THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 67 



assort them according to size, making two or three sizes. The object oT this is to 

 secure uniformity in the hedge ; if a small plant is set between two large ones, the 

 larger plants will keep the ailvantage, and there will be a weak place in the hedge. 

 Besides assorting, the plants must be prepared by trimming, cutting back the long 

 tap-root, and shortening the tops by cutting off the main stem and larger branches 

 ahout one-half. This is very important, the object being to make the plant branch 

 near tlie ground, which it will not do if the tops are all left on. In these operations 

 do not expose the roots to the air more than is necessary. The line of the hedge 

 should be well plowed and harrowed, but no manure will be needed ; it should be a 

 well prepared bed about four feet wide, in the centre of which the hedge is to be set. 

 It is very important that the hedge be set straight, and this can be best secured by 

 stretching a line as a guide in planting. The plants are to be set eight inches apart, 

 and may be put in with a dibble, a large ti'owel, or by opening a cut M'ith the spade, 

 whichever method the planter may be most familiar with. A proper hedge — thick at 

 tlie bottom — can only be made in four or five years, and it nmst havQ each year a 

 severe cutting back, which should begin the first fall, cutting the plants back to a 

 height proportionate to their growth. But of this it is not our purpose to treat at 

 present. To answer some inquiries, we may say that in localities where the Osage 

 Orange is perfectly hardy, we should prefer it to Honey Locust, on account of its 

 greater beauty if for no other reason ; but there is a wide belt where it is uncertain, 

 and still another where it will not endure the winters, and in these the Honey Locust 

 is the most valuable of all hedge plants thus far tested. It has been objected that the 

 Honey Locust is not suited to hedge making because it is naturally a large tree, and 

 can not be dwarfed without injury. The objection is entirely without weight, as we 

 know that it has been in successful use for over thirty years ; besides the same applies 

 to the Osage Orange, which Mill grow to a tree sixty feet in height. 



WINTER MKI«:TIX(; of the fruit GROWERS' ASSOCI- 

 ATION. 



This meeting \va.s held in the Council Chamber in the city of Hamil- 

 ton, on Wednesday and Thursday, 18th and 19th Feb'y, 1880. There 

 was a good attendance of members from various parts of the Province. 



On taking the chair, the President introduced to the meeting Mr. 

 J. S. Woodward, of Lockport, N. Y., a delegate fiom the Horticultural 

 Society of Western New York. 



After the reading of the minutes of the last meeting by the Secretary, 

 the President reported that he had complied with the request made by 

 the Association, and waited upon the Hon. Mr. Pope, who assured him 

 that he would have such inquiries made as would lead to the obtaining 

 of accurate statistics with regard to the fruit production of Canada. 



Vice-President Roy being called to the chair, the President 

 announced that he had been favored with a paper from Dr. John A. 



