80 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



Now make a furrow, three inches deep, in a line 

 with the stakes, just at the inner side of the sod or 

 soil, in which to insert tlie roots of the quick. In 

 the annexed diagram, lig. 1, « represents the soil 

 that has been trenched and manured ; b, the soil or 



/u I in ///// llllbltil u/- in I II I III HI luiuiii 

 Fio. 1. 



sod, takes from the surface of the intended ditch, 

 turned upside down on tlie edge of the land which 

 has been trenched ; and c, the furrow in whicTi the 

 plants are inserted. 



Prepare the plants by cutting off the tops with a 

 sharp knife, two or three inches above the mark 

 of tlie soil, which is easily perceived by the light 

 green appearance on tlie stem. Shorten the tap 

 roots, or any roots that may have been mutilated 

 by the remo-^ial, but do not cut away any of the 

 fibres. The plants must then be placed in the 

 trench at equal distances, six inches apart, without 

 using force or pressure to squeeze in the roots. 

 Draw the soil which has been trenched and man- 

 ured, to the roots, to keep them in their assigned 

 places. Then dig out another spit of the top soil 

 from the site of tlie intended ditch, break it well to 

 pieces, and level it to the stems of the plants, and 

 tread it firm. The remainder of the soil that is 

 taken out of the ditch is to be levelled in behind the 

 hedge on the field side of the fence, or carted away. 



As example is better than precept, we deem it 

 desirable to give our own practice in the cases 

 where we have been invariably successful in obtain- 

 ing a good and useful hedge. 



We have stated that, on naturally dry soil, there 

 is no necessity for a ditch for the purpose of taking 

 off the surface water; and experience shows us 

 that a ditch is not required merely as an assistant 

 to the hedge, or as a secondary fence. On all soils 

 that are not visited with a surplus of stagnant 

 water, the quicks should be planted on the level 

 surface, if there is sufficient depth of soil for the 

 purpose; but where the soil is thin, and greater 

 depth is required, the mould should be turned over 

 from off the place where it has been usual to put a 

 ditch, on to the place where it is intended to plant 



Fig. 2. 



the hedge. The quicks may be planted on the sur- 

 face, or on a double depth of surface soil where 



needed, without making ditches and banks. In 

 places where ditches are really necessary, the rub- 

 ble stones and clay from the bottom of them should 

 never be made use of to pile up a bank on which 

 to plant a hedge. The nature of the soil is some- 

 times such as to require ditches to be made, and 

 sunk deep into a worthless subsoil ; in such cases, if 

 no other means are practical of getting rid of the 

 unterapered clay, stones, &c., they should be buried 

 behind the hedge. 



The dimensions of the ditcli and fence, fig. 2, 

 wiU be ascertained by a comparison of the figure 

 with the scale on which it is drawn, being three 

 feet one-third in the inch. The quicks were planted 

 in March, 1843, in two rows on the bank, after the 

 top sod from the ditch had been cutout and turned 

 over on the sward of the field ; these rows were 

 planted nine inches apart, and the separate plants 

 were six inches asunder in the rows. They were 

 trimmed and cut back, and when planted, they 

 projected about an inch from the surface. The 

 fence, in 1845, was four feet high, and spread over 

 a space three feet six inches in width, at two-third3 

 of its height fi'oni the surface. A dead hedge was 

 made by the side of the ditch in the ])asture field, 

 to protect the quicks from stock; which was dis- 

 pensed with in the spring of 1850, the young hedge 

 now being strong enough to retain any kind of 

 stock. This is on dry soil, of good quality; and it 

 is only on such soils that this plan may be expected 

 to answer well. We have succeeded with a single 

 row of quicks equally as well, but not in so shoit 

 a time. 



HELIOTEOPES AND THEIR CTJLTUKR 



These are very important adjuncts of the plant- 

 house in winter ; indeed, indispensable. The best 

 kinds for winter work that I have met with are, 

 paniculaturn^ Beauty of the Boudoir^ Sotivenir de 

 Lcige, and Gem. For winter blossoming, these are 

 valuable, and their culture very simple. 



They should be propagated annually, by cut- 

 tings, taken in August and put into equal parts 

 sand and loam, and placed in a spent cucumber 

 frame, and kept close and shaded until they strike 

 root, and then gradually hardened off. When frost 

 makes its appearance, they should be taken indoors 

 and placed in the coolest part of the green-house 

 until February, when they may be potted off into 

 No. 1 pots, the strongest plants selected for next 

 winter's blooming, and the others kept for the 

 flower garden in the summer. (Oem makes the 

 best bedder.) Plants for next winter's blooming 

 should receive high culture in the green-house or 

 frame. 



In order to render th«m bushy, they must be 

 frequently pinched ; and this pinching may be 

 continued up to the end of June, wlien they may 

 be allowed to form heads for blossoming. They 

 may be flowered in seven-inch pots in perfection, 

 although it is very convenient to have a lot in five- 

 inch pots also. 



By the first of Jane they should be placed out 

 of doors, in a, very sunny situation, as they abhor 

 shade; and all they require during the summer is 

 regular watering. 



Those intended to be grown as standards, should 

 have their strongest stems selected and tied to a 

 stake, and all the eyes pinched out, until the de- 



