THE ORCHARD. 163 



witli a common and subsoil plough, enriched with suitable 

 composts, and drained, if necessary. It should be eighteen 

 inches to two feet deep, and quite dry. 



4th. Enclosures. — Before a tree is planted, it is neces- 

 sary that the ground be enclosed with a fence, suthcient 

 to protect it against the invasion of animals. It is no un- 

 common thing to hear people regret that the cattle broke 

 into the orchard and destroyed many trees. Indeed it fre- 

 quently happens that more damage is done in this way 

 than, if duly estimated, would have fenced the w^hole 

 orchard. There is much inquiry now-a-days on the subject 

 of fences, and various plans and materials are suggested 

 and tried. Live hedges are unquestionably the most orna- 

 mental and appropriate enclosures for extensive planta- 

 tions of fruit trees, and in time will no doubt be generally 

 adopted. Hitherto the failure of many plants tried, and 

 the cost and difficulty of obtaining others, have retarded 

 their introduction. Experience, however, has at length 

 pretty fairly decided that the Osage orange is the hest for 

 the %oest and south loest^ and the hiickthom for the north 

 and east. The seeds of both these plants are now easily 

 procured, and plants of them may be obtained in nurseries 

 at $5 or $6 per 1000, and about 2000 will fence an acre of 

 ground, setting the plants twelve inches apart in two rows 

 six inches apart, which is the strongest way. A single 

 roAV at six inches apart will make a good fence with pro- 

 per shearing to thicken them at the bottom ; either way 

 they will make a beautiful and efficient hedge in five or 

 six years. The honey locust is also a strong, hardy, rapid 

 growing plant, and makes a hedge in three or four years 

 that animals will be afraid to looh at. It is sometimes 

 objected to hedges that they harbor birds, but it is to be 

 remembered that birds are the natural foes of insects, and 

 never fail to accomj^lish a vast amount of labor for the 

 good of the fruit grower, for which they ought to be fully 



