176 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
them. The very collision of argument, which such discussions occasion¬ 
ed, incited agriculturists to investigate the principles of the art which 
they professed, and induced them to search after new channels of im¬ 
provement.— Brewster. 
HEDGES—OR LIVE FENCES. 
We resume this subject, from our October number; but before we pro¬ 
ceed to the second branch of .the subject, viz. the manner of procuring 
the plants, we will speak .of some other plants which are or-may be used 
for hedges. 
The Elm, although ranking among the first class of fofest'trees, seems to 
us adapted to this purpose, particularly the species commonly knownhy the 
name of slippery elm, (Uhnusfulva of Mich.) which is smaller in.its growth 
than the- common American kind. Although this plant is not armed with 
spines, the common requisite of a hedge plant, its branches and topare-so 
flexible that they may be readily bent to a horizontal, or recumbent position, 
& interwoven with each other, without materially obstructing their growth; 
and when once interwoven in this way, and the fence having attained a 
proper height, they present a barrier to the. strongest animals. ' Some, 
plants accidentally mixed with our honey locusts, have given us a high 
opinion of their fitness for hedges. 
Another plant which is used considerably in Europe, in wet grounds, 
and which may be found useful in like grounds here, is the AcDER, (al- 
nus;) but this is calculated to succeed best here, as it does there, planted 
on a bank and ditch. On grounds natural-to its growth, the White 
Birch, (Betula alba,) cannot fail also of succeeding well. We have 
seen tolerable fences made of this plant, by merely lopping themin a line; 
and if they aie planted and trained, they must make a fence. 
2. TO OBTAIN HEDGE PLANTS. 
The most certain mode is to plant the seeds, and to raise the plants in 
nursery beds. Plants of the indigenous thorn, and of-the red cedar, may 
often be obtained in large quantities from the pastures and woods; We 
have a good hedge of the former, the plants of -which were obtained in 
this way. When such are used, they are cut down to within a few inches 
of the ground when they are planted. The prim and Cherokee rose are 
readily propagated by cuttings. They may be planted on the site of the in¬ 
tended fence, if the ground is properly prepared, and afterwards kept 
clean. The alder and white birch are best taken in stools; or single 
plants, from the grounds where they grow, and where they are to serve 
as fence. The Japan quince, as W’e before observed, may be propagated, 
by cuttings of the root. But as regards the wild Crab) the honey locust, 
the beech, Osage orange', elm, buckthorn, and generally the common 
thorn, the principal reliance is to be had upon plants raised from seeds in 
the nursery. Plants of the European hawthorn are annually imported in 
quantities. They are obtained in Great Britain at 2s. and 2s. 6d. per 
thousand, one year old. The seeds of the thorn, of the wild crab, of 
the red cedar, of the buckthorn, and of the beech, may be gathered 
in the autumn, and do best if immediately planted. They will not 
generally grow till the second spring, except the crab, and perhaps 
the beech. These seeds may all be preserved and planted in the spring, 
and in that case, they should be so kept that they do not heat. The seeds 
of the elm should be gathered as soon as they fall, which they do here the 
last of May, and be immediately sown. They grow quick, and attain six 
to twelve inches height the first season'. 
The seed beds should consist of rich earth, well dug, pulverized and 
raked. They should be from three to four feet broad, to permit their be¬ 
ing easily wed. The seed may be sown either broad cast upon them, or 
in drills from twelve to eighteen inches apart, pretty thick, and. covered 
with an inch or more of good .mould. The seed beds should be kept free 
from weeds, and after a season’s growth, the plants should be thinned, and- 
either the stronger ones placed in nursery rows, three feetapart, and with 
intervals of one foot in the rows—or the smaller plants, should be drawn, 
so as to leave intervals of three or four inches between those remaining, 
and pricked out in separate beds. If plants are left more than one sea¬ 
son in the seed bed, where they stand thick, they grow slender and fee¬ 
ble their roots are contracted, and they are not likely to do well when 
put in hedge. Plants are most profitably put in hedge when they have, 
attained the size of the little finger, which is generally at the end of the 
second or third season’s growth. When transferred from the seed beds,, 
the tap roots should be shortened to four or six inches, in order to induce 
the plants to throw out side roots, or to multiply them close' to the stem. 
The whole of the plants ought to be removed from the seed beds the se¬ 
cond year, and their roots shortened, though they be not large enough to 
put into hedge. Plants are more easily taken care of in nursery than 
they are in hedge, and should therefore be kept in the former till they are 
strong enough to shoot with vigor. • , , , 
We append to these remarks, Thomas Main’s mode of growing the 
haws of our indigenous thorns, the first season after they are gathered 
Mr Main was a practical nurseryman, residing in the District of Colum¬ 
bia" He raised large quantities of quicks, many of which were purchased 
and planted in the neighborhood of Troy. The statement is entitled to 
full credit. We copy it from the American Farmer of 1821 
“ The seeds,” says Mr. Main, “ are to be extricated from the berries, 
either by hand rubbing, or any other means. I commonly put them in a 
trough, and mash them with a wooden pestle, taking care to proportion 
the strokes thereof so as not to break the stones, and turning over the 
mass repeatedly during the operation, until all the berries are broken— 
after which the stOnes are to be washed from the pomace. Put a gallon or 
two of the mass into a washing tub, filled with water—let it be well brok¬ 
en and rubbed by the hand therein—pour off the water gently—the po¬ 
mace and light stones will flow over along with it, and the good seed will 
remain at the bottom. It will be necessary to repeat this, say ten or 
twelve times, until scarcely any thing remains but the clean stones. They 
are then to be put in a deep square box, that will hold them with ease, so 
that the quantity of seed may not reach -within some inches of the brim. 
The box ought to be loosely made, or a few gimlet holes bored in the 
bottom; to permit the water to drain from The seeds. It is then to be 
•placed in some secure situation out of doors, in the coldest exposure that 
rs qonvenfent; and the seed in the box being covered with some moist 
oak leaves, or green moss, they are to remain so during the winter.— 
Ground squirrels and mice are fond of these seed; the box ought, there¬ 
fore, to be secure from these animals. It. is not necessary to mix any 
•mould with the.seed, neither is it material how often or seldom they are 
frozen duiing the winter. 
<s At the approach of spring, the seed are to be inspected every two or 
three days, say about the middle of March, [middle ; of April in lat. 42°,] 
and as soon as they feel slimyonbeing handled, itindicates that the.shells 
of the stones are about to open. The weather being favorable, the ground 
is then to be digged ahd prepared for the. reception of the-seed. So soon 
as the small point of the rootlet of some of- the seed appears protracted, it 
is then just the time, weather permitting, to.sow them. Every gardener 
knows that the beds ought to be about four feet wide, and that the alleys 
should be from fifteen to eighteen-inches. The seed ought to be rolled 
in plaster of Paris at the time of sowing, and scattered about an inch apart 
—half an inch of fine mould is sufficient for their covering. The plants 
will appear in-a few days, if the weather is favorable. It is scarcely ne¬ 
cessary to add, that to produce fine plants, clean and careful weeding is 
indispensable. It will save a whole year’s, trouble and time afterwards. 
The process may be summed up in one short sentence: Clean the stones 
from the berries', and keep'them damp through the winter.” 
We now add, from the same excellent and pioneer agricultural periodi¬ 
cal, conducted by John S. Skinner, John Taylor’s, of Caroline, Va. me¬ 
thod of forming a red cedar hedge:— 
“ The cedars should be transplanted in the three winter months, and 
in March. [We will venture to recommend here, March, April and May.] 
They should be taken up [in the fields,] in a square sod, of the size of a 
spade, and deposited in a squire hole to be made by a similar spade, with¬ 
out breaking the sod in which the young cedar stands, so as to fit as near¬ 
ly as possible. Any little crevices made by not filling the hole exactly, 
are to be well closed, with part of the earth coming out of this hole, and 
the rest of this earth is to be crumbled close around the young cedar.— 
The sod with the young cedar is to be taken up as deep as possible, in 
doing which the spade ought to be driven perpendicularly into the ground, 
on three sides of the young cedar, but a slant on the fourth, so as to cut 
the tap root, least in raising the sod this tap root should hold the cedar, 
and so loosen its roofs. The smaller the cedars are, the better. This 
will aid the closeness of the hedge at bottom. The cedars are also to be 
two feet apart in the rows, but instead of standing opposite to each other, 
[for they are recommended to be planted in double rows,] across the 
fence, those' in one row are to be placed opposite the centre of the Va¬ 
cancies in the other. At one year old, they should be topped with garden 
shears to One foot high, and the side branches dipt to within six inches of 
the stem. This is to be done yearly or half yearly, except at each dress¬ 
ing the cedars are to be left four inches higher and wider, until they ac¬ 
quire the heighth and width at which they are to be kept by yearly dress¬ 
ings. As some branches become too large for garden shears, the person 
dressing the hedge has a knife made of a piece of old scythe blade, [the 
bill hook is better than either,] to cut off these. An annual dressing is 
indispensable to the thickening of the hedge. The richer the ground the 
sooner the hedge will arrive at perfection.” 
Kyanizing wood .—This newly discovered process'of preserving wood 
and-fabrics composed of vegetable fibre, is likely to become very service¬ 
able, and-is already extensively employed in Great Britain. Its efficacy 
in preserving timber from the dry rot, had been amply demonstrated in 
various experiments made in the ship yards of England. Wood and ve¬ 
getable fabrics, which had undergone the preparatory process, had been 
exposed for years, to the influence of moisture and bad air, without 
sustaining any apparent injury, while the like materials, not sub¬ 
mitted to the process, suffered rapid decay and destruction. The 
process of kyanizing, as it is now termed, consists in immersing the 
wood or cloth, for a few hours or days, in a mixture of water and corro¬ 
sive sublimate, in the proportion of one pound of the latter to five gallons 
of water. The mercury combines with the albumen of the vegetable 
matter, its most perishable part, and renders it insoluble, in the same 
manner that tan renders the gelatinous matter in hides so. Wood, or 
