1863.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
179 
running a light plow through, and set a tree at 
each crossing. Dig the holes twice as large and 
twice as deep as would just receive the roots in 
their natural position. The roots should be 
carefully examined, and all bruised parts cut 
smooth with a knife, drawing it from the under 
side out. The yellow subsoil thrown from the 
bottom of the hole is not to be returned around 
the roots, but mellow surface soil must be filled 
in and packed closely under and over the roots, 
so as to prevent any cavities remaining. 
An orchard thus carefully set out must not 
be neglected. The ground should be kept mel¬ 
low and clear of weeds by frequent stirring, 
the suckers and surplus branches trimmed off, 
and the ends of the most vigorous limbs shor¬ 
tened in so as to give a more compact head. If 
gum should be seen oozing from the stem near 
the ground, take a knife and remove the little 
intruder that is preparing to make its winter 
lodging under the bark. 
Plant Evergreens. 
No grounds, however limited, should be with¬ 
out evergreens, -which are beautiful in Summer 
and indispensable in Winter. The latter part 
of May is usually the best time for planting, 
though the backwardness of the season will 
this year extend the time well into June. In¬ 
deed, with a little care they can be removed 
during the early part of June in any ordinary 
season. Recent introductions have increased 
the list of varieties so enormously that one is 
puzzled, in looking over the catalogues of the 
nurserymen, what selection to make. Most of 
the recent importations bear a high price and 
their hardiness in our climate is yet to be tested; 
and our advice is to leave experiments to 
those who can afford it and to stick to the old 
and well established kinds which are always 
satisfactory and can never become too common. 
The two evergreens which, from their ease of 
culture and intrinsic worth, are most popular, 
are the Norway Spruce and the Arbor Vitae. 
They are easily transplanted, of rapid growth 
and, when well shaped specimens are chosen, 
are fine for the lawn and excellent for masses 
and screens. They will live in poor, and thrive 
in good soils, and will bear cutting as the cul¬ 
tivator may fancy. Nothing is more beautiful 
than a well grown specimen of our common 
White Pine, or Weymouth Pine, as it is called. 
The chief obstacle to its general introduction 
seems to be its nativity. If it were brought from 
a distance and sold at a very high price, it would 
be more generally sought after. Then there is 
the common Hemlock (Abies Canadensis ), than 
which few evergreens are more beautiful. It is 
unfortunately rather impatient of removal, but 
it is worth while to take special pains to 
secure so fine a tree. The Austrian, Scotch, 
and Cembrian pines make noble trees, and 
the Pigmy Pine (Pinus pitmilio) and the Irish 
and Swedish Junipers are desirable for small 
grounds. At any time, and especially in late 
planting, the greatest care should be taken to 
prevent the roots of evergreens from drying. 
They should be kept well covered from the 
moment they are out of the ground till they are 
replanted. Where it is practicable, the holes 
should be prepared beforehand, adding peaty 
earth if the soil is of a sandy character, and 
then wait for a cloudy day upon which to take 
up the trees from the nursery. Large stones 
laid over the roots are better than stakes; be¬ 
sides holding the tree in place they will act as 
a mulch to prevent the soil from drying out. 
Basswood Bark for Tying’. 
Every nurserymen and gardener know that 
the Bass or Russia matting is the best possible 
material for tying up plants, binding buds, and 
many other purposes. The Russia article is 
frequently scarce, and is always difficult to pro¬ 
cure by those who live far from cities. The 
want can be readily supplied from our native 
Basswood or Linden which is abundant through¬ 
out the northern States. Young and vigorous 
trees should be cut down during the present 
month and the bark stripped off. This is to be 
put into a stream or pond of water until the in¬ 
ner bark is readily separable in layers, which 
will be in two or three weeks. When the bark 
parts readily, it is to be taken from the water, 
carefully separated, a layer at a time, and then 
washed to free it from mucilage, and dried. 
There will be found a considerable difference 
in the strips. The finest should be selected for 
tying buds and other delicate work, and the 
strongest and thickest left for coarser purposes. 
-o-*- i m a-O- w —«*=■- 
A Perfect Hedge. 
A perfect hedge is seldom seen in this country. 
Our people are in too much haste to see results, 
too impatient of the needful labor and cost, to 
build up a good, durable hedge, one that will 
turn cattle, and be a real ornament to any farm 
or residence. Consider, a moment, the condi¬ 
tions of such hedge building. The line must not 
run beneath the drip and shade of trees, or 
among their roots. The land must be good, or 
be made fertile by manure. The plants should 
be properly set out, the ground tilled and kept 
free of weeds for several years. And yet, how 
few enrich and cultivate soil along their hedge¬ 
rows, after the first year! Equal in importance 
to this, is thorough and systematic pruning every 
year. The majority of hedges are allowed to 
grow up several feet before they feel the shears 
at all. Of course, they become lank and bare 
at the bottom, where they ought to be bushy and 
strong. They are shaped more like the letter 
V, and must always remain so, while they ought 
to be more like that letter inverted, £ . They 
should, from the start , be cut back every Spring 
to a foot of the new growth: i. e., the hedge 
should be allowed to gain in liight only one foot 
each year. The sides should be slightly trim¬ 
med, by all means keeping the lower branches 
broader than those above. The pruner should 
always keep in mind what the final shape of 
the hedge is to be. The inverted A seems to us 
a little too sharp, and we should advise round¬ 
ing the sides a little, making it resemble a straw 
bee-hive, or rounded cone. 
After the hedge is brought to its required 
hight, say of four to six feet, it must be pruned 
at least once in mid-summer, to check its 
growth. Now, there are only a few persons 
who will take all this trouble, and this is a. suf¬ 
ficient reason why we see so few good hedges. 
Another reason lies in the defectiveness of 
our hedge-plants. The English hawthorn, so 
excellent in that moist and equable climate, 
does not generally succeed with us. Several of 
our native thorns have been tried, but where 
the hedge becomes full grown, and it is necessa¬ 
ry to summer prune it, the leaves turn yellow 
and the plants become sickly. In a few sections, 
as about Wilmington, Delaware, the Cockspur 
is reported as doing well. The Osage Orange 
answers a good purpose south of the latitude 
of about 40°, but is not sufficiently hardy at 
the north. The Three-thorned Acacia is now 
being extensively tried. It is hardy and thorny 
enough, but as it is a very rampant grower, it is 
by no means certain that it will bear the severe 
summer pruning necessary to keep it ’Within 
bounds. ’ And would our busy farmers find time 
to do that work? The Buckthorn comes the 
nearest to being a perfect hedge-plant in all re¬ 
spects but its thorns. It is hardy, not over-ram¬ 
pant in growth, for, unlike the Locust, it is a 
hush rather than a tree , bears shearing well, and 
is subject to no diseases or insects. It will an¬ 
swer for a strict barrier, if one will take the 
trouble to set a low and light wooden fence on 
the exposed side, made of only a single board, 
four or five inches wide, running from post to 
post. Paint this hoard green, and it will hardly 
be noticed. The Y/hite Willow is now creating 
quite a sensation at the West. Whether it will 
make a perfect hedge, is yet quite uncertain, 
but time and experience will determine. 
-«. --- 
The Best Native Gooseberry. 
This is the Houghton Seedling. It is not of 
the first class, as compared with the foreign 
sorts, but it is the best American, seldom mil¬ 
dews, is hardy and prolific. Its origin is inter¬ 
esting. Some thirty years ago, Mr. Abel Hough¬ 
ton, then of Lynn, Mass., set out in his garden 
four of the best English sorts in a circle, with 
a native variety' in the center. They all flow¬ 
ered and fruited the second year. He sowed 
the seeds indiscriminately, and where the plants 
came up, he transplanted them by the hundred 
into rows. In five years, they came into bear¬ 
ing, but nearly every one suffered from mildew. 
He saved the best and threw away the worst, 
and finally the sort known as Houghton’s Seed¬ 
ling was the only one which proved worth sav¬ 
ing and propagating. Ail honor to Mr. Hough¬ 
ton. Honor , indeed, he should have, for it is 
said that he has made no money by his long ex¬ 
periments. 
Strawberries. 
This is the harvest month for strawberries, 
and the time when the fruit is in perfection is 
the proper one in which to plan for new beds. 
While to many , one strawberry is as good as 
another, those of larger experience know that 
this fruit presents a great variety, not only in 
flavor and relative sweetness, hut in the size and 
hardiness of the fruit and the vigor and prolific¬ 
ness of the vines. The best berry for the table 
is not always the best one for the market; firm¬ 
ness of flesh and abundant bearing are for this 
purpose the most important qualities. Though 
we may have many very fine varieties, per¬ 
fection is not yet attained, and every year there 
are new claimants to superiority over old varie¬ 
ties. It is no doubt possible that the efforts of 
cultivators will yet produce a fruit which will 
combine all the excellences of the best known 
varieties. Now is the time for those who intend 
to plant in the coming Autumn or Spring to 
visit the grounds of cultivators, or fruit exhib¬ 
itions, and make observations for themselves. 
We expect that the exhibition which will be 
held at the office of the Agricultuiist \y ill piesent 
the finest collection of strawberries ever seen 
in this country, and those who attend it will de¬ 
rive much information. We shall publish some 
reports of the discussions of strawberry growers 
upon the merits of the different varieties, for the 
benefit of those who cannot attend the exhib¬ 
ition and the meetings. 
