VOL.. XII. NO. 29- 



AND HORTICULTURAL 



JOURNAL. 



227 



berry ami the manufacture of Silk. The enter- 

 prise of the little Stale of Connecticut in tins 

 branch is already making her rich and beautiful 

 and great. 



The Chinese Mulberry trees, of which I gave 

 gome account in the N. E. Fanner of the 15th inst. 

 as I then stated were procured of Mr. Prince of 

 Long Island in the spring of 1S31, the preceding 

 winter having been severe ami destroyed trees in 

 different parts of the country. The wintered" 1S31 

 -2 was still severer and destroyed many more. I 

 am not certain which of the winters destroyed the 

 beautiful young orchard in Billerica. But of this 

 I think there can he no doubt, that in consequence 

 of its extremely rapid growth and tenderness it 

 was destroyed. It was planted in a dark, loamy 

 soil, flat, somewhat rocky and low, and enriched 

 '>y manure. Although I had a considerable num- 

 ber of young trees on my land I did not lose one 

 by the winter. Mine were nearly till on a light 

 loamy, or gravelly soil, and had not been forced to 

 a rapid growth. My Chinese Mulberry trees hav- 

 ing survived the severest winter, with but little in- 

 jury, I impute their escape to the nature of the 

 soil in which they were planted, and to that cause 

 alone. In confirmation of this opinion I can add, 

 that two of the same species, brought from Long 

 Island at the same time, I gave to a brother-in-law, 

 and were planted in a dark, moist, rich soil, and 

 both, I think, were killed in the ground the same 

 winter. One or both of them sent out their 

 branches the next summer, grew rapidly, and pro- 

 duced much larger leaves than mine produced. 



Whether this be the same species of Mulberry 

 exactly as Mr. Kenrick describes, I am unable to 

 determine. Mine did not yield what I call very 

 large leaves as they were less in length and bread*!) 

 than I have seen on the common black Mulberry. 

 But otherwise they perfectly correspond with Mr. 

 Kenrick's description, except that some of them 

 have a form rather shaped like the grape leaf, than 

 that of the common Mulberry. As lie describes, 

 " they are curled or convex on their upper surfaces, 

 of a deep, beautiful, and shining green." The leaf 

 is thick, with the under side having a texture like 

 rich silk velvet. If there be any doubt, whether what 

 is called the Chinese Mulberry has, or has not, been 

 for some time known in Europe, all I can say is, 

 that the trees [ obtained of Mr. Prince, which he 

 assured tne were the best species of the Chinese 

 Mulberry, so perfectly correspond with that of the 

 seedling Mulberry known in France, and described 

 as the best species by Dandolo and Martleroy, I 

 was led to that conclusion. My trees have sent 

 out numerous stalks crowded with leaves, and their 

 appearance is so rich and beautiful that no one see- 

 ing them could doubt their superior adaptedness to 

 be converted into silk, and to yield it in abun- 

 dance. These trees I purchased as articles of cu- 

 riosity to ascertain their character, and their capa- 

 bility of being applied to advantage to the object 

 proposed. When they shall again put forth their 

 leaves I intend to furnish Friend Brooks of Scitu- 

 ate, with a quantity of them to make some proof 

 of their value. 



His having commenced the culture of silk, and 

 invented an admirable machine for reeling and 

 spinning it, will enable him soon to furnish some 

 important facts to place the value of the Chinese 

 Mulberry beyond question as to some of its essen- 

 tial properties. With the information I now pos- 

 sess, if I contemplated the culture of the article, I 

 should not hesitate to plant this species of Mulber- 



ry in preference to any other. But 1 should pre- 

 fer light loamy, or gravelly land for it, as promis- 

 ing the best success. Yet 1 do not think it would 

 be wise to supersede entirely the cultivation of 

 trees of other species, long used and well approved. 

 Let our enterprise and our industry have a fair 

 chance in the grand experiment. R. 



Hinghnm, January 20, 1S3 4. 



MASS. HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The following gentlemen were at the last meet- 

 ing of the Horticultural Society, elected members 

 [hereof. 



HONORARY 1 MEMBER, 



Ho.\. Isaac M'Kim, of Haltimore. 



CORRESPONDING MEMBERS. 



George R. Russell, of Manilla; James P. 

 Sturgis, Canton ; Henry J. Finn, Newport, R. I. 



SUBSCRIPTION MEMBERS. 



Micah 11. Rlggles, of fall River; Hammond 

 II. Homer, of Lexington. 



REPORT ON LIVE HEDGES. 



" The Massachusetts Society J\\r the Promotion 

 of Agriculture ," in the view it was their duty to 

 take of those objects to which public attention 

 might he beneficially invited, have thought that in 

 the progress of the culture and improvement of 

 the country, Live Hedges would in many places 

 become highly important and even necessary, 

 where Stone is not to be had, and Timber as must 

 soon be the case, shall become more valuable for 

 other uses. The beauty, permanency and efficacy 

 of this mode of enclosure is with foreigners and 

 many of our own countrymen becoming a subject 

 of taste and admiration. It is not our intention 

 to deny the efficacy or expediency, in most places, 

 at present, of a good Rail Fence, or what is better 

 a strong stone wall. But as our divisions of land 

 multiply, these materials, in many places, will 

 become more scarce and difficult to be had. As 

 this shall occur, the introduction of Live Hedges 

 will come into use here, as they prevail elsewhere. 

 A gradual introduction of them must be useful, 

 and add a verdure and beauty to the face of the 

 country, as its cultivation increases. _ Under this 

 impression the Trustees of the Mass. Society were 

 induced to offer a premium of .430 for the best 

 Hedge, jiot less than 100 rods, which shall be in 

 the most thriving state in 1833. 



On this subject the Committee on Live Hedges 

 have a pleasure in presenting to the public the fid- 

 lowing communication of E. Hersy Derby, Esq. 

 It will be seen that he has by well-tried experi- 

 ments established the perfect adaptation of the 

 Buckthorn (or Rhamnus Catharticus) to our cli- 

 mate, as well as its preference over several other 

 plants. 



They therefore unanimously award to E. Hersy 

 Derby, Esq. the premium proposed of !*30 for his 

 Hedge of upwards of 100 rods, and recommend 

 that his detailed and useful communication on this 

 subject be printed. 



By order of the Committee, 



John Welles, Chairman. 



Salem, Nov. 30th, 1833. 

 The Committee on Trees and Live Hedges : 



Gentlemen : Please consider me an applicant 

 for the premium offered by the Society for the best 

 Buckthorn Hedge, not less than 100 rods, which 

 shall be in the most thriving state in 1833. On 



measuring mine, I find I have over 118 rods ' 

 the Buckthorn hedge, which I have reason to 

 think would be considered at least equal to any in. 

 this country. 



The Trustees generally have examined the state 

 of it the present season. Should it be thought 

 proper, I will make a few observations on my ex- 

 periments in hedging. 



1 have been for a great ninny years fully con- 

 lincel of the superiority of live hedges, for effica- 

 cy and economy. I began by setting out my first 

 hedge about thirty years since, of the English 

 Hawthorn : the result was far from satisfactory ; 

 the plant, being not adapted to our climate, is in- 

 jured by our summer droughts; frequently ex- 

 periences blight early in August, and by the first 

 of September, assumes a wintry appearance. Mv 

 next experiment was with the Three tliorned Aca- 

 cia ; to this hedge I devoted the most careful at- 

 tention ; but tire result was equally unsuccessful. 

 The plants run up without interlacing, and the 

 thorns growing only upon tne upper branches, the 

 stems below were not thick enough to serve as a 

 fence ; it was beside too tender a plant to bear our 

 severe winters. I also tried the crab-apple with 

 but little better success. About 1S08 there was 

 standing in the garden of the venerable Dr. Hol- 

 yoke of this town, which adjoined that of my broth- 

 er, a large tree of the Buckthorn or Rhamnus ca- 

 tharticus. In digging the latter, the gardener found 

 several young plants which had grown from seed 

 shed by this tree. They were given to me and set 

 out in a nursery ; finding they grew very rapidly, I 

 was induced to set them out for a hedge some time 

 in 1809, and in this attempt I was entirely success- 

 ful. The length of this hedge is about 20 rods ; 

 has been a good fence over 20 years, and is at the 

 present time in a fine healthy state, not a single 

 plant having failed since it was first set out. It pre- 

 sents a mass of verdure from early spring until late 

 in the autumn, and is completely impervious, af- 

 fording entile protection to the land it encloses. It 

 being my first experiment with the plant, I did 

 not head it down so low when young, as I have 

 since found it adviseable to do ; the consequence is 

 that it is not so thick at bottom as any of my oth- 

 ers set out since. Finding it so hardy a plant, anil 

 so well adapted for hedges in our climate, I have 

 been induced to cultivate it very extensively, and 

 have at different periods, extended my hedges until 

 thi \ measure nearly 120 rods in length. 



The method I should recommend in setting a 

 hedge, would be, to place the plants in a single 

 row, about 9 inches apart, either in the spring or 

 fall of the year; if in the fall, I should clip it the 

 next spring, within six inches of the ground, 

 which will cause it to be quite thick from the bot- 

 tom ; any after pruning can be made to suit the 

 pleasure of the cultivator. I have also tried plash- 

 ing ; it was recommended to me in 1818 or 19, by 

 my gardener, (an Englishman) and I allowed him 

 to try it upon a young hedge of Crab-Apple; but 

 the hedge never flourished afterwards, and I, at 

 last, pruned away the branches he had interwoven, 

 and lost four years' growth by the experiment. I 

 have never found plashing necessary for the strength 

 or beauty of the buckthorn hedge, the natural 

 growth of the branches being sufficiently interlaced. 

 Three years' careful management in the way I 

 have described, is sufficient to form a perfect hedge, 

 nearly as thick below as above. 



1 am, gentlemen, very respectfully, 



Yours, &c, E. Hersy Derby. 



