112 ON LIVE FENCES. 



Having fixed upon the locality of my hedges, we next 

 opened a trench three feet wide, and threw out all the 

 soil, distributing it equally on each side. We then dug 

 out the sand and carted it away, until we had opened a 

 trench three feet wide and eighteen inches deep. Into 

 the bottom of this trench we put six inches of clay, tread- 

 ing it firmly down ; upon this clay we then put six inch- 

 es of barn yard manure, and lastly, returned the soil from 

 the side, and incorporated it with manure, mixing them 

 thoroughly together, with as much care, and very much 

 in the same manner as we would do for melons. 



The soil having been thus prepared, we then opened 

 a trench eight inches wide, and of a suitable depth, 

 through the centre of which we stretched a garden cord, 

 and having provided ourselves with a hand trowel and a 

 stick eight inches in length, commenced on the 12th of 

 April, 1837, setting the plants at that distance from each 

 other, taking care to keep the roots well spread out on 

 the bottom of the trench. 



The hedges were frequently hoed during the summer, 

 in order to keep the ground light and open around them, 

 but received no particular culture until the following 

 spring, 1838, when they were gently dug around, and 

 on the 8th and 9th oi May, I cut in each plant separate- 

 ly to four inches in height. 



This operation, and the care with which they had been 

 planted, caused them to shoot forth most vigorously, and 

 the summer growth was truly surprising, forming before 

 autumn very respectable boundary lines. 



The hed<2;es were not trimmed a^ain until the follow- 

 ing summer, when on the 21st of June, 1839, they 

 were cut in to 14 inches high, and 10 inches wide, 

 stretching a cord along the top as a guide. This trim- 

 ming was performed with the large garden shears, and 

 proved rather a slow, tedious process. The following 

 season I procured a suitable implement, the model of 

 which was furnished me by an Englishman, as the proper 

 hed<>e knife of Enoland. The knife is formed of the 

 best cast steel, measures 21 inches in length, and 2 inch- 

 es in width, considerably curved towards the poini, and 



