1850. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
69 
stem above the soil,) and by correspondingly shortening all the lar¬ 
ger roots about one-third. 
If you have a good deal of planting to do, it is better to bury the 
plantsinalrencli close at hand, or lay-them-in-by-the-hcels , as it is 
technically called, to keep them in good order till the moment they 
are wanted. 
The hedge should be planted in a double row, with the plants pla¬ 
ced, not opposite to each other, but alternate—thus : 
* ******* 
If * * * * * * 
The rows should be six inches apart, and the plants one foot apart 
m the rows. This will require about 32 plants to a rod, or 2000 
plants to 1000 feet. 
Having well pulverised the soil, set down the line firmly for the 
first row, and with a spade throw out a trench about eight or ten in¬ 
ches deep, keeping its upright or firm bank next to the line. Drop 
the plants along the line at about the distance they will be needed, 
and then plant them twelve inches apart, keeping them as nearly as 
possible in a perfectly straight line; for it is worth bearing in mind, 
tnat you are performing an act, the unimpeachable straiglit-forward- 
ness of which will undoubtedly be criticised for many years after¬ 
wards. Press the earth moderately round the stem of the plant with 
the foot, when the filling-in of the pulverized soil is nearly completed. 
And, finally, level the whole nicely with the hoe. 
Having finished this row, take up the line and fit it again, 6 inches 
distant; open the trench in the opposite direction, and set the plants 
in the same manner. This completes the planting. 
The Osage Orange grows wild in Arkansas and 
Texas. It is said to have been first introduced into 
our gardens, from the Osage tribe of Indians. In 
its natural state, according to Mr. Downing, 11 it 
grows luxuriantly, about thirty or forty feet high, 
with a wide and spreading head.” The leaves re¬ 
semble those of the orange, are very glossy, and 
present a most beautiful appearance, on which ac¬ 
count it was first propagated as an ornament. 
Within the last few years it has been largely adopt¬ 
ed for hedges, and in the middle and western states 
has done well. We have seen fine hedges of it in 
the neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. Whether it 
will prove sufficiently hardy for the northern and 
eastern states, has not yet been demonstrated; but 
its success, so far, entitles it to further trials. Joel 
Rathbone, Esq. has a fine hedge of this plant, four 
years old, on his place near this city. It has not 
been injured by the frost, except the first winter, 
when it was killed down to within a few inches of 
the ground. Mr. A. J. Downing observes— 
The Osage Orange, when treated as a hedge plant, has many ex¬ 
cellent characteristics. It is robust, vigorous, and long-lived. It 
sends out a great abundance of branches, bears trimming perfectly 
well, is most amply provided at all times with stout thorns, and its 
bright and glossy foliage gives it a very rich and beautiful appearance. 
It grows well on almost any soil, and makes a powerful and impe¬ 
netrable fence in a very short time. Though it will bear rough and 
severe pruning, and is therefore well adapted for farm fences, yet it 
must be regularly trimmed twice every year, and requires it even 
more imperatively than other hedge plant, to prevent its sending out 
strong shoots to disfigure the symmetry of the hedge. 
It is propagated by seed and by cuttings of the 
roots. A writer in the Cincinnati Gazette says— 
The best way to start a hedge of this plant, is to procure some of 
the seeds, of which about 7,000 are comprised in a quart. Scald 
them in water near the boiling point, and plant them in nursery beds, 
in good soil, and keep down the weeds the first year. In transplant¬ 
ing, the plants should be set about 32 inches apart. These facts will 
enable any person to form a correct judgment of the number neces¬ 
sary to plant in any given length of hedge. The seed should be 
sown early in the spring, and if not preferred to sow as above in a 
nursery bed, to be afterwards transplanted, it may be sown where 
the fence is wanted, by preparing the ground, and using a garden 
line to get the fence straight, covering the seed lightly with fine earth. 
When the plants are up, they must be kept clean and well hoed ; and 
in the fall they should be headed down to within two or three inches 
of the ground. 
The seed may he had at $1 per quart, and plants 
at $6 to $3 per thousand. 
Principles of Manures. 
Analytical Laboratory, Yale College, ) 
New-Haven , Conn ., Jan. 7, 1850. ) 
Editors Cultivator— Having mentioned in my 
last, the subject of manures, as that which should 
be the topic of this and succeeding communications, 
I now proceed to direct the attention of your read¬ 
ers to the true signification of the word manure in 
its various applications. This may seem to many a 
very unnecessary labor, but I hope to convince them 
that it is not. 
Under the grand head of manures, have, in these 
modern times, come to be included a great variety 
of substances, which may be divided into three class¬ 
es—animal, vegetable and mineral manures. In 
mentioning any of them, we mean something that 
of itself, or by its action upon other bodies, imparts 
fertility to the soil, increasing, in other words, its 
ability to bear good crops. More than this, every 
farmer who reads attentively, has learned that the 
efficacy of a manure consists in its supplying to the 
plant, directly or indirectly, certain substances 
which it needs to promote its growth. Manures are 
in fact, food for plants. 
This is a great advance in knowledge, hut is not, 
by any means, all that ought to be known. As we 
proceed a step or two further in our inquiries, we 
find that plants are differently constituted, and that 
manures have an almost infinite variety in their 
composition. The subject thus becomes difficult; 
but we are enabled at once to draw the important 
conclusion that different plants require different 
manures; that the manure which highly benefits one 
crop may even injure another. 
We are thus led naturally to the conviction that 
some classification of fertilising substances is neces¬ 
sary—that some rules are demanded by means of 
which the farmer can at least approximate to the 
value of any manure of which he knows the compo 
sition or the leading ingredients. He understands, 
\ 
