

GENERAL ECONOMY OF THE FARM. 281 



most conspicuous, as it was probably the most valuable. The 

 late Col. JOHN TAYLOR, of Caroline, Va., recommended it as 

 answering every desirable purpose. With proper care and 

 attention, a hedge of great beauty, strength, and durability may 

 be formed of the cedar in about seven years from the period of 

 planting. 



For the purpose of raising a nursery of cedar plants, let the berries be gathered 

 in November and December, and having detached the resinous substance in 

 which the seeds are enveloped, as far as practicable, which may be done by 

 grubbing, mix them with unslaked ashes, in which let them remain two 

 weeks then plant them in drills after the manner of planting peas and, if 

 good, they will vegetate and come up the following spring. With good nurs- 

 ing, they will be fit for removal into a hedge in two years. The trenches in 

 which they are to be placed should be prepared with light rich earth. The 

 first of March is the proper time for planting them. When the plants have 

 attained the height of three feet, the trimming should commence; the best time 

 for which is the middle of summer. The more thoroughly the seeds are 

 cleansed, and the earlier the plants are set out in the spring the better. Far- 

 mer's Guide. 



Colonel TAYLOR'S method of planting the cedar hedge. From December to 

 the middle of March, the smallest plants are to be taken up in a sod of a square 

 conformable to the size of the spade used, as deep as possible, which sod is to 

 be deposited unbroken in a hole as deep, made by a similar spade, the earth 

 being used to fill up the crevices between the sod and the hole lor its reception. 

 I plant these cedars on the out and inside of a straight fence, on the ridge of a 

 ditch, the plants in each row being two feet apart, both in the direction of and 

 across this ridge, but so that the plants on one side of the fence will be oppo- 

 site to the centre of the vacancies between those on the other. They should 

 be topped at a foot high, and not suffered to gain more than four inches yearly 

 in height, such boughs or branches exceptecl as can be worked into the fence 

 at the ground. Of these great use may be made in thickening the hedge by 

 bending them to the ground and covering them well with earth in the middle, 

 leaving them growing to the stem and their extremities exposed thus they 

 invariably take root and fill up gaps. If properly cultivated, and the land is 

 strong, they will form an elegant live ever-green fence in a shorter time than 

 is necessary to raise a thorn fence in England. Taylor's Avalor, third edition, 

 page 174. Several years after the above was written and published, Mr. 

 TAYLOR says, in a note on the subject, "my experiments in cedar-hedging 

 have become two or three years older, and have removed every doubt of its 

 cheapness, practicability and importance." 



When speaking of live-hedge, the English thorny hawthorn, 

 or, as it is sometimes called, quick, is generally understood. 

 We have already adverted to its introduction in this country, 

 and can only refer in brief terms to its management. A. proper 

 choice of plants is of vast importance. The hawthorn is readily 

 produced from the seeds of its fruit, is best raised in the nursery, 

 and in two years transplanted from the seed bud, in the line 

 of the fence. The preparation of the soil is a point of the first 

 importance; as it will constitute in many cases the difference 

 between success and failure. The ground on the line of the 

 fence should undergo a complete preparation by deep and 

 effectual ploughing, or trenching with the spade, and by a 

 thorough manuring. Where a quantity of vegetable matter is 

 present in the soil, lime may be used but where the soil is 

 poor, both lime and dung should be applied. 



