THE COUNTRY HOME [CHAPTER 
of neglect. Most of our blossoming shrubs have 
an individuality of their own, and this must not be 
stripped away by the shears. To trim them all in 
straight lines would ruin the meaning of the plant. 
If you want a shrub that will stand either neglect 
or shearing, take Tartarian honeysuckle. Always 
mulch your hedges as soon as planted, and renew 
this mulch every year till the plants are thoroughly 
established. A convenient and excellent material 
is ashes from anthracite coal — that from bitumin- 
ous coal contains too much sulphur to be used 
freely. 
Hedge growers, while learning to abhor the mon- 
strous and misplaced, may make hedge-growing 
contribute to the general beauty of a place by such 
contrivances as living arbors, bowered seats, and 
arched walks. One of my living arbors, slightly 
dissociated from the hedge row, lifts its peak about 
twenty-five feet high, and inside is a cool, shaded 
inclosure of eighteen feet in diameter. Origin- 
ally intended to be a place to conceal refuse, I have 
found it more useful as a retreat. With seats and a 
hammock it is delightful in the hottest days. The 
roots of the arbor-vite create a dry mat inside, like 
the floor of evergreen woods. If left to arch over 
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