296 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



thousand times superior to such a fence. But there is 

 never one instance in a thousand where any barrier is 

 necessary. Where it is desirable to separate the house 

 from the level grass of the lawn, let it be done by an 

 architectural terrace of stone, or a raised platform of 

 gravel supported by turf, which will confer importance and 

 dignity upon the building, instead of giving it a petty and 

 trifling expression. 



Verdant hedges are elegant substitutes for stone or 

 wooden fences, and we are surprised that their use has not 

 been hitherto more general. We have ourselves Deen 

 making experiments for the last ten years w r ith various 

 hedge-plants, and have succeeded in obtaining some 

 hedges which are now highly admired. Five or six years 

 will, in this climate, under proper care, be sufficient to 

 produce hedges of great beauty, capable of withstanding 

 the attacks of every kind of cattle ; barriers, too, which 

 will outlast many generations. The common Arbor Vitce 

 (or flat Cedar), which grows in great abundance in many 

 districts, forms one of the most superb hedges, without the 

 least care in trimming; the foliage growing thickly down 

 to the very ground, and being evergreen, the hedge 

 remains clothed the whole year. Our common Thorns, 

 and in particular those known in the nurseries as the 

 Newcastle and Washington thorns, form hedges of great 

 strength and beauty. They are indeed much better 

 adapted to this climate than the English Hawthorn, which 

 often suffers from the unclouded radiance of our midsummer 

 sun. In autumn, too, it loses its foliage much sooner than 

 our native sorts, some of which assume a brilliant scarlet 

 when the foliage is fading in autumn. In New England, 

 the Buckthorn is preferred from its rapid and luxuriant 



