}S0. 2. 



Hedges — Osage Orange. 



21 



Hedges— ©sage Orange. 



The following interesting article appeared 

 in a late number of the Farmers' Register, 

 published at Petersburg Va., under the 

 editorial direction of E. Ruffin, Esq., ex- 

 tensively and favorably known to the farm- 

 ers of our country, as the author of a most 

 valuable essay on calcareous manures. 



Hitherto, attempts to construct live fences 

 in this country have mostly failed, in conse- 

 sequence of the want of adaptation in tlie 

 "material to the circumstances of soil and 

 climate. The thorn flourishes well in the 

 humid climate of England, but in our liotand 

 dry seasons its growth becomes feeble and 

 stunted. The cedar and some other plants, 

 though very ornamental, constitute weak 

 barriers against the inroads of stock. 



So many unsuccessful attempts to grow 

 hedges, especially in the states north of us, 

 have induced a general prejudice against 

 that species of enclosure. Every person, 

 however, is disposed to admit, that if a suita- 

 ble plant for the purpose could be introduced, 

 it would be an important acquisition. At 

 present, eacli farm is obliged to have from a 

 iifth to a third of its contents in timber, in 

 order to maintain its enclosures. If efficient 

 hedges could be substituted, the advantages 

 would be obvious. A large portion of good 

 land, now unproductive, might be brought 

 into cultivation; and a great amount of labor 

 might be saved, which we are now com- 

 pelled to bestow on the present system of 

 fencing — to say nothing of the improvement 

 in the rural appearance of the country, which 

 would be effected by doing away our log 

 fences, and rearing hedges in their places. 



It is gratifying, therefore, to be assured, 

 that ia one of our native plants; namely, the 

 ■maclura or Osage orange, we are likely to 

 realize this desirable object. The maclura 

 ■is a deciduous tree,* growing indigenously in 

 Arkansas and Louisiana — is perfectly hardy 

 in this latitude, and even as far north as Bos- 

 ton. For a number of years it has been cul- 

 tivated in the grounds of a few private gen- 

 tlemen, and in some of the large nurseries. 

 It is only recently, however, that its value 

 has been appreciated, or any pains taken to 

 propagate it extensively. In its native place, 

 it attains to the size of a tree of the second 

 or third class; but in this latitude, its alti- 

 tude is very moderate, seldom rising to the 

 height of fifteen feet. Its great merit con- 



* That is, it is not perennial, as iu leaves fall in the 

 autumn. 



sists in the spreading manner of its growth, 

 the denseness of its branches, and the arma- 

 ture with which they are furnished. Planted 

 in hedge-rows, the maclura would never be- 

 come unmanageable on account of its size — 

 at the same time, its growtji is sufficiently 

 vigorous to make a fence in three, tour, or at 

 most, five years, from the seed. It may be 

 asserted with safety, that on land of tolerable 

 fertility, the labor and expense of perfecting 

 a system of hedge.?, would not be greater 

 than to keep our ordinary enclosures in good 

 order, for the time required to construct 

 them. When completed, this heavy item in 

 every farmer's account would thenceforth be 

 expunged, 



Tiie maclura is readily raised frain the 

 seed. Unlike those of the thorp, they require 

 no preparation — on the contrary, they vege- 

 tate with certainty in two or three weeks 

 after planting. Under tolerable care, the 

 seedings will grow twofeetor more in height 

 the first season; after which, they are fit to 

 be removed from the nursery rows to the 

 place designed for the hedge. I raised a 

 number of plants the past year from seeds, 

 the produce of a tree growing in my garden, 

 now eight or nine years old. 



For an individual to engage in the busi- 

 ness in earnest, it would be best for him to 

 obtain the seed from the south-west, rather 

 than to purchase the plants from a nursery- 

 man. A few dollars would procure enough 

 of the former, and pay all the expenses of 

 transportation, to set a long line of hedge. 

 The preferable mode would be to have them 

 brought in the berries, from which they 

 miglit afterwards be picked without niucli 

 trouble. Fifty berries would yield at least a 

 pound of seed, and a pound contains from 

 eight to ten thousand grains. It is the prac- 

 tice to place the sets from twelve to fifteen 

 inches apart, in a single row. These facts 

 will enable any person to form a correct 

 judgment of the number necessary to plant 

 any given length of hedge. 



But it is not to be expected, whatever may 

 be the adaptation of any plant to the purpose 

 of hedging, that it will, under a long time, be 

 brought into general use. The most palpa- 

 ble improvements are slow in being adopted. 

 A considerable portion of our country is 

 moreover too much impoverished to admit of 

 the successful rearing of hedges. They be- 

 long eminently to a state of cultivation where 

 taste and industry are measurably combined. 

 But if we have worn-out fields, we have also 

 fine districts of country, where their pleasing 

 effects, as well as utility, would be most 

 manifest. What an air of neatness and im- 

 provement they would impart to the finely 

 cultivated farms on James river, both above 

 and below Richmond, to those also on the 



