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LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 
thousand times superior to such a fence. But there is 
never one instance in a thousand where any barrier is 
necessary. Where it is desirable to separate the house 
from the level grass of the lawn, let it be done by an 
architectural terrace of stone, or a raised platform of 
gravel supported by turf, which will confer importance and 
dignity upon the building, instead of giving it a petty and 
trifling expression. 
Verdant hedges are elegant substitutes for stone or 
wooden fences, and we are surprised that their use has not 
been hitherto more general. We have ourselves been 
making experiments for the last ten years with various 
hedge-plants, and have succeeded in obtaining some 
hedges which are now highly admired. Five or six years 
will, in this climate, under proper care, be sufficient to 
produce hedges of great beauty, capable of withstanding 
the attacks of every kind of cattle ; barriers, too, which 
will outlast many generations. The common Arbor Vitce 
(or flat Cedar), which grows in great abundance in many 
districts, forms one of the most superb hedges, without the 
least care in trimming; the foliage growing thickly down 
to the very ground, and being evergreen, the hedge 
remains clothed the whole year. Our common Thorns, 
and in particular those known in the nurseries as the 
Newcastle and Washington thorns, form hedges of great 
strength and beauty. They are indeed much better 
adapted to this climate than the English Hawthorn, which 
often suffers from the unclouded radiance of our midsummei 
sun. In autumn, too, it loses its foliage much sooner than 
our native sorts, some of which assume a brilliant scarlet 
when the foliage is fading in autumn. In New England, 
the Buckthorn is preferred from its rapid and luxuriant 
