HEL 



HEM 



erally done in a very injudicious man- 

 ner. When a hedge is plashed which 

 has been long neglected, the thick 

 stems which are hacked through, 

 leaving only a small portion of the 

 under bark uncut, have an unsightly 

 appearance, and seldom throw out 

 shoots near the bottom, where they 

 are most wanted. To plash a young 

 hedge, by merely bending the twigs, 

 is an excellent practice ; but when 

 the stems are thick and old, the only 

 remedy is to cut them down, or make 

 an entirely new bank well planted 

 with quick. 



Hedges are highly ornamental and 

 durable, lasting, with care, for fifty 

 or more years ; they require clipping 

 in spring, and, when well established, 

 are a perfect protection ; they are 

 particularly worthy of attention to 

 the prairie farmers. Fruit-trees, es- 

 pecially cherries, grapes, and plums, 

 may be made use of as mere parti- 

 tions between fields, when trained on 

 espaliers. Hedges are also various- 

 ly curved and bent over, or breasted 

 for ornamental purposes. 



Instruments used in hedging. — A 

 small hoe is necessary for weeding, 

 a hooked knife to trim short branch- 

 es ; sometimes large shears are used, 

 and a bill or small axe to cut the 

 larger branches. 



HEDGEHOG. The name of a 

 genus of useful insectivorous mam- 

 mals (Erinaceus), of service to the 

 farmer by destroying worms, slugs, 

 and insects. They hibernate during 

 cold weather in holes dug in the 

 earth. 



HELIOTROPE. A pretty flower. 

 A silicious mineral of a green colour 

 with red spots ; bloodstone. 



HELIX (from i?u^, a whorl). A 

 genus of shell animals, including the 

 garden snails ; they are mjurious to 

 herbage, and may be kept off by 

 sprinkling with lime, or destroyed by 

 catching with the hand. 



HELLEBORE. A genus of plants 

 remarkable fur their purgative prop- 

 erties. Hellehorus fcEtidus is a native 

 of the United States ; they are very 

 dangerous and uncertain drugs. 



HELMINTHOLOGY (from lliuvg, 

 3154 



a worm, and Xoyo^, a discourse). The 

 history of worms of various kinds. 



HELOPID-^C. A family of hetero- 

 meran, coleopterous insects. Some 

 of the species infest the bark and 

 roots of trees. 



HELVE. A handle. 



HE.MATIN. Synonyme of Hcema- 

 toxyUn. 



HEMATITE. Synonyme of Hcz- 

 matxte. 



HEMATOSIN. Synonyme oi Ha- 

 malosin. 



HEMELYTRA (from hlJ-iovi, half, 

 and eAvTpov, a sheath). The wings 

 of hemipterous insects : the upper 

 wing-cases, half of which only is co- 

 riaceous, the rest being delicate. 



HEMEROBIANS (from iifiepa, a 

 day, and fiioc:, life). Short-lived in- 

 sects of the neuropterous class, re- 

 sembling the May fly ; they Jay their 

 eggs on plants, and the larva; devour 

 plant-lice, and thus subserve the pur- 

 poses of the orchardist. 



HEMIGAMOUS. A descriptive 

 term in essays on grasses, meaning 

 that one of two florets in a spikelet 

 is neuter. 



HEMIPTERA (from rnxLav^, and 

 TTTipov, a wing). Insects having four 

 wings, the upper pair of which is 

 only half coriaceous, or which are 

 half horny and half membranous ; 

 they are haustellate. The larvae have 

 six feet, and resemble the imago ; 

 after a few moultings they increase 

 in size and acquire wings. 



HEMLOCK. Comum maeulatum. 

 An umbelliferous plant, with peren- 

 nial roots, flowering in July ; branch- 

 es much spread and dotted ; leaves 

 very compound. It is narcotic, and 

 often injures cattle. 



HEMLOCK-TREE. Abies Cana- 

 densis. It grows abundantly in the 

 northern portions of the United States 

 and the British Provinces. It is a 

 good timber-tree, and often attains 

 very great dimensions. 



HEMP {Cannabis saliva, Fig.). A 

 dicEceous annual of the family Urii- 

 caeecE, cultivated for the large amount 

 of fibre it produces in the year ; the 

 seeds are also serviceable as fatten- 

 ing food, when given in small quanti- 



