4883 
THE RURAL J4EW-Y0RKEB, 
111 
costs about 75 cts. per rod, and thus the ex¬ 
pense places it out of the reach of many. 
One large stock farm near the College is 
fenced with barbed wire. The owner thinks 
this is the fence for stock, both for horses and 
cattle. I have heard of no damage done to 
stock on this farm from the use of this fence. 
It is built with three or four strands of wire 
and two boards at the top. A fence of this 
kind is one of the most durable we can build 
and it is one which will turn stock better 
than almost any other. We have had much 
trouble with a board fence where cedar posts 
were used. Cattle will push the boards off 
as fast as one man can nail them on. 
Hedges have not been tried about here to any 
extent. 
For the general fence against stock, es¬ 
pecially cattle, I would prefer the barbed- 
wire built as above. A board fence is too ex¬ 
pensive and is not very durable. For small 
fields, about buildings and yards, the woven 
slat and wire fence is a very neat one. 
A good legal fence would be one four feet 
high, constructed of boards and oak posts or 
of barbed wire and boards fastened to good 
oak or cedar posts. There is nothing which 
will wear equal to a good rail fence. 
There is no doubt that many farmers could 
do away with half the 
fences on their farms 
with no inconvenience 
and with much profit 
in fact, because by so 
doing not only would 
they escape the cost of 
the fences, but they 
could also obtain the 
use of land which is 
now occupied by the 
fences. This is no small 
factor, for there are 
many road and line 
fences especially, which 
with the shrubs and 
trees grown up in force, 
now occupy from two 
to three rods of ground. 
If we reckon the aggre¬ 
gate on an 80-acre farm 
we will have several 
acres devoted to fences. 
A good many farm¬ 
ers about here do get 
along without fences 
along the highway ex¬ 
cept for their own con¬ 
venience. 
In case of line fences 
many times two ad¬ 
joining farmers have a 
mutual understanding 
that certain parts of 
their line fence can be 
done away with and 
these are removed. 
Farmers are not com¬ 
pelled to keep up road 
fences in this State I 
believe. 
Ingham, Co., Mich. 
FROM ROBERT DOUGLAS 
Several plants have 
been recommended 
during the last 50 years for farm hedges, all of 
which have been discarded after a thorough 
trial, with the exception of the Osage Orange, 
which has been planted quite generally in the 
Western States and has succeeded south of tho 
42d parallel of latitude. North of that line it 
has been injured more or less during severe 
winters. Even where it endures the climate, 
it requires a great deal of time and care— 
much more than farmers generally bestow on 
it. This is probably the reason why it is not 
being planted so generally as formerly. 
Barbed wire fences are so much cheaper and 
require so much less care that there cannot be 
a doubt that they will take the place of all 
farm hedges in the future, except in cases 
where ornamentation, aside from the protec¬ 
tion of crops, is taken into consideration. 
There seems to be a prejudice against 
barbed wire fences in the East, as there was 
in the West when this fence was first intro¬ 
duced, but the prejudice has worn off, as it is 
found that only in rare cases now are animals 
injured. They soon find out that the fence is 
not to be tampered with,and if they are driven 
carefully into the inclosure the first time, 
they will rarely be injured. The fence can be 
made so that no injury can occur by the 
barbs and many fences are made in this way, 
that is, by putting the posts eight feet apart 
and nailing a narrow board or strip on top of 
tho posts with wires underneath. This, how¬ 
ever, adds very materially to the cost of the 
fence, requiring, aside from the cost of the 
strip, three or four times the number of posts, 
and the time is coming when posts will be ex¬ 
pensive compared with their present market 
value. 
The ordinary farm fence of the future will, 
in my opinion, be made of barbed wire, and 
south of the 43rd degree, a catalpa tree will 
be planted along the line of the fence between 
the posts, say 16 or 20 feet apart, so that when 
the posts begin to decay the wires can be at¬ 
tached to the trunks of the catalpa trees. 
These trees will be permanent posts for gener¬ 
ations, and it the shade of the trees be objec¬ 
tionable when of large size, the tops can be 
sawed off sloping so as to shed the rain and 
the trunk will last for an indefinite time, 
North of 43 degrees, a maple, elm, oak or 
any other hardy , hard-wood tree adapted to 
the climate can be used in place of the ca¬ 
talpa. 
Waukegan, Ill. 
ANOTHER HANDFUL OF SILAGE. 
On page 592 we gave a picture of a handful 
of silage taken from the silo of Mr. Colcord, 
of Massachusetts, who, as our readers will re¬ 
member, has patented a process for making 
silage free from acid. We find that this 
illustration has attracted a great deal of at¬ 
tention. Mr. J. M. Drew, of the Cornell 
University farm, sends the following letter: 
“ Inclosed find a photograph of a sample of 
for the first time, at the nurseries of Hoopes 
Brothers & Thomas. This was a treat I had 
long wished for, for the name of Josiah Hoopes 
as a horticultural authority has been very 
familiar to me for twenty years or more. Our 
large nurseries are always interesting, sug¬ 
gestive and instructive places to visit, and 
especially those whose proprietors have trees 
and shrubs in their hearts as well as in their 
pockets, as is the case in this instance. 
A conspicuous feature of the home nur¬ 
series is tho number of evergreen hedges that 
run lengthwise and crosswise through the 
grounds. They are of Norway spruce, Arbor- 
vitee and Hemlock spruce, and are of great 
service as wind breaks, and in this way of 
much importance in the raising of young 
plants. 
Messrs. Hoopes mentioned a decided falling 
off in the demand for evergreens, also for 
novelties of all kinds. 
Within a year or two quite a call has 
arisen for the Lombardy poplar, so much 
so that the supply was not equal to the 
demand. Landscape gardeners want it for 
certain effects in their work. The Norway 
spruce also commands much attention, some¬ 
thing that will grow fast and form a quick 
f/£w-YJRK£J1 
ANOTHER HANDFUL OF SILAGE. From a Photograph. Fig. 385. 
the silage which was put into the silo on the 
University farm this fall. The sample is a 
lair one as it was taken off of one of the slats 
of the carrier as it came from tho cutter. 
The corn is Sibley’s Pride of the North, and 
when cut was quite mature, as can be seen in 
the photograph. When filling the silo,each day’s 
tilling was allowed to heat up to 120 degrees 
before proceeding with the work. After tho 
silo was full, it was covered with a layer of 
tarred paper and a few inches of sand to keep 
out the air. The size of the silo is 10x16 and 
24 feet deep. 
We have had a careful drawing made from 
the photograph. The picture is shown at Fig. 
385. It will be seen that the ears were cut up 
with the stalks, and the proportion of kernel 
to stalk is surprisingly large. Such fodder 
will be greatly relished by stock and there 
will be no long stalks in the manure pile. 
Compare this sample with your own silage. 
NOTES FROM WESTCHESTER, PA. 
WILLIAM FALCONER. 
Tree-s and shrubs in their hearts' the Climb¬ 
ing hydrangea-, anew honeysuckle-, a fine 
Colchicum maple; Hall's honeysuckle nat¬ 
uralized ; Kieffer and Mikado ; the best 
Bush honeysuckle-, Vasey's rhododendron; 
many interesting topics. 
At last, tho other day I found myself, 
e ffect.—[We should think the Pyramidal oak 
might well take the place of the Lombardy 
poplar.— -Eds,] 
Some most beautiful variegated-leaved 
forms of Elaeagnus pungens, a Japanese spe¬ 
cies, are among their new shrubs on trial. 
The plants have grown quite vigorously and 
still retain their foliage in its fullness and 
beauty as if it were yet midsummer. But as 
their hardiness has not yet been attested it 
cannot be vouched for. 
A good many plants of a yellow-variegated 
Lawson’s cypress arrested my attention. The 
variegation is both liberal and pronounced, 
but Mr. Hoopes tells me the plants are not 
reliably hardy. 
The Climbing Hydrangea (H. scandens) 
is growing freely against the wall of the oflice 
and attaches itself to the stone surface quite 
nicely; but it does not take kindly to the 
painted wood-work. Climbing up and cling¬ 
ing to the rough-barked stems of thin headed 
trees is the position it loves most dearly. 
Lonicera Heckrotii is a new and ever- 
blooming honeysuckle vine that originated in 
the neighborhood. The flowers are deep 
red and even now in bloom in abundance. 
The vine seemed to me to indicate a relation¬ 
ship with the Trumpet honeysuckle, but it is a 
decidedly new, distinct and desirable sort. 
Just while I was there the Arm had an order 
from a Boston landscape gardener for every 
plant of this honeysuckle they had to spare. 
The largest specimen of the Colchicum 
maple (Acer Colchicum rubrum) I ever saw 
is growing alongside of their office. I should 
say it is 30 or 40 feet high, with a stem 
from four to five feet in circumference. We 
can well imagine what a handsomely colored 
tree this must be in early summer. 
I find that Picea nobilis is a very slow 
grower; indeed, some of our plants don’t seem 
to make any headway. But Mr. Hoopes as¬ 
sures me that while they sometimes have a 
tendency to slowness in their youth, after 
they get protty well rooted and established in 
their places, they pick up and start away 
with considerable vigor, and some good speci¬ 
mens here justify this opinion. 
Lonicera IIalleana has become natural¬ 
ized in this vicinity, by the wayside, along 
the lanes and in the grass in the neighborhood 
of farm buildings, and Mr. Hoopes tells mo 
the P. R. R. Company have naturalized it 
along some of their railroad embankments 
with excellent results. 
Cercidiphyllum Japonicum is much liked 
as a little tree. At Mr. Meehan’s the old 
plants have had their branches all brought 
down and layered. Mr. A. S. Fuller tells us that 
it strikes very readily from cuttings of the 
unripe wood. It likes deep, rich, moderately 
moist land, for it is more a surface than deep¬ 
rooting tree. I have not heard of its blooming 
yet in this country. 
I noticed a considerable number of young 
plants of Cedrus Dec 
dara, but was informed 
that they are not at ali 
reliably hardy. This 
coincides with my expe¬ 
rience on Long Island. 
The Mount Atlas cedar 
(Cedrus Atlantica), on 
the other hand, is quite 
hardy. This makes one 
of our handsomest pyr¬ 
amidal evergreen trees 
and with us thrives 
very well in exposed 
as well as sheltered 
positions. And Mr. 
Hoopes nas a good 
word for the Cedar of 
Lebanon (Cedrus Lib- 
ani). It is thrifty and 
hardy here, of broad¬ 
headed rather than 
pyramidal contour; 
but otherwise a good 
deal like the Atlas ce¬ 
dar. It should always 
be grown in well- 
drained land. 
Hydrangea pani- 
culata grandiklora 
is grown in large quan¬ 
tities and deservedly, 
for it is one of the 
grandest shrubs that 
has ever been introduc¬ 
ed to our gardens. It 
is propagated from 
cuttings of the green 
wood, secured in early 
summer and dibbled 
thickly into shallow 
boxes filled with fine 
sand. These boxes are 
then placed thickly to¬ 
gether in low-roofed 
greenhouses from which the sashes have been 
removed for the summer months, pretty close 
lath shadings being used instead. 
Propagating the Japanese Snowball 
(Viburnum plicatum).—This species is gener¬ 
ally propagated by means of layers and cut¬ 
tings of tho young wood taken off with a heel 
to each one in early summer. Mr. Kilpatrick, 
Messrs. Hoopes’s foreman, assures me that he 
has discovered a vary ready means of propa¬ 
gating this snowball, but it is a secret and the 
only secret he knows of in horticulture, and 
from me, anyway, he kept it a secret. I do 
not know so much as one secret in this busi¬ 
ness. 
Among variegated-leaved shrubs Cornus 
Sibirica retains its variegation all summer; 
the Golden elder scalds more or less, and the 
Golden Dwarf Philadelphus retains its color 
fairly well and brightens as the fall advances. 
The stout, vigorous, well spurred wood of 
some Mikado pear trees interested me. Mr. 
Hoopes tells me that for pear trees he always 
tries to get a piece of loamy land with a red¬ 
dish tinge to it. The Kieffers are as vigorous 
as standard apple trees. Mr. H. is somewhat 
partial to this variety, for with him it is juicy 
and fairly good to eat, though deficient in fla¬ 
vor. Good for canning. 
Standish’s Bush Honeysuckle (Lonicera 
Standishii).—Mr. Hoopes regards this as the 
best of all of the bush honeysuckles. It comes 
into bloom before the snows have disappeared 
in the spring, remains in flower till the end of 
April or later, and the blossoms are white 
and fragrant, and the plants retain their 
foliage in good condition till late in the fall— 
1 ong after other bush honeysuckles are almost 
denuded. 
