Madura HfAgc Culture 337 



until the vigor can be checked, which may be safely and easily 

 aflfected, by running a sharp cutter or coulter, a foot deep, on each 

 side. 



This root pruning- should be done in August, and once in about 

 every three years — until machinery for shearing hedges by horse 

 power can be perfected, the simplest and best implement for the 

 purpose, is made by taking a strong scythe blade, and attaching 

 to the heel a curved shank, on which is fitted a wooden handle. 

 The blade is to be kept very sharp, and the trimming done with 

 an upward running stroke — one side at a time. If the trimming 

 is neglected, the hedge will soon begin to assume the form of an 

 inverted pyi-amid, with high, wide, and straggling top, and with 

 a starved, thin, and open bottom ; and, though it will be likely 

 soon to fail as a fence, will not fail to exhaust the soil and shade 

 the ground, and become a nuisance. A perfect hedge will, when 

 in leaf, present the appearance of a green wall ; the beauty 

 of which, will amply repay the owner, (if he have a particle of 

 taste,) for all the labor, pains, or the expense of promptly shear- 

 ing, and keeping it in perfect order. 



As the principal use of the hedge is to tiu-n all domestic ani- 

 mals, it should be strong enough for that purpose independent of 

 its armature of thorns ; and should be made so thick and dense as 

 to render it diflScult to see through it, when in leaf. It also sub- 

 serves other important purposes in the economy of the farm. It 

 forms an excellent screen, or windbreak, and it effectually pre- 

 vents the blowing of seeds from one field'or farm, to another. 



A perfect hedge, well kept, will so blend the beautiful with the 

 useful, that it will improve the taste of the farmer, and promote 

 the love of order, neatness and method in all his operations ; and 

 as a consequence, it will strengthen his love of home. Hence, 

 the importance of properly caring for it, and keeping it in good 

 condition. The Madura floiu-ishes well in any soil where corn 

 will grow, and it has proven sufficiently hardy to withstand the 

 rigors of the winters of the forty-second parallel, though its young 

 shoots are sometimes partially killed, while the root is unharmed. 



It is claimed for the Madura, that as a hedge plant, it excels 

 most other plants used for that purpose in the following proper- 

 ties, to wit : its easy cultivation and consec^uent cheapness, its 

 capacity to bear crowding, or cutting to any extent, its copious 



