196OLD-FASHIONED GARDENING 
tells of cabbages also to edge the kitchen beds, but I 
find no special mention of them here. 
The native holly served early for a garden hedge 
in the South; so did the mock or wild orange—or wild 
olive, some call it; but boxwood was the standby then, 
north and south, even as it is now, and always will be. 
In setting, it was put close, in small trenches, so as at 
once to complete the edging; thrift, daisies, pinks and 
plants of this class were put within two to three inches 
of each other, or near enough to touch. Seeds of pinks 
were sometimes sowed in a drill half an inch deep, 
where they were to grow, and the plants left; and this 
was the manner of making an edging of all annuals. 
The “shrubby aromatics” were raised from seed or 
slips, or the young plants were set out; sage and lav¬ 
ender seem to have been oftenest multiplied by slips, 
rue by seed. The shrubby plants were trimmed to a 
height not exceeding six inches, with a breadth of four, 
while the herbaceous edgings were allowed to grow at 
the top but were kept to a similar width. 
These edgings or little hedges existed in considera¬ 
ble variety, but I doubt their use generally north of 
the “Divide.” The Dutch were satisfied with their 
boxwood, so were those who cared to make gardens 
in New England. Then, too, some of the best plants 
for use as sheared edgings were not hardy enough to 
risk their use and the work spent on them, north of 
