103 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



the beauty of a green and well-cut hedge, taking the place of 

 ugly walls and fences, should be overlooked ; and it will not be. 

 Foliage is always beautiful, and the eye seeks it and rests upon 

 it with delight. 



In the discharge of the duty assigned them, your committee 

 have visited the grounds of two gentlemen — Capt. Daniel C. 

 Bacon, of Jamaica Plain, and C. B. Shaw, Esq., of Dcdham. 

 The hedges on these grounds have been all under the care of 

 Mr. Robert Watt, and bear evidence of his peculiar taste and 

 skill. Your committee took great pleasure in visiting both 

 these places. On both, the hedges exceed the length of one 

 thousand feet required for a premium. 



The materials used by Capt. Bacon for his hedges are the 

 buckthorn, the privet, or prim, and the arbor vitoe. For divis- 

 ion lines between lots or contiguous grounds, the privet forms 

 a very pretty and graceful hedge. Its small, delicate leaves, 

 often thickly set, are pleasing to the eye, and have the advan- 

 tage of remaining on the stem and preserving their verdure 

 longer than those of most plants or shrubs. In parts of Eng- 

 land the privet is an evergreen ; and even here it is not uncom- 

 mon for branches which lie near the ground, where they are 

 well protected, to retain their verdure unimpaired through the 

 winter. In setting the hedge to which we refer, Capt. Bacon 

 used alternately a plant of the privet and one of the buckthorn. 

 But, notwithstanding the vigorous and hardy character of the 

 buckthorn, the privet now prevails ; and at the time of the visit 

 of your committee, (the 16th of October,) very little of the 

 foliage of the buckthorn was visible, but the leaves of the privet 

 clothed the whole surface with a soft, delicate green. The 

 hedge, which is extensive, is five years old. 



The plants of the privet may be obtained at very little ex- 

 pense from England, or may be raised from the seed, or from 

 slips — the better method of the two. The only objection of 

 which we are aware to the use of this material for hedges is, 

 that, in certain positions, the plant, though in the main very 

 hardy, is, from sonic cause, subject to occasional blight or in- 

 jury. It thrives in almost any soil ; but dry, hot situations are 

 least friendly to its healthy growth and vigor. 



Very fine specimens of buckthorn hedges may be seen in 



