THE GENESEE FARMER. 



219 



" What is the best plant for hedges ?" 



"That is a difficult question. For fences, there is 

 )erhaps nothing better than the Osage Orange. But it 

 las many drawbacks. If neglected, you will soon have 



handsome. In fact, they have hedges of nearly every 

 plant that can be used for that purpose. Running through 

 their magnificent grounds is a well-kept grass walk, with 

 flower border and a hedge on each side. Every few rods, 

 the hedge is made of a different plant, such as buckthorn, 

 hawthorn, beech, locust, American and Siberian arbor 

 vitae, Norway spruce, and many others, affording an 

 admirable opportunity of ascertaining their comparative 

 merits." 



" Did you ever observe what a difference there is in the 

 habits of the Norway Spruce ? Here are two. One is of 

 a drooping, slender, graceful habit, while the other is 

 stiffer and stronger and more upright. There is as much 

 difference between them as between an Easter Beurre and 

 Seckel pear. And why should there not be? They are 

 raised from seed, and while all the plants are Norway 

 spruce, we may have distinct varieties. I have no doubt 

 that such is the case — and that some are much handsomer 

 than others. I see no reason why the same is not true of 

 other ornamental trees raised from seed. Maples and 

 horse chestnuts growing side by side differ materially in 



BADLY TRAINED HEDGE. 



. hedge of fishing poles. It is no little labor to keep it 



rimmed, and even with the best care there will be an 



iccasional gap. Many hedges have been set out in this 



nd other sections, but it is rare to see a good, well 



ormed and effectual fence. Here is a good specimen of 



he class of poor osage orange hedge. I 



lave seen many worse, but this is bad 



nough. Every few rods it is necessary 



o stick in a rail or a board to make 



ven an approximation to a safeguard 



gainst cattle, while a hog will go through 



,ith impunity. Occasionally you see a 



edge that has been well trained, and 



rhen out in full leaf nothing is hand- 



omer. The main point is to cut it in 



ufficiently to render it broad at the 



ottom and gradually taper toward the 



ap ; or it may be rounded as this is, but 



prefer to taper it up rather more to a 

 oint." 



"The Privet makes a handsome hedge, 

 ut it is not strong enough to turn 

 attle." 



''Perhaps the best plant for a screen or ornamental | their habits, time of flowering, &c. But I do not recollect 



AMERICAN ARBOR VITAE HEDGE. 



edge is the A rbor Vitae. It grows rapidly, bears clipping 

 rell, and is quite hardy. Mr. Hooker has one of the 



PROPERLT TRAINED HEDGE. 



aost beautiful arbor vitae hedges I ever saw. It is worth 

 ;oing to see. Hochstein made a drawing of it for the 

 renesee Farmer. It is quite an ornament to the grounds, 

 nd iuvaluable as a screen to break the force of the 

 find." 

 " The Norway Spruce makes an excellent screen. Ell- 

 fANGEB & Barry have a hedge of them that is very 



seeing any explanation of the fact or even an allusion to 



it." 



"The black-knot on the plum does not seem to be so 

 bad this season as usual. A gentleman informs me that 

 he had a young tree that was affected this spring, and he 

 cut out every limb that had excrescences on it. The tree 

 is now healthy and full of fruit, while another tree simi- 

 larly affected which was left untouched ] resents a very 

 sorry appearance. It will not do merely to cut off the 

 excrescences. They will come on again. You must cut 

 off the limbs as fast as any appearauce of the knot i3 

 seen." 



" The rain has gone in about three inches on hard 

 ground and nearly a foot in loose soil, — showing the 

 advantage of keeping the ground mellow." 



"Seven tenths of an inch of rain fell last night and 

 this morning. This is equal to heenty-one thousand four 

 hundred and four gallons of water per acre, or between 

 four and five gallous per square yard. This shows that to 

 derive much benefit from watering, it must be done more 

 thoroughly than is generally thought necessary." 



