70 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



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HEDGES AND THEIR USES. 

 No. IV. — Thbee Spruces. 



When? to the eye three well marked distances 

 Spread their peculiar coloring — vivid geeen, 

 Warm brown and black opaque the foreground bear* 

 Conspicuous; sober olive coldly marks 

 The second distance; thence the third declines 

 Tn softer blue, or lessening still, is lost 

 In fainted purple. When thy taste is called 

 To deck a scene where nature's self presents 

 All these distinct gradations, then rejoice- 

 As doth the painter, and like him apply 

 Thy colors; plant thou on each separate part 

 Improper foliage." 



Black Spruce (nigra). 



White Spruce (alva). 



Balsam Fir (picea). 



The tir and spruce trees belong to a famity quite readily 

 distinguished from the pine species, and from their general 

 and botanical characters are well known to the most casual 

 observer. They have shorter leaves than the pine, and 

 their leaves are not arranged in fascicles like the pine, but 

 singly and in rows. This wise provision of nature enables 

 these branches and leaves to offer a greater resistance to 

 external influences, strong currents of air, than the more 

 graceful yielding branches of the pine; and for this 

 reason are better adapted for a sheltering barrier of pro- 

 tection to certain localities than the pine tree, beau- 

 tiful as it is when nicely planted and skilfully cultured. 

 The seed cones of this truly American species are very pe- 

 culiar in themselves, being smaller than any other cone, 

 and of great compactness of character, ripening their seeds 

 every year. The fir cones or seed vessels stand erect, per- 

 pendicular upon its stalks. The cones of the spruce are 

 hung like pendants beneath the branches, and are of less 

 compact character. So much is necessary to the right un- 

 derstanding of the plants we use, and for the uses we intend 

 to put them, either as a low hedge or separation line, or a 

 barrier line^ to battle with the elements, or for the orna- 

 mental decoration or beautifying of the woodland, lemon or 

 gardm — white the most beautiful hedges maybe grown 

 from the planting of almost any of our common and well- 

 known species of hardy evergreens and shrubs, of whmh 

 we have a great number, — yet all are not equally valuable 

 for the low hedge.* We notice in this paper the trees and 

 tree plants best adapted for heavy screens intended to pro- 

 tect young trees and plants, such as pears and small fruits, 

 peaches and apricots from strongly blowing winds from 

 some particular quarter during the winter months. Much 

 serious injury is received from this source alone in many 

 parts of our Eastern States; the cold of our winters in 

 some particular localities being frequently below zero, and 

 sometimes continuing so low for days. 



To mitigate this cold in~'a "certain "degreeTxequireg all the 

 art of the experienced culturist. I have before me at this 

 writing the question : " Sir, I have a finely located piece of 

 ground for the growing of small fruits, especially pear 

 trees of the dwarf kinds. My grounds consist of an acre or 

 more in extent laying between two high hills, and are com- 

 pletely protected on all side from the high winds except on 

 the northwest side, which is open like the mouth of a tunnel. 

 Through this opening the wind rushes like a tornado. No 

 common board fence will long stand before it. What shall 

 I do to remedy this ? Some of my neighbors recommend 

 hedging. Now no hedge will stand the wind any better 

 than my old board fence.- What shall I do and how shall I 

 remedy this great loss of crops ?" This letter bears date of 

 May, 1850. I reproduce it as an illustration every way 

 worthy the consideration of persons having similar loca- 

 tions, of which there are many in all our States. For the 

 treatment of this "tunnel gap" between the hills I recom- 

 mended to him the following plan, which he successfully 

 carried into execution, introducing some of those other firs 

 and spruces, as noticed in the heading of this paper. 



« gi r _y ur description of the locality described in your 

 letter as well protected from high winds from without on 

 all sides but one, is indeed the question you ask, ' How 

 shall I stop the wind from blowing to pieces my fine tender 

 trees through the mouth of this natural tunnel ?' "■}• 



You cannot stop the winds blowing, but you have within 

 vour every day means, the remedy modifying in a very es- 

 sential degree the cold and heat and drought, which often 

 prove so destructive to the choice plants of the garden. In 

 your own enclosure you have three sides already well 

 secured by nature from air outward innovations. Now, as 

 to the northwest, or windy corner, I recommend you to 

 prepare a good deep trench, of say three feet in depth and 

 two and a half in width, into which place for an inner row 

 of barrier hedge the healthy plants of black spruce, say four 

 feet in height, and these will be found to be quite a large 

 sized plant, but not too large for your purpose. Set these 

 plants seven feet distant from trunk to trunk, pressing the 

 soil, which is supposed to be of good quality, firmly about 

 them. After mulching the top of the ground in a thorough 

 manner, a sine qua non with all evergreens in the hedge row 

 at their first setting, leave them for the second row.t This 



* We shalf notice all the many varieties of the coniferous and other 

 evergreens in the course of these papers, any and all having special 

 reference to their adaptation to different situations on the lawn. 



t We have in the course of our experience had many questions of a 

 similar character asked, and a lack of knowledge of the general laws 

 aonertainin" to the face of the country has been the source of much 

 trouble to the owners of otherwise very desirable locations. 



t The black spruce in its native forest is considerably 'taller than the 

 white spruce; but there is often difficulty in distinguishing between 

 the two vet the white spruce is a more beautiful standard than the 

 black; and is often used m th* manner I have here recommended as 

 a thiK^or eves »©cond row* 



second row is to be set in precise^ the same manner as the 

 first, onl} r you are to set them in qivincux, or break joint, or 

 spaces, thus * . ••; the second row covering the break in 

 the first, and in this manner, as you plant your barrier more 

 or less wide, you soon make an impenetrable shelter from 

 th« highest winds. The second row is to be composed of 

 white spruce trees, in plants like the first row. This second 

 row is to be set at about ten feet distance from the first row r , 

 and the plants at same distance in the hedge row. Now, if 

 you deem it advisable in your case, and I think the very 

 exposed situation of your grounds demand a very firm 

 barrier of resistance to the northwest current, you can use 

 the balsam fir — a tree remarkable for its long life and 

 greenness, beauty of form and foliage, yet inferior in height 

 to the other before named trees. As a third row tree, or 

 the outside row of your barrier, it will give you I think 

 entire satisfaction. This row is to be planted in the same 

 manner as you have planted the other two. You will mulch 

 well, or in the most thorough manner, and you may rely 

 with a good degree of confidence your work is a good work, 

 and will give you satisfaction. 



Thus you have all the elements of a barrier hedge — the 

 largest hedge ever made; and if further embellishment is 

 needed, you can set some arbor vitas and hemlock trees, say 

 five or six of each small plants of one foot height on the 

 outside of your barrier, or side next to the wind, at a- dis- 

 tance of thirty or forty feet, or in an irregular manner ; this 

 not so much for use as for ornamentation, and to break up 

 the monotony of the green mass before you. 



Now, to return to the final treatment of your barrier, the 

 clipping of the inside, or side next the field. I suppose you 

 will have a walk, say of four feet width, running along side 

 these spruce trees. Well, now begin the trimming process. 

 There should be no trimming done to these inside branches 

 the first year at all, except to shorten in a few inches any 

 one or two very long branches. When you do begin to 

 trim it is to be near the height of this barrier you desire, 

 say, begin to clip in at six feet, and then gradually slope 

 the branches as your taste may suggest. The sides of this 

 soon to be impenetrable wall of compact greenness should 

 be to the height of six feet perpendicular, and trimmed 

 every season of any protruding or superfluous branches. 

 The other trees composing this "windscreen" are not to 

 be trimmed at all, but left to take the natural position of a 

 natural forest, which in a few years they will, and you will 

 find by a little careful labor and expense you have effectu- 

 ally stopped the mouth of your old enemy, the "northwest 

 tunnel." 



On the outside of this w r alk by the side of these evergreens, 

 your pear, peach and apricot will live and thrive; and if 

 we are not much mistaken, you will find your labor, ex- 

 pense and care not in vain.£ 



We have made this illustration of the uses of three kinds 

 of the spruce family for hedges from our practical notes; 

 the practical use of which, we have no hesitancy in saying, 

 can in most ordinary cases be relied upon as a paying work. 



For a small hedge, which it is desirable to keep closely 

 clipped, these spruces would perhaps occupy more ground 

 than the proprietor would be willing to grant. But where 

 a separation line or belt of hedge of ten feet or more in 

 width can be given, there is no grander sight or more im- 

 penetrable line than these tall, w r ell-clipped trees. Always 

 green, always refreshing, and no insects of any account to 

 prey upon or make it their home. We therefore urge upon 

 our cultivators of the dwarf pear to put some three or four 

 green lines of black and white spruce, in parallels, within 

 their orchards, and our word for it they will find their ac- 

 count in it within two years from the planting of the same. 



Of the other modifying influences to be derived from this 

 arrangement we shall speak in its proper place and time. 



Ollipod Quill. 



§ In several instances where we have used the above arrangement, 

 especially for field lines of separation and for the protection of pear 

 orchards from wind, we have been successful. 



CHOPPING DOWN THE REDWOOD 

 TREES. 



A TRIBUNE correspondent, from Mendocino county, 

 California, gives the following most interesting ac- 

 count, how lumbering is carried on : 



"To chop down a redwood tree, the chopper does not 

 stand on the ground, but upon the stage, sometimes twelve 

 feet above the ground. Like the sequoi, the redwood has 

 a great bulk near the ground, but contracts a few feet 

 above. The chopper wants only the fair round of the tree, 

 and his stage is composed of two stout staves, shod with a 

 pointed iron at one end, which is driven into the tree. 

 The outer ends are securely supported; and on these staves 

 he lays two narrow, tough boards, on which he stands, and 

 which spring at every blow of his axe. It will give you an. 

 idea of the bulk of these trees, when I tell you that in 

 chopping down the larger ones two men stand on 

 the stage and chop simultaneously at the same cut, fac- 

 ing each other. They cut oft' the bark, which is from four 

 to ten, and often fifteen inches thick. This done, they be- 

 gin what is called the "undercut," the cut on that side 

 toward which the tree is meant to fall; and when they 

 have made a little progress, they, by an ingenious and 

 simple contrivance, fix upon the proper direction of the 

 cut, so as to make the tree fall accurately where they want 

 it. This is necessary, on account of the great length and 

 weight of the trees, and the roughness of the ground, by 

 reason of which a tree carelessly felled may in its fall 

 break and split into pieces, so as to make it entirely worth- 

 less. This happens not unfrequently, in spite of every 

 care. So skillful are they in giving" to the tree its proper 

 direction, that they are able to set a post or stake in the 

 ground a hundred feet or more from the root of the tree, 

 and drive it down by felling the tree on top of it. " Can 

 you really drive a stake with a tree?" [ asked* attd was 



answered, "Of course, we do it every day." The 1 ' 

 dercut"goes in about tw 7 o-thirds the diameter. Whe^t 

 is finished the stage is shifted to the opposite side a A 

 then it is a remarkable sight to see the tall, straight WbsIw? 

 gin to tremble as the axe goes in. It usually gives a hea 

 crack about fifteen minutes before it means" to fall TV 

 choppei thereupon gives a warning shout, so that all mf 

 stand clear — not of the tree, for he knows where that vii 

 go, and in a cleared space men will stand within ten fe< tnf 

 where the top of the tree is to strike, and watch its fill 

 his warning is against the branches of other trees whh l' 

 are sometimes torn off and flung to a distance by the fall 

 ing giant, and which occasionally dash out men's brains" 

 At last the tree visibly totters, and slowly goes over- aad 

 as it goes, the chopper gets off the stage/ and runs a f, JJ 

 feet to one side. Then you hear and see one of the "rand 

 est and most majestic incidents of forest life. There is » 

 sharp crack, a crash, and then a long, prolonged, thunder 

 ous crash, which, when you hear it from a little distance 

 is startlingly like an actual and severe thunder peal To 

 see a tree six feet in diameter, and 175 feet high, thus o 

 down, is a very great sight, not soon forgotten." Moretm.r 

 half the wood is wasted. 



The choppers expressed themselves as disappointed tMt 

 they could not just then show me the fall of a tree ten or 

 twelve feet in diameter, and over 200 feet : high. In one 

 logging camp I visited there remained a stump, fourteen 

 feet high. At this height the tree was fourteen feet in di- 

 ameter, perfectly round and sound, and it was sawn into 

 seventeen logs each twelve feet long. The upper length 

 was six feet in diameter. Probably the tree was 800 feet 

 long, for the top for along distance is wasted. 



So many of the trees and so many parts of trees are 

 splintered or broken in the fall, that the master of a lod- 

 ging camp told me he thought they wasted at least as much 

 as they saved; and as the mills also wasted a good deal, 

 it is probable that for every foot ot this lumber thai goes 

 to market two feet are lost. A five foot tree occupies a 

 chopper from two and a half to three and a half hours; 

 when the tree is down the sawyers come. It is odd enough 

 to go past a tree and see a saw moving back and forward 

 across its diameter without seeing the "man who moves it, 

 for the tree hides him completely from you, if you are on 

 the side opposite him." 



<?£;. 



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CAPTURE AND PRESERVATION OF THE 



ANCHOVY. 



% 



AS enquiries have been made concerning the mode of 

 capturing the Anchovy, we have jotted down a few 

 memoranda on the subject, taken from the Encyehpidie Me 

 thodique, Poixsons, which though old are not the less trust- 

 worthy and practical. The volumes on Ichthyology were 

 prepared by Bechamel du Monceati, and contain a mass of 

 information no where else gathered together. 



The anchovy is caught on dark nights w r ell off shore from 

 May to July in the Atlantic, and a month earlier in the Med 

 itorranean. Several boats engage in the fishery, say four, 

 of which there are five boats with -a couple of men each, 

 and one with the net, manned by four or five men. Dark 

 nights without a moon are the most favorable, and the fire 

 boats put to sea, first keeping one or two hundred yards 

 apart, The fire is made in a raised brasier and must be 

 seen in every direction. The boats choose a favorable po- 

 sition, generally six miles from shore, followed by the net 

 boat. As soon as anchovies are seen coming around the 

 fire, a signal is given and the net is shot so as to encompass 

 the fire boat with the school of fish. 



This net is of fine material, not over half an inch in the 

 mesh, some forty fathoms long and four to seven fathoms 

 deep. It is provided with floats and foot-leads and can he 

 pursed at the foot rope if required. As soon as the net is 

 closed the light is extinguished and the water is beaten, 

 which scatters the fish and drives them into the meshes, 

 where they are gilled. 



The net is taken to the near fire boat that signals in, and 

 sometimes very large hauls are made. Sometimes the fire 

 boats alone go out and dexterously attract a whole school 

 to the shore where they are led into a labyrinth. 



This fish also frequents the mouth of rivers and may he 

 taken in brackish waters. Smaller nets can be used, and 

 the fishery may by conducted on quite a small scale with a 

 torch and a white cloth spread on a frame dipped into the 

 water around the boat, The little fish attracted by the light 

 will spring out and fall on the cloth. 



Sprats, sardines and brit are often found mixed with an- 

 chovies, and much trouble is sometimes caused by having 

 to sort them out, Anchovies are much scarcer on the 

 coasts of France than they were sixty years ago, and the 

 smaller herring are sometimes treated so as to pass for an- 

 chovies. 



Anchovies are salted in a peculiar manner. The head 

 and entrails (which are bitter,) are torn out, and they are 

 then packed closely in casks back up, between layers of 

 ground salt, the last layer being colored with a little ochre. 

 The cask is then headed up, a hole being left in the head 

 and foot, and the cask is raised on a frame so as to allow 

 the drippings to be collected. A fermentation then takes 

 place, and during this process the head of the cask is kept 

 supplied with strong brine, and no rain is allowed to fall on 

 it. In Holland the fish are repacked thrice in new salt and 

 the process is most carefully watched, the smell from the 

 cask indicating the state of the operation. 



The fish ought not to be eaten for three months after 

 completing the process, and will keep for a year or more in 

 proper order. 



Anchovy paste is made from fish which have been cleaned 

 as above, and also by removing the fins^ tail and backbone, 

 the fish being then* salted with red salt, much as before, 

 and then ground into paste. 



Anchovy sauce is variously prepare^ It is believed Wit ] 



