226 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



May 



For the New England Farmei . 

 LIVE FENCES. 



Mr. Editor : — Some questions have been asked 

 concerning hedges in the columns of your paper, 

 which I will venture to answer. "Are live fences 

 cheaper than other fence ; what is the best kind ; 

 \yhere the seed can be had ; at what price ; the 

 time and mode of planting, and the whole mode of 

 operation 1" 



I think live fences are as cheap or cheaper than 

 wood fence ; that is, if wood will bring a fair price 

 cut for any otl.er purpose ; but if wood is very 

 plenty and comparatively valueless, then I should 

 think it would be cheaper than live fence ; if stones 

 are plenty — and in some places they are so plenty 

 that we are glad to get rid of them the best way 

 we can,— then I should think it would be best to 

 use stone instead of hedge : I am now speaking of 

 d virion fences and the like. 



Many use hedges of some kind to enclose front 

 gardens, or even vegetable gardens, for by the use 

 of evergreen hedge, we may obtain a sheltered po- 

 sition for a garden, enabling us to raise early veg- 

 etables with greater success. The best kind of 

 plant for fence is Buckthorn, {Rhamus cafharticus) 

 it IS perfectly hardy, and does well in wet or dry 

 land, will accomodate itself to most any situation, 

 and is entirely free from borers ; forms, with good 

 care, in a few years, an almnst impenetrable hedge 

 and altogether I think it is the best thing known 

 for live fences. The seed can be had at Ruggles, 

 Nourse, Mason & Co.'s, or at most any seed store; 

 or the plants of suitable size can be had reasona- 

 ble of any of the nurserymen in this vicinity ; the 

 price for the seed is one dollar per quart, washed 

 out separate from the pulp; this is not a high 

 price. 



_ As for the time and mode of planting, I will 

 give you my method, though it may differ from the 

 practice of some others; — "doctors sometimes dis- 

 agree" — all I can say is that the plan I shall rec- 

 ommend has done well with me. I take my seed 

 after it is washed free from the pulp, and mix it 

 with sand and loam, about half of each, using 

 enough to prevent the seed from heating ; after 

 having thug mixed them, put them into a tub or 

 box, and place them away in the barn-cellar or 

 some such place, looking out that the mice don't 

 get at, or water run in, to rot them. In the spring 

 prepare the ground by first spreading on manure, 

 then plow it well, that it may be ivell pulverized, 

 after which strike a shallow furrow and manure 

 again shghtly in the drills, mixing it up with the 

 soil, and then sow the seed as peas are sown, not 

 too thick, for the plants will not grow so stout ; 

 this should be done as soon as the ground is dry 

 enough to work well. It is unnecessary to say 

 that they should be kept entirely free from weeds. 

 Should they make good growth, many of them 

 would do to set up in hedge the next spring, but 

 i t is generally best to let them grow two pears in 

 the seed bed. In order to have a good hedge of 

 Buckthorn — for of that I have been speaking — it 

 is necessary first to prepare your trench where 

 your plants are to be set, by digging it from three 

 to four feet widp, and not less than two feet deep, 

 that is if the soil is not very good, — and filling it 

 up with good loam, with a liberal quantity of well 

 decomposed manure compost. This is necessary 

 in setting a hedge of any kind, if you want it to 

 flourish. 



The Buckthorn plants, before setting, should be 

 cut down to within two ortliree inches of the root, 

 mere stubs ; then in regard to setting, some, where 

 they want abroad hedge, set them in double rows, 

 but if set in a single row as they ought to be, four 

 inches apart — it generally makes a hedge thick 

 enough. They will make some growth the first 

 year they are set, which should be cut down, and 

 so continue to cut them down allowing them to 

 gain two or three inches a year until the bottom 

 becomes thick. All hedges need clipping at least 

 once a year, many clip twice. After the hedge has 

 attained the desired height and shape, it is but 

 little work to keep it in order, clipped, as I have 

 before said, every year, manured occasionally, and 

 the grass and weeds kept out, is all that is neces- 

 sary. 



Having spoken of hedges for fence, I will now 

 say a few words concerning fancy or ornamental 

 hedges, which when well taken care of, are really 

 beautiful objects. For such hedges, Arborvitae is 

 much used, does very well, but is liable to be 

 killed out by the winter. Privet or Prim is one 

 of the best things for an ornamental hedge that I 

 know of, and I am surprised that it is not used 

 more. Hemlock makes a very dense and beautiful 

 hedge, admirable for screens around a garden and 

 other places. Arborvitae is used in the same way. 

 Norway Spruce is said to make a good hedge, but 

 is now too expensive for that use. But enough 

 for the present, — may refer to the subject some 

 other time. j. f. c. n. 



Newton Centre, March 24, 1853. 



For the Netv England Farmer. 

 MARYLAND FARMING. 



Mr. Farmer : — Knowing you to be "national" 

 in your agricultural views, I trust you will take 

 an interest in what pertains to this favored region, 

 the sunny South. It must be admitted that na- 

 ture has been partial in the distribution of her gifts. 

 I have strong attachments to New England, — to 

 the Old Bay State, I would not exchange her for 

 any State, or nation, I have yet seen. No, not for 

 all put together. Yet Massachusetts owes her 

 wealth, her institutions, and her peaceful, happy 

 hours, not to her climate, nor to her soil ; but to 

 the character of her population, which secures 

 wealth — the comforts and luxuries of life — which 

 acquires knowledge, and makes it available in ev- 

 ery apartment of human industry, in spite of nat- 

 ural disadvantages. Yes, the Yankee not only 

 compels the rocky and naturally sterile soil, to 

 yield an abundant harvest, and every stream of 

 water, by propelling machinery, to become a source 

 of wealth, but, by his alchemy, he transmutes the 

 very frosts of winter into gold. 



But I took my pen to write of INIaryland, not of 

 Massachusetts. The condition of agriculture in 

 this State is generally bad. The skinning system 

 has been practised here, as in New England, till a 

 large portion of the territory has been so far re- 

 duced as not to pay for cultivation. Bat happily, 

 here, as in the northern States, flirmers are begin- 

 ning to find out that there is a better way. With- 

 in the last five yeivrs a great change has been ef- 

 fected. It has been ascertained that worn-out 

 lands may be effectually reclaime'd by the applica- 

 tion of lime. Limestone is abundant in most of 

 the counties of the State. And lime may be ob- 



