16 GARDENING FOE THE SOUTH. 



will answer very well, and will keep out the weeds for 

 two years, when it should be used as a dressing for the 

 strawberry beds, and its place filled with a fresh supply. 

 No more walks or alleys should be made than are required 

 for convenience in gardening operations. 



Box is the best edging wherever it succeeds, which it 

 does admirably throughout most of the South. All main 

 walks should be wide enough for two persons to walk 

 abreast, for which not less than four and a half feet, are 

 required. 



Fencing, The objects of fencing are to procure shelter 

 for delicate plants from cold winds, also shade for those 

 that require it, and, above all, to keep out of the garden 

 intruders of ail kinds, that the owner may enjoy its frftits 

 without molestation. A high, close board fence, or a stone 

 or brick wall, answers a tolerable purpose ; but the only 

 thing to be relied on is a living hedge. The Osage Orange, 

 the Pyracanth, the Cherokee and single White Macartney 

 roses, thrive in the South, and are all good for this purpose. 

 Osage Orange plants may be raised from seed, or bought 

 at the nurseries for five or six dollars per thousand. The 

 Pyracanth, or Evergreen Thorn, (Cratcegus pyracantha) , 

 will make a hedge as effectual as the Osage Orange, and, 

 as it is an evergreen, is much the more desirable. The 

 blossoms in springtare very showy, and it is covered in 

 winter with bright scarlet berries, and hence it is often 

 called the Burning-bush. It grows freely from cuttings 

 in sandy soil, but these cuttings should remain in the nur- 

 sery-bed a year, to become well rooted before use. Mr. 

 Nelson gives the following directions for planting and 

 trimming a hedge, which apply equally well to Osage 

 Orange and Pyracanth : 



" Planting 1 , First dig a trench where the hedge is in- 

 tended to be grown, two spades deep, throwing the sur- 

 face to one, and the subsoil to the other side ; then throw 



