I 

 find have been attacked. I am loth to lose them, 

 and any information you may be able to give, will 

 be thankfully received by one, at least, of your 

 many Subscribers. 



If the trees are already infested by the grub, let 

 them be carefully examined around the root, and 

 every worm dissected out of the bark. Complete 

 excision will alone save the tree ; at least such is 

 the opinion of some of the most successful peach 

 growers. With this evil, prevention is better than 

 cure, and fortunately since attention has been di- 

 rected to this point, methods have been discovered 

 which appear to be effectual in preventing the at- 

 tacks of the parent moth or fly. Planting the red 

 cedar with the peach tree in the same hole, and 

 leaving the roots and stems in as near contact as 

 possible, has been found by experience to preserve 

 the peach, the odor of the cedar being offensive to 

 the parent of the grub, and the slow growth of this 

 shrub preventing any injury to the peach. Prof. 

 Kirkland, of Ohio, says — " Tansy and wormwood 

 contain large quantities of essential oil, which is 

 peculiarly offensive to this insect; and it is found 

 that if the body of the peach tree be surrounded by 

 half a dozen sprouts of either of these vegetables, 

 it will be perfectly secured against the approaches 

 of the destructive enemy. They should be plant- 

 ed in the spring nearly in contact with the body of 

 the tree, and so as to surround it. During the 

 summer they should be cultivated, and kept free 

 from grass. In this way they form a permanent 

 and successful means of defence against the insect 

 that has nearly exterminated the peach tree from 

 many sections of our country." — lb. 



Man is the master of his own destiny. — Cousin. 



