JFENCES AND HEDGES. 429 



OF FENCES AND HEDGES. ; ' 



"Mention has already been made of the Ha ! ha'! which is a waH 

 (constructed in the bottom of a dry ditch, and effectually concealed 

 from the view on the interior side, or the side most exposed to view, 

 by a lowly-graduated embankment to the top of the wall ; this 

 .-embankment ibeing formed of the earth which was taken from the 

 ditch, which is all thrown out on that side, and smoothly spread. 

 In all those situations where division fences of any other kind 

 would but intercept or destroy the unity and beauty ofthe prospect, 

 such an invisible division wall is admirable. 



A beautiful hedge may be quickly formed ofthe Larch; and those 

 formed either of the Prim or of the Arbor-vitse, or Red cedar, are 

 -.eminently beautiful; and particularly the last named, when, pruned 

 .in pyramidal form, they become remarkably -compact and impervi- 

 ous. These are the plants which no insect or animal will de- 

 vour. As to the English hawthorn and the Washington thorn, 

 they are both obnoxious to the destructive attacks of the borer, and 

 cannot therefore be recommended. The following .plants form 

 ^beautiful .live fences, all being armed with thorns: The Three- 

 Thorned Acacia, when properly trained ; it is armed with .triple 

 thorns a foot long. The Shepardia is .beautiful in the leaf, or 

 when covered with its crimson berries. The Osage orange has a 

 Jbeautiful leaf, and a very strong thorn or spine, and makes the finest 

 hedge in the world. It is a new species of Morus or Mulberry, and 

 *o classed by naturalists. It endures the winters well, on hills and 

 elevated situations near Boston, but is sometimes liable to be injured 

 in its tops by the winter, in low grounds and valleys. The Prickly or 

 Thorny ash (Zanthoxylum fraxmeurn) has a good thorn : both this 

 ; and the Buckthorn:(/lam7Wis cwtharticus) are of the most hardy char- 

 acter, will grow weft on any eoil, and no animal or insect can en- 

 dure them. The thorns ofthe latter, as als@ those of the Shepardia, 

 Hike those f the Pear tree, grow only at the extremity of the 

 .branches. The Buckthorn is deservedly a popular plant near 

 Soston. Lastly, the Coekspur thorn (Grus gallil) is of rapid 

 growth, has a beautiful leaf, and a strong thorn or spine, and is very 

 Hiardy. John Prince, Esq., of Roxbury, who has tried this plant as 

 ti hedge for more than twenty years, is persuaded that no borer will 

 ever annoy it, and that it is the best of all thonas. 



The hedge should be set out in the spring. In the autumn pre- 

 vious, the ground should be dug en the intended liae, at least 

 -eighteen inches deep, and the yellow subsoil cast out to this depth, 

 *md the trench filled with rich soil intermixed with good compost. 

 The young plants, which should have been transplanted in the pre- 

 vious year, are now to be sized, and reset in a single line, at the 

 distance of nine inches asunder, and the ground kept in high culti- 

 vation for a few years. The next spring, cut down the deciduous 

 thorns to within four inches of the ground, when two or three 

 branches will start up with renewed vigor, growing several feet 

 during that summer. But evergreen trees must never be thus cut 

 down. In the spring following, if any ofthe plants have discovered 

 & disposition to outgrow all others^let such, and such only,, be again 



