HEDGES. 



17 



" Trimming. — It is perfectly useless to plant a hedge 

 and leave it to be killed by weeds, or grow witbont trim- 

 ming. A young bedge will reqiuire tbe same amount of 

 labor as a row of Indian corn. Tbe plants baying been cut 

 so mucb down, will, of course, start vigorously tbe ensuing 

 Spring. A good bedge ougbt never to be trimmed in 

 any otber tban in af conical sbape. When trimmed in a 

 conical sbape, every slioot ivill enjoy the full henefit of air, 

 ligJit, and moisture, and by tbis simple and natural me- 

 thod, a hedge can be shorn into a strong wall of verd^ire, 

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

 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 tbe first sum- 

 mer, with a pair of bedge shears, pruning tbe young 

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

 laying down some of the most vigorous shoots to fill up 

 some vacant places near tbe ground ; these shoots may be 

 fastened to the ground with some hooked pegs ; they may 

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

 sprouts, and make the hedge impenetrable for pigs, and 

 nearly for rabbits. Tbe 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 bedge may 

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

 inches wider at the base. Thus the management must be 

 continued until tbe hedge has attained the intended bight, 

 allowing an addition of four inches broader at the bottom, 

 for every foot more in bight. A hedge, regularly trim- 

 med twice a year, will, with the exception of the first 

 years, when it req[uires a little more care than afterward 

 continue impenetrable for fifty or even 'one hundred 

 years." 



The Cherokee rose, by planting the cuttings by the 



