The old-fashioned bojr CBuius sempervirens) is the favorite formal and decorative hedge plant among the broad-leaved evergreens. Cosily and slow-growing 



The Best Hedge Plants South and North— By Prosper J. Berckmans, <*<»*. 



THE FIRST OF A SERIES OF HORTICULTURAL MEMOIRS BY THE DEAN OF AMERICAN POMOLOGY AND OF SOUTHERN 

 FLORICULTURE, WITH ACCOUNTS OF MANY IMPORTANT PLANTS INTRODUCED TO CULTIVATION BY HIM 



[Editor's Note — Probably the mellowest veteran of American horticulture is Mr. P. y. Berckmans, who connects us with the heroic period of Van Mons, Loudon, Lindley, 

 Van Houtte, Linden, Thomas Andrew Knight, and in this country Downing, Wilder, Barry, and Thomas. He was born and educated in Belgium and was heir to a great and beautiful 

 estate which he renounced in order to come to America. He has been president of the American Pomologica! Society for several periods, and for 31 years has been annually reelected 

 president of the Georgia Horticultural Society. He has been the chief tester and disseminator of plants introduced into the South since the Civil War. Probably the most important of his 

 introductions is the hardy yapanese lemon (Citrus trifoliata). He has also been a great traveler and has a wonderful knowledge of Northern conditions and hardy plants. At his beautiful 

 home in Augusta, surrounded by many of the original specimens of his introductions, he dispenses a patriarchal hospitality to distinguished visitors from all parts of the world. Mr. 

 Berckmans has done much but written little. We are proud of the privilege of publishing some of his memoirs and ripe judgments.] 



ALTHOUGH a vast improvement has 

 been made in our point of view towards 

 hedges during the last fifty years I am bound 

 to confess that I see everywhere more or less 

 dissatisfaction with almost every kind of 

 hedge plant. Some are consumed by San 

 Jose scale or other insects; most are too open 

 at the base because of half-hearted pruning 

 during the first three years; good hedges' 

 frequently have bad gaps in them; and some- 

 times people will destroy perfect hedges on 

 becoming convinced that their places will 

 look better without them. 



Nearly all these costly and embarrassing 

 experiences could be avoided, I believe, sim- 

 ply by considering more carefully what the 

 proposed hedge is for and which is the best 

 plant for the purpose and why. Hedges 

 are made for four distinct purposes — (i) to 

 keep out animals, (2) for windbreaks and to 



screen unsightly objects, (3) to secure privacy, 

 (4) for ornament. 



THE BEST DEFENSIVE HEDGES 



What a change has come during the last 

 twenty-five years in the use of live fences! 

 We are no longer required to fence out 

 cattle; nearly all states now compel owners 

 of cattle to fence them in. Gone is the 

 Western farmer's craze for Osage orange, 

 buckthorn, honey locust and other plants 

 with cruel thorns that would make a fence 

 "horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong." 

 The barbed wire fence is usually considered 

 cheaper. 



I believe, however, that the hardy Japanese 

 lemon, (Citrus trifoliata) will prove to be a 

 cheaper and better defense than barbed 

 wire. This plant is often called the hardy 

 orange. The fruit is worthless but the plant 



186 



thrives as far north as Philadelphia and will 

 even survive the winters of New England. 

 By crossing it with the sweet orange, the 

 Department of Agriculture hopes to restore 

 the orange industry to Northern Florida and 

 to create new hybrid citrous fruits that will 

 be worth growing as far north as Phila- 

 delphia. 



My first experience with the hardy orange, 

 or lemon as I prefer to call it, was in 1878 

 when I received an invoice from Japan, 

 among which were small pot-grown plants 

 of the kum-kwat or kinkan orange. Shortly 

 after their arrival, a shoot started from the 

 stock upon which these oranges were grafted, 

 and this proved to be the hardy Japanese 

 lemon, then only known as a curiosity in a 

 few botanical gardens. When the plant 

 grown from this shoot bore an enormous 

 crop of golden-colored fruit, I raised some 



