36 GARDENING FOR THE SOUTH. 



benefit of air, li</ht, and moisture, and by this simple and 

 natural method, a hedge can be shorn into a strong wall 

 of verdure, so green and close from bottom to top, that even a 

 sparrow cannot, without difficulty, pass through it. In order 

 to make a hedge so thick and impervious as above men- 

 tioned, it is necessary to go to work even in the first sum- 

 mer, with a pair of hedge shears, pruning the young 

 growth, when about three months old, at the same time 

 laying down some of the most vigorous shoots to fill up 

 any vacant places found near the ground. These shoots 

 may be fastened to the ground with hooked pegs. They 

 may be considered as layers, will soon send up a number 

 of sprouts, making the hedge impenetrable for pigs, and 

 nearly for rabbits. The young twigs may be trimmed in 

 a wedge shape, not more than one foot high, and at the 

 base six inches broad. The next season the hedge may 

 be allowed to grow one foot higher, and three or four 

 inches wider at the base. This pruning is most readily 

 given with a reaping hook (a sharp sickle without teeth), 

 making the cut with an upward stroke. Thus the man- 

 agement mast be continued until the hedge has attained 

 the intended height, allowing an addition of four inches 

 broader at the bottom for every foot more in height. A 

 hedge, regularly trimmed twice a year — in June and 

 November — with the exception of the first years, when 

 it requires a little more care than afterward, will con- 

 tinue impenetrable for fifty or even one hundred years." 

 If cuttings of the Cherokee Rose (Rosa loevigata) are 

 planted by the side of a plank or wire fence, two feet 

 apart, they will grow up and cover it in a short time, and 

 effectually repel man and beast; but the growth is so 

 rampant that it requires constant shortening in. It is 

 also apt to die out at the bottom and become unsightly, 

 and is in all respects much inferior to the single white 

 Macartney (Rosa bracteata), an evergreen, and very easily 



