156 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



gets too warm, and close about four o'clock, "Water 

 when dry. Three or four plants in each hill, which 

 should be about four feet apart, will be sufficient. 



Lima Beans. — Let the soil be light, warm, and 

 rich. Make the hills about four feet apart. Stick 

 poles about ten feet long in the hills before planting 

 the seed, so as to avoid disturbing the plant. — 

 Bury four or six beans about an inch deep around 

 each pole, and if they miss on accoimt of cold 

 weather, or for any other reason, sow again. Three 

 plants to each hill will be enough. "We have found 

 unleached wood ashes, incorporated with the soU, 

 especially beneficial for beans. 



Steing Beans. — Sow a few rows of early six 

 weeks beans La a warm, sunny, sheltered situation. 

 A pint will sow about forty feet. The rows should 

 be about two feet apai't. 



Tomatoes should be set out on the lightest and 

 warmest soil. "Water them thoroughly a few hours 

 before transplanting, if necessary, and remove each 

 plant carefully by itself, with a ball of earth round 

 the roots. In this way they wUl receive no check. 

 A light, rather poor soil, produces the earliest fruit, 

 but a moderately rich soil gives the greatest crop. 

 Trained on a frame as described in the Genesee 

 Farmer of last year, they look neater, but we are 

 not sure that they are much earlier or more produc- 

 tive than when allowed to trail on the groimd. 



Marttnia. — This is a tender annual from Mexico, 

 introduced into England in 1840, and named after 

 Dr. Marttn of Cambridge. It deserves to be bet- 

 ter known in this country. The flowers are very 

 ehowy, and the seed pods make pickles equal to the 

 English walnut. Cultivation same as cucumbers. 



Celery, if raised in a hot-bed, shoidd be trans- 

 planted out into the open ground in rows six inches 

 apart before finally setting them out in trenches. 



PLANTS FOE HEDGES. 



In Honey's Magazine of Horticulture for April 

 there is an interesting article on "Hedges and 

 Hedge Plants," in which the experienced editor 

 of this old and sterling periodical, after showing 

 the advantages of hedges — their importance in a 

 landscape point of view — then* great value as 

 screens, and, to a certain extent, their economy, — 

 briefly describes some of the most approved and 

 desirable plants for the puq^ose. We make a few 

 extracts : — 



When the hedge was first introduced into our 

 country, it was thought that no other plant would 

 answer the purpose, but the same one adopted in 

 Great Britain, namely, the Hawthorn. It was 

 therefore imported in quantities, and many old 

 hedges still exist, though in most instances in a 

 very dilapidated condition. Time, however, showed 

 that though so beautiful and admirably fitted for 



the climate of the mother country, it is not at home 

 with us. Our hot sun browned and burnt its pretty 

 foliage, and that insidious foe, the borer, attacked 

 and destroyed its roots. The best managed exam- 

 ples began to show ugly gaps, and, ere long, it 

 became apparent that neither the associations con- 

 nected with this favorite tree, nor the beauty and 

 delightful fragrance of its snowy flowers, could save 

 it from destruction. Here and there, in various 

 parts of the country, some old homestead of the 

 last century is still enclosed with the Hawthorn 

 hedge; but they are destined, we fear, to eventu- 

 ally give way to its congeners the American Thorns, 

 or the Buckthorns, and other plants. 



The American Thorns. — As a substitute for the 

 English Hawthorn, two of our American Thorns 

 answer a very good purpose. They are both vig- 

 orous and hardy, retaining their foliage, and grow- 

 ing rapidly. The Oockspur, or New Castle Thorn 

 (Gratcegus cms galli) is a most beautiful hedge 

 plant, with an entire foliage, as green and glossy as 

 the camellia. In Wilmington, l3elaware, to which 

 State it is indigenous, there are some of the finest 

 specimens. We have also seen one in the grounds 

 of D. F. Manice, Esq., Hempstead, L. I., which was 

 a gem in its way ; properly clipped, compact, and 

 a perfectly protective barrier to all animals. The 

 other is the Wasliington Thorn, {G. coi'data,) which 

 though more resembling the English than the Cock- 

 spur, makes an etfective hedge, being well furnished 

 with prominent thorns, very hardy, and retains its 

 foliage well. These both deserve far more atten- 

 tion than they have hitherto received. We can 

 only attribute their neglect to the scarcity of the 

 plants, and a consequent resort to other and less 

 beautiful kinds. If our nurserymen would but keep 

 up as good a stock of these as they do of the Buck- 

 thorn, with such a specimen to look at as Mr. 

 Manice's, we are sure they would speedily enclose 

 hundreds of our neat suburban grounds. Both of 

 them prefer a deep, rich, loamy soil, not subject to 

 wet at any season of the year, but more particularly 

 in winter. 



The Buckthorn, {RJiamnus catharticus.) — The 

 ease with which this favorite hedge plant is raised, 

 its perfect freedom from the attacks of all insects, 

 and the certainty of its living, have contributed 

 greatly to its popularity. As a protective hedge it 

 is also very efl:ective; it is deficient in thorns, 

 though the lateral branches are armed with short 

 stift" spurs, which render it quite formidable when 

 thick and clipped in a proper manner. As an orna- 

 mental hedge it cannot compare Avith some other 

 plants for the same object. It does not retain its 

 foliage very late. It transplants with ease at almost 

 any season of the year. The late Hon. John Low- 

 ell, who had some good specimens around his fine 

 place at Roxbury, once informed us that they were 

 set out as late as the 20th of June, without the loss 

 of a plant. Other good qualities are, that it bears 

 clipping freely, resists any degree of cold, and will 

 thrive in almost any soil not perfectly sodden. 



The Privet, (Ligustrum milgare.) — Among the 

 deciduous ornamental hedges this holds the first 

 rank. It is indeed almost evergreen ; pushing its 

 small, lively green foliage early in the spring, and 

 retaining it up to the very verge of winter, and 

 often times beneath heavy snows until spring. Its 

 growth is nearly upright, the branches diverging 



