

Woodland, Zawn and Garden. 
HEDGES AND THEIR USES. 


NO. 1.—ARBOR VITA. 
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HE study of hedge plants—there use, and the various 
kinds best adapted to the different sections of the United 
States—is in itself sufficient for quite a large volume 
Yet in answer to several questions as to what are the best 
kinds adapted to, and their special cultivation for, several 
localities of South and West, we will give a brief sketch of 
our experience in the cultivation of these elegant substi- 
tutes for the stone and wooden fences, rustic paiings, &c., 
which years ago were so widely used all over our country, 
for the reason they were the best kind then known. Ex- 
perience, study, and the mission of the landscape gardener, 
with the refining influence of the application of the princi- 
ples of high art to the common necessities of life, have 
opened a wider field both for the use of the beautiful and 
practical. Our own experience has led us to make various 
experiments, and we are gratified to be able to say, that for 
the most part our experiments have been profitable and very 
acceptable to those who have used them. 5 
There are some six or more plant materials from which some 
five or six years of careful labor and attention will give 
a beautiful and excellent hedge ; and some of great beauty, 
even in this varying climate of ours. Let no one, how- 
ever, who loves the beautiful in the hedge-row, suppose for 
amoment that all that is necessary to give him a fine hedge 
is to plant out the seed and let the same take care of itself. 
If he only plants the seed, and goes fishing, and forgets all 
about his hedge, he had far better have ‘‘ gone fishing” be- 
fore he planted his seed. Care and careful watching are 
absolutely necessary inorder to have a fine hedge of any 
kind ; such as can be had of great beauty, capable of re- 
sisting the attacks of every kind of cattle; a well grown bar- 
rier, too, that will outlast many generations. Among the 
five or six really best hedge plants for general use, we place 
at the head of our list the Arbor Vite or (flat cedar) found 
growing abundantly in many localities. This well known 
plant is probably the best that can be. used for evergreen 
hedges, possessing as it does the remarkable qualities of quick 
growth, the foliage being of a beautiful deep green and grow- 
ing down to the very ground, retaining its evergreen char- 
acter during the entire year. The Arbor Vite found in the 
region of the Hudson river seems to be a distinct species 
from many other kinds with which we are familiar, and is 
perhaps unsurpassed by any other kind in this climate. 
This kind we have found from experience to be perfectly 
hardy, in the most adverse situations. It is very rarely at- 
tacked by insects; the slug, aphis, and many other ‘‘ bugs 
of prey” give it a wide berth. Under favorable circum- 
stances, it is a very long lived plant ; how long it would live 
we do not know, but probably to one hundred years. , 
The Arbor Vite of the Hudson, and the Arbor Vite ob- 
tained from the State of Maine, are decidedly the best to be 
had, and these we can recommend as being quite likely to 
give entire satisfaction to all who love a good piece of work 
and are willing to give to the work the attention it deserves. 
No plant bears the shears better than the Arbor Vite. 
Easily kept in‘order by two prunings in a season only, 
it very readily takes the shape desired, and soon becomes a 
thing of beauty, or a ‘horrid fright,” under the clippings of 
the man of intelligence, or the boor.* 
Ihave received many letters within a period of some ten 
years asking for information and my opinion upon the dif- 
ferent qualities of the hedge plant, their adaptation to soil, cli- 
mate, and other important matter relating to the same. 
‘How shall I plant it? isa frequent question asked, and 
a pertinent one too. 
Eyery one having the care of grounds in the country, 
large or small, is aware of the past want of some good rapid- 
growing, well developing, evergreen plant for screen 
hedges and blinds, barriers, &c. Well, you have the very 
thing in the hardy beautiful Arbor Vite, adapted it seems 
by Providence, to the very wants of man. We shall speak 
of other and valuable beautiful hedge plants in discussing 
the subject of hedges and hedge plants ; but in this paper, 
confine ourselves to this one plant. The great ease with 
which it gives you a splendid hedge, is a great reccomend- 
ation to its universal use. While the ‘“‘ browns” disfigure 
many other kinds of hedges, the Arbor Vite is always 
green ; while with the Red Cedar, somewhat used in hedges, 
some of the larger branches and very hardiest trees suffer 
from an attack of ‘‘the browns,” and die off without any 
apparent cause. Such is sometimes, and I may say often, 
the case with the Chinese Arbor Vite. While such a dis- 
agreeable and repulsive feature, surely, may be looked for 
as not uncommon to the Red Cedar and Chinese Arbor Vi- 
te, such a thing asa dead tree of the Arbor Vite of the 
true kind I have never yet seen.+ 
I have ahedge of the Arbor Vitae nowupon my grounds 
in the town of Arlington, Mass., some two hundred rods in 
length, seven feet in height, which is one beautiful com- 
pact screen of green, unimpaired and beautiful. It is about 
fourteen years old. This hedge was set out one very warm 
day in the month of July, and was not watered except by 
the natural rains which fell, for the entire season. I have 
*We have no patience with that horrid exhibition of bad taste, called 
“topiary trimming” of Arbor Vite into monstrous beasts, birds, and 
unheard of dragons. 
+Last winter, 1872 and ‘73, was‘one ine East New England States, that 
tried the bark of trees. The thermometer fell far below zero, and the 
cold was intense. Iwas called professionally for advice in relation to the 
best usage of the Arbor Vite hedges by several persons who had planted in 
avery exposed situation. [recommended their waiting until June and July 
peters pasting the knife teothem. My advice was good. They, are now 
right. 

FOREST AND STREAM «, 
a 

two circles composed of Arbor Vitee plants, upon my lawn 
grounds, set out for ornament, which are twenty feet diam- 
eter and of a height of twenty-two feet, forming a perfect 
plot or group, and presenting an evenness of exterior as 
though clipped with the shears, and yet they have only been 
twice clipped each season. Those plants were when set 
eighteen inches in height, and set one foot apart. The 
plants of the Arbor Vite can always be obtained. The best 
time to plant them is in the Spring, from May first to June ; 
they will thrive if well planted in July. The same great 
law of vegetation, however, seems to govern all plants ; 
when the buds begin to swell, you can with safety begin to 
plant. 
Good plants from the nurseries are worth from eight to 
thirty dollars per hundred ; choice ones from one to four feet 
high, range a little higher. Having determined to plant 
a hedge, after well trenching the ground, you would do 
well to select your plants at the nuesery yourself, and hav- 
ing obtained good plants, be quite particular in doing your 
work of setting out well, and in the most thorough manner. 
The general rule for setting is one foot apart. Muleh your 
plants, when practicable, upon setting out the same, and by 
no means drown them because you have an abundance of 
water. We believe the Arbor Vite as well adapted to the 
Western States, as tothe New England States, they with 
due care thriving well in either locality. 
OLUAPOD QUILL. 
Sews Srom Abroad. 
NGLAND is complaining of excessive heat, and Sydney 
Smith’s suggestion “ of stripping off ones flesh and sitting 
in ones bones,” is frequently alluded to. 
they suffer, they seem to take an optimist’s view of what 
they cannot prevent. The partridge they say, wilt 
not be worse for the weather, and as the yonng birds 
are strong and plentiful in number they can stand 
drought at their age much better than wet. Grouse re- 
quire perhaps more water, but the hot spell, English 
sportsmen think will not hurt them. Cricket is played just 
as ardently as ever, though the temperature is such as 
might. have roasted Mr. Alfred Jingle. The corn is in 
grain, and the land wants the sun, and is grateful for it. 
One fact to be mentioned, however, for the benefit of future 
almanac makers is, that it rained on St. Swithin’s day, andin 
the most perverse way, acting the very reverse of the usual 
prophecy, it has been constantly dry ever since. Some 
idea of the heat in England and Scotland may be had when 
we read that on the Trent and in the Highlands during the 
week ending July 26th, the thermometer stood as high as 
90°. 
Salmon fishing in Norway seems to be declining. From 
“Over the Doverfields, ” a new fishing book by the author 
of ‘‘ A Ramble Through Norway,” we extract the follow- 
ing: 
“Of late there is a complaint that salmon fishing on the 
whole is rapidly deteriorating in Norway. Year by year 
the prices paid for the rivers have risen, till it has at length 
come to the point that a Norwegian river is fully as expen- 
sive a luxury to indulge in asa Scotch grouse moor. We 
have known £300 per season to be paid for a stream barely 
half a dozen miles in length, and even then saddled with 
the proviso of giving up the bulk of the fish taken to the 
proprietor of the river. 
The worst of the matter is, that as prices have gone 
up the fish have gone down (in quantity), a result princi- 
pally owing to the unprincipled conduct of the natives 
themselves. Not content with the heavy sums in which 
they mulct the ‘‘mad Englishmen” (for such they consider 
them), they not only flog the waters most industriously 
during their absence, but also net them without mercy, par- 
ticularly at the point where the rivers throw themselves 
into the fiords, and that with most melancholy success. 
The Storthing, it is true, so early as 1857—awake to the 
evil results that would come to pass, should these practices 
remain uncheceked--passed a law forbidding the use of nets at 
the mouths of salmon rivers. This law, however, has never 
been carried out in its integrity; the fish are dwindling 
away toa tithe of their numbers twenty years ago, and the 
stupid proprietors—while chuckling over their present gains 
—will find, when too late, that they have been but giving 
another variation of the old fable, ‘killing the goose that 
m) 
laid the golden eggs. : 
The following correspondence occurs in Land and Water: 
““Brrps WALKING UNDER WATER.—Sir: Last week I took 
a cormorant in my trammels (bottom fishing nets) in about 
six to eight fathoms of water. This occurrence is nota 
rare one, but it has an important bearing on the letters of 
Mr. F. O. Morris and Mr. W. Reid in your two last issues. 
To- make it a common occurrence, as it is, that birds should 
be taken in nets, fishing several fathoms under water, the 
birds must be able not only to dive (vertically or obliquely), 
but also to swim (laterally) under water, and it occurs to 
one at once that it would be physically impossible for any 
bird to do this unless it “could in some way assimilate its 
specific gravity to that of the water around it. Iam not 
sufficiently scientific to hazard an opinion whether it might 
not be neccessary, to enable a bird to get six or eight fath- 
oms deep in the water, that it should be able to make its 
specific gravity greater than that of the water to equalize 
it for the purpose of enabling it to swim, and to reduce it 
for the purpose of enabling it to rise. Mr. Reid’s letter 
goes to support the theory that these things must be. He 
does not mention the sea-bird, in which, of all others, the 
power of submersion can be most frequently observed. 
An alarmed grebe will: solemnly disappear until it leaves 
nothing visible but a slender neck surmounted by a small 
head, and haying behind it a mere suspicion of a back, a 
back which, in nautical phrase, is ‘barely a wash.’ 
Has any one in the United States observed similar traits 
in the cormorant? 



There is a movement in England, to do away with the 
barbarous practice of, cropping terriers’ ears. 
However much, 

A very interesting book by Charles John Anderson, en- 
titled ‘‘The Lion and the Elephant,” has just been issued 
in London. The author, half Englishmen half Swede, trav- 
eled with Francis Galton in 1850, 1n his explorations into 
South Africa, when they even went beyond Lake Ngami. 
The book is said to be not only remarkable as the narrative 
of a hunting life. with all its thrilling mcidents, but evinces 
wonderful research. It is the production of aperfect sports, 
man and naturalist. The following extract from that por- 
tion of the book devoted to elephant shooting, shows how 
much endurance is necessary for the sport.— 
It was rarely or never that I could track, stalk, and kill 
my elephant and return to camp in less than ten hours, 
more frequently I was absent from it for fourteen and six- 
teen hours—nay, I have been as much as two days and a 
night engaged in a single hunt. My attendants (native) were 
at times so completely“used up—I myself being nearly « 
much so—that on their return to the bivouac they would 
fall asleep where they stood, alike indifferent to hunger, to 
the chilling night air, or the scorching rays of the sun, as 
the case might be... .. Tt was not, however, hunger or 
fatigue that was most trying; the heat was more so. The 
sun, ‘blazing in a sky of brass,’ heated the atmosphere to 
a state of suffocation, and the loose sandy soil to blistering 
intensity that made ‘ Water! water!’ the incessant cry; but 
water, frequently half-boiling, even when we could carry a 
decent supply with us, rarely allayed our burning thirst. 
Indeed eyery fresh draught seemed merely to augment our 
ardent craving—often almost bordering on madness—for 
more of the precious liquid. A giddiness, a languor, a 
sense of oppression throughout the whole system, a chok- 
ing sensation in the throat, a difficulty of speech, a fearful 
palpitation of the heart, and a nightmare feeling about the 
chest, were frequently consequences of our excessive fa- 
tigue. 
The London Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Ant 
mals, is fortunate enough to have a Ladies’ Committee, un- 
der the direction of Lady Burdett Coutts. The society has 
lately received a legacy of £10,000, and have invested £34,- 
000. The Duchess of Teck is a prominent member. 
A pike weighing thirty-five pounds was recently caught in 
Loch Corrib, having inside of him a grilse weighing six 
pounds. 
Chain mail gauntlets and suits are advertised in an Eng- 
lish paper, for the use of Indian officers. 


Answers Go Correspondents. 
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[We shall endeavor im this department to impart and hope to receive 
such information as may be of service to amateur and professional sports- 
men. We will cheerfully answer all reasonable questions that fall within 
the scope of this paper, designating localities for good hunting, fish- 
ing, and trapping, and giving advice and instructions as to outfits, im- 
plements, routes, distances, seasons, expenses, remedies, traits, species, 
governing rules, etc. All branches of the sportsman’s craft will receive 
attention. Anonymous communications not noticed. | 
ESS ASS 
L. H. B.—In regard to the Canadian system of overseers and wardens 
for guarding their fishing streams, the adaptation of such a plan to our rivers 
would be excellent. The trouble is that in the United States, at the same 
salaries as are paid in Canada, it would be difficult to find competent men. 
An inspector receives in Canada $728 a year and travelling expenses. 
County overseers only get from $50 to $250. Wardens $400 to $750 a 
year. The assistant inspector of Nova ‘Scotia has a salary of $800 with 
travelling expenses. 

XXV.—The law in this respect is positive. It says ‘‘no person shall 
kill or expose for sale or hive in his possession, after the same is killed, 
any wood duck, &c,. &c,. between the 1st day of February and the 15th of 
August.” The Justice of the Peace in your section must be very igno- 
rant of his duties. 
Sr. Joun.—Here is a good old fashioned receipt for mange, which almost 
alwayscures. Take four ounces of sulphur ointment and add one ounce of 
turpentine, mix, and rub the dog well with it twice a week. Continue 
this long enough, bathing him from time to time ina running stream. 
But if this will not avail, it would be better to shoot the dog. 
J. B.—We are not prepared as yet, to execute any commissions confided 
to our care. Wetrust, however, before the shooting and angling season is 
over, to do the best we can for our friends, 
Dayrip.—Any information you may require as to the formation of a 
rifle club in your town, would no doubt be cheerfully given you by the 
Secretary of the National Rifle Association in this city. 
Buaxe.—A very large white-fish will weigh six pounds, occasionally 
one has been caught of eight pounds. Generally two pounds is a very 
fair average. The exact orthography of the Maskinonge we can hardily 
give you. We have heard both Muscalon and Mascalonge. Mr. Scott 
gives its derivation, as coming from the Ojibwa “maskanonja.”’ We 
rather think the French ‘‘ Masquelonge,’ meaning a long-headed fish, as 
far.fetched The head is by no means out of proportion to his body. 
Morris.—Mr. Prime in his charming book ‘‘I-go-fishing,” notices al- 
most a similar fact as reported by you. He says: ‘I have seen a trout 
start from a point forty feet distance for a bait thrown into the Pemige- 
wasset and take it, and I was so much surprised that I measured the dis- 
tance.” We should be pleased to hear from you more fully. What we 
want is not merely a fisherman, but one who combines the naturalist’s 
habit of observation. 
A. H.—As courteously as possible we beg to state, that we must decline 
solving betting questions. It is not in our line. 
Dove.—The cost of the journey would be $200. Indian guides are not 
always to be had. If you start three weeks later than you propose you 
will be in good time. The calibre of your rifle is about right, We shall 
be glad to hear from you. 
BALrmore.—The fact you mention in regard to feigned lameness of 
birds, is quite novel, at least in this country, having perhaps escaped ob- 
servation. English writers have, however, mentioned it, and in a late 
number of the London Field you will see somewhat similar traits record- 
ed of the wood pigeon. . 
BROOKLYN BowLer.—Of course the match took place. Cricket would 
not be cricket in England without the Gentlemen vs. Players. The results 
were as usual, the Players were nowhere. If our memory serves us 
right, the two brothers Grace on the Gentlemen’s side made between them 
200 runs, The play took two days, and the Gentlemen won by fifty-five 
runs. This match has been played regularly for sixty-seven years, 
H. M.—For distances over 100 to 150 yards for rifle shooting, round 
targets are not advisable. At long ranges, it is difficult to communicate 
with the riflemen the exact position of his shot on a round target. How 
true it may be, however, that the four corners of the square, indicate 
better to the marksman the exact centre, we do not know. But very cer 
tainly at anything over 100 yards, better practice is made with a square 
than with a round target. The system of averages is even fairer than the 
one of measurement. Approximative precision is all we can look for now 
and all that it is needed at long ranges. 
Tuompson & Taa@e, Pa.—Your favor will appear in our next. 
G. V. L. Cincinnati.—The reply to your query is answered in part in 
our angling column. 
