Hedges. 2 1 3 



HEDGES. 



The inquiry is often made as to what shall be used for a hedge. It is 

 difficult to answer such a question without knowing fully what* the hedge 

 is intended for, — whether for a protection against cattle, a dividing-line 

 between two estates, or parts of the same estate, for protection to a garden 

 or an orchard, or for mere ornamental purposes on the top of a face-wall 

 or some such place. If the first, then it would not be best to use ever- 

 greens, but to plant three-thorn acacia, Osage orange when it will stand 

 the winter, buckthorn, and many other things that will in time make a 

 barrier sufficient to stop the cattle. If for a dividing-line where no cattle 

 are to come to it, evergreens may be used to equal advantage with the de- 

 ciduous trees and plants above named. If protection is wanted from the 

 severities of winter or the sweeping winds of other seasons, then, by all 

 means, plant evergreens. If a mere ornamental hedge is desired, the white- 

 berried privet, a sub-evergreen, is a very good thing ; the Siberian arborvitas, 

 a slow-growing evergreen, is also a very excellent thing to plant ; or the 

 American arborvitae and hemlock. No tree or plant makes a better hedge 

 than the latter, either for ornamental or useful purposes. When the new 

 leaves are coming out with their pea-green color on the darker-green back- 

 ground of the old foliage, it presents a striking and beautiful appearance 

 not surpassed by many flowering trees or shrubs. It may be kept quite 

 low merely for ornamental purposes, or it can be allowed to grow up suffi- 

 ciently for the purposes of protection. It is not so easily transplanted as 

 the arborvitae, and will not, when small, bear so severe treatment ; but, as it 

 advances, it becomes more hardy. If the plants are procured from the 

 nursery, they are almost sure to grow. The ground should be well pre- 

 pared when a hedge of any kind is to be set ; for half-way work in such a 

 matter is not profitable. The American arborvitae is more extensively 

 used for hedges than any other evergreen. It accommodates itself to al- 

 most every soil and situation, lives readily when transplanted, grows rapidly, 

 and, when properly cared for, makes a very compact and perfect hedge. Its 

 principal defect is its dingy color in spring. When it suffers severely from 

 drought, it sometimes kills out the following winter, and makes bad gaps in 



