FOREST AND STREAM. 
133. 


ing teeth, and shouting the fierce warcry of the tribe, they 
seemed transformed by the passions of the moment into 
demons. For several hours we followed on the trail of 
the Tetons, but finding that they had divided, returned to 
camp. 
On a cloudy, cheerless day, when to lie wrapped in a buf- 
falo skin and smoke seemed the only comfort, Poor Bull 
came with news that his young men had signalled a herd 
of elk. <A ride of nearly two hours brought us to the hills 
where the scouts were stationed, but they reported that 
they had only repeated signs given by scouts beyond. A 
drizzling rain set in, but two of the Indians, lying down a 
little apart, motioned me to lie in the middle, and, covered 
by their friendly blankets, I passed a comfortable night. 
Numerous lizards shared our bed, and dashed away with 
surprising rapidity when we shook the saddle cloths next 
morning. Trumbo and several of the Indians started before 
daybreak, with instructions to shoot at elk only. The rest 
of us, hugging the remaining of the last night’s fire, smoked 
in lieu of eating breakfast. Suddenly a rifle shot rang out 
on the air, and looking through the grass on the hill, our 
eyes were blessed by asight that banished all thoughts of 
cold or hunger. A herd of elk were making directly for us, 
downwind, at a shuffling kind of trot, followed by Trumbo 
and his party. Leaving four of the Indians to watch, we 
mounted our ponies and moved to the right and left, care- 
fully keeping from sight, until, at a sign from above, we 
rode around the hill just as the elk, with tremendous strides, 
came down the last swell of rising ground and turned to 
avoid the steep ascent. Catching sight of us, they dashed 
up, and at the brow received the shots of the Indians sta- 
tioned there. They hesitated for an instant, then with 
heads thrown back, at a fierce gallop, their hoofs clattering 
af every bound, turned into the hollow, and we closed in 
upon them. Panic stricken at the wild yells of the Indians, 
most of the herd huddled in on one another, while from 
twanging bow and rifle sped death right and left. Hunters 
and hunted were mixed in inexplicable confusion. The 
dust enveloped us ina cloud. Notwithstanding the excite- 
ment and close shooting, but one hunter was seriously in- 
jured. My pony was badly cut in the neck and _ side, sev- 
eral others were cruelly scarred, and one received an arrow 
in the shoulder. The long upper lips, tongues, and palates, 
cut from a dozen of the elks, were roasted on ‘our hunting 
knives, and we ate as only men that have fasted for twenty- 
four hours can eat. The Indians carefully removed the six 
incisors from the lower jaws for ornaments. Flensing the 
carcasses, and packing the meat and skins on our tired 
horses, amid shouts and exaultant songs, we returned to 
camp. It was late before the fires were deserted and quiet 
reigned in the village. Yet in the midst of this general re- 
joicing there were anxiety and trouble. Two of the war- 
riors that followed the Teton trail had not appeared, and 
long after the skins were drawn, shutting out the night, 
the discordant sound of the drum and doleful chant of the 
medicine man told of faithful wrestltng for their safe re- 
turn. 
On our return we followed the beautiful valley of the 
Keya Pake, under the shadow of the Turtle Hills beyond, 
and camped, on the evening of the hottest day we had ex- 
perienced, at its confluence with the Niobrara. All through 
the afternoon the muttering of distant thunder and a fitful 
glare along the horizon told of a coming storm. After the 
evening meal we gathered in groups but the pipe passed 
silently. The usual sounds of mirth were wanting. Nota 
preath of air stirred, and a feeling of awe oppressed us all 
at the solemn stillness that hung over the valley. Presently 
a few drops fell silently, and we separated to our several 
lodges. A fierce rushing wind, a torrent of driving rain, 
and the storm was uponus. Flashes of forked lightning 
fired the camp with lurid light, while peals of rattling thun- 
der seemed to shake the’ very foundations of the earth. 
Mardi and the ‘‘little woman” lay grovelling on the ground, 
moaning a song tothe angry elements. Leaping Thunder 
sat stoically awaiting his fate, equal to either fortune. 
Trumbo and I reclined on the buffalo skin in momentary 
expectation of a revelation of the Great Secret. Suddenly 
from across the camp came a piercing shriek, followed by 
a prolonged low wail, as it were the sob of nature. Guided 
by the incessant flashes we hurried to where a number of 
Indian women were gathered about two shattered lodges, 
the inmates of which lay insensible among the ruins. Re- 
moving the rubbish, we carried them to the grass, and 
strove by every means in our power to restore them to con- 
sciousness. Three revived, but a brave and his squaw were 
dead. Wrapping the bodies in our blankets, we laid them 
side by side in a lodge, and left them with their friends. 
Before daybreak they were buried. 
Early the next morning The Fat brought to our lodge 
several bundles of willow twigs, and requested us to count 
them. They numbered 1,082, and represented the deer, 
antelope, and elk killed on the hunt. No account had been 
kept of the smaller animals, which would have added 
largely to the list. The Indians decided not to move, and, 
although forty miles from the Missouri, I resolved to push 
forward and catch the stage due at the reservation soon 
after midnight. With Trimbo, and an Indian named, from 
having lost an eye, The-Fire-is-Quenched, as a guide, I rode 
from camp, pausing a moment by the new-made grave. On 
the fresh earth some faithful hand had placed a bowl of 
stewed meat and several bunches of wild cherries, to feed 
the dead on their journey to the happy hunting-grounds. 
We lingered an instant on the bluff to take a last look at 
the encampment, then shouted ‘‘Good-by,” and galloped 
across the prairie. Before reaching the Missouri, Trumbo’s 
horse gave out. Nothing disheartened, his rider dismounted, 
and with lariat in hand trudged on singing as he went. He 
was a glorious hunting companion, ‘‘a fellow of infinite jest, 
of most excellent fancy,” cool in the moment of danger, 
and fertile in expedients. ‘‘May he live long, and prosper.” 
Late in the day we reached the river, and a volley from our 
rifles brought the boat from the opposite shore. Under the 
porch of the mess-house we told of ‘hair-breadth ’scapes,” 
and dreamed at night of our dusky sweethearts. — 
It was with regret that I bade adieu next morning to the 
friends that had so kindly welcomed me, and took my seat 
in the stage. A tedious ride of two days and a night, and 
we rattled up in true Western style to the Hubbard House 
in Sioux City. On the rails for three days, and my glorious 
summer trip was ended.—[Tuxo. E. Lexps, in the Galacy. | 

—Mr. Etheridge has put up a handsome monumént on 
his lot in the Slawson cemetery. He has his name and birth 
on its face, and beneath the space left for the death is this 
beautiful but somewhat premature observation: ‘* None 
kuew him but to love him.” : 
Aoodland, Zawn and Garden. 
HEDGES AND THEIR USES. 


No. VI1.—Tut Evrorpean Larcn,(Lariz.) 
THE Wuite Spruceg, (Alba nana.) 
oe ge 
*‘He gives all points, who pleasingly confounds, 
Surprises, varies, and conceals the bounds— 
Calls in the country, catches opening glades, 
Joins willing words, and varies shades from shades; 
Now breaks, or now directs the intending lines; 
Paints as you plant, and, as you work designs.” 
Porz. 
—_+>—_——_ 
HE choice of the plants from which we are to con- 
struct our hedges, in the different parts of our country, 
will much depend upon the soil, situation, or what we call 
face of the climate, as well as from the especial object for 
which the hedge is intended. The trees already named in 
all cases, not only make admirable barriers as large hedge 
rows when so desired, but are well adapted for screens for 
excluding from gaze disagreeable objects of almost any 
kind. 
Instead of ‘‘growling” about an unsightly object, whether 
it bean old dilapidated tumble-down building, uncouth 
barren rocks &c., as some farmers do, why not set your 
brain to work out acure? Evils will to a greater or less 
extent always exist in this world, and the true philosophy 
it seems to me is to look things squarely in the face, and 
see if they do not admit of aremedy. Here is on one side 
of a nicely located field, a pile of rocks, in which the owner 
of this field can see neither comeliness, or value. He 
wishes ‘‘they were where he could not see them.” Well, 
friend, why stand and look at them; why fold your hands 
over them? Go to work and remedy the defect, out of this 
uncomely mass of grey rocks bring beauty and gladness, 
usefulness and value. ‘‘Hew can I do this,’ doyou en- 
quire? Easily, readily And with the two trees combined 
named at the head of this article. In the European Larch, 
and the White Spruce, you have your working material. 
These trees are well adapted for just such a situation as 
T have here destribed.* True, such a situation requires much 
skill and judgment in aselection of the right kind of trees 
or plants! with which you are to work with any degree of 
success. You havea difficult task perhaps before you, 
yet it is one of the difficulties, you should delight to over- 
come. 
The Larch, although one of the coniferous trees, is not an 
evergreen, but a sub-ever green, shedding its leaves in 
winter. 
There are two species of this tree deserving our especial 
attention, as lawn, or hedge plants, shelters, or grouping 
trees. The two kinds of Larch much in use by American 
landscape gardeners, do not differ very materially in their 
botanical characters. Both in good deep rich soil grow to 
a great height, flinging their long arms far and wide, and 
are in spring-time graceful and beautiful objects upon the 
lawn. 
The terminals of the Larch are small, and thickly set 
upon the stems, set irregularly and at right angles with the 
main stem. There is a singular formation in the growth of 
these branches; they are not like the branches of many 
other species of trees set in whorls. They throw out much 
spray, with but little if any character. 
The European Larch is the handsomest tree, and differs 
from its American brother by its long, drooping or hang- 
ing spray, falling perpendicularly from its horizontal 
pranches, gaily dancing in the breeze like a thing of life, 
giving a grace and beauty of outline raely if ever surpassed. 
The American Larch} has much shorter spray, and unlike 
the European, it is not pendant or drooping. It is a sturdy 
tree, strong and well knitted together, having much less of 
beauty than the European, it has more firmness, and all 
the elements that contribute to a good timber tree. It not 
unfrequently happens, that as the American variety attains 
height, it looses its tapering form and becomes a flat-head- 
ed tree of irregular and sometimes very grotesque shape. 
The Larch in European countries is a tree much valued 
from the fact that it is surpassed by no tree as producing a 
more valuable wood for ships, spars and naval uses, being 
light, tough, and straight. Vast forests of the Larch cover 
portions of Europe, producing as a fertilizer, an almost un- 
pounded supply of compost from the decomposition of its 
foliage. Its habits being so thrifty and tenacious of life, 
we find the American Larch the plant our friend is in pur- 
suit of, and which we recommend him to use to cover up 
‘this pile of naked stones.” This American variety, when 
a young hedge plant some two feet in height, (which is the 
size he should use,) always tends to uniformity and sym- 
metry of shape. Our readers, andall who have ever studied 
the vagaries of the tree, (habits, perhaps were a better word) 
will not have failed to notice the very material difference 
between an old anda young Larch. The young, fresh, 
green tree of two to three feet is perfect in foliage and sym- 
metry, yielding gracefully to almost any training, and free 
from the fantastic, irregular and unique shapes of the 
same trees of older growth. 
Having chosen this tree, as we suppose you have, to cover 
these roads with a greenness and beauty now to them un- 
known, you will commence operations something in this 
manner:—First, you will form your,trench excavation, 
‘whether the same bea gentle curve or an irregular one, 

*This adaptation of hedge, of the kind called the barrier hedge, is not 
often put to a severer test than the one in question, yet even here it is a 
snecess. é 
+The American Larch has been for many years known in this couhtry 
under its Indian eognomen, or '‘Hackmatack,’’ 
, first the White Spruce. 
within four feet of the base of the objects to be screened 
or concealed from the view. This irregular trench is to 
be made two feet and one half deep, two feet wide, and the 
soil well mellowed, and cast into the trench again to the 
depth of one foot or more; upon this earth you will plant 
This line of plants nearest the 
rocks, will be of that compact character that will offer a 
strong resistance to the entrance of foes from without, which 
is one of the objects to be considered in every good hedge. 
Plant these White Spruce plants four feet apart and have 
the same conform as much as possible to the outline of the 
base of your pile of rocks or other objects you desire to 
cover. 
Now for the character and manner of setting the White 
Spruce, which makes your first line an almost impenetrable 
one of itself. The character of White Spruce, makes it 
an admirable and valuable plant for a cover plant; it possesses 
short vigorous limbs, short cones, smaller than those of the 
Norway, as we have before noticed, in our notices of this 
tree in another place. A very remarkable characteristic 
of this species is the manner in which its branches are 
thrown out, and the leaves cover the whole circumference 
of the branch, always being cylidrical. Hence its great 
value as a screen of the first quality. 
Presupposing the first row, or the White Spruce, is well 
set, four feet apart, in each row, with good symmetrical 
plants, firmly imbedded or fixed in their places, you have 
or should have quite a pleasant looking, trim hedge of the 
White Spruce four feet in height, trim and nice. 
Now you will set your second line, composed of the Euro- 
pean Larch, if you desire a drooping outside line or line next 
the field. This line is to be set if you can afford the room, 
seven feet or less as you please from the first, or row 
already set. If you require a sturdy outside row next the 
field, you will use the plants of the American Larch, or 
Hackmatack for this purpose. The trees in this row should 
be set in guinewa, or thus’... the Larch plants opposite the 
spaces of the first row of Spruce. By this manner of set- 
ting your hedge you compact your screen, and from almost 
any point your pile of rocks is veiled from sight. This 
arrangement is often used in landscape adornment, and for 
purposes of beautifying grounds where it is required to 
cover, in part or whole, some unpleasant aspect. This is 
one of the slowest growing hedges, yet will give entire sat- 
faction to the careful owner of the same. 
The#reatment of this kind of screen is somewhat differ- 
ent from that employed-upon the simple four feet in height 
hedge of either the above kinds of plants. After planting 
and mulching well the above trees, they require but little 
further attention, as they are intended to make a tree, and 
not arow hedge. They assume in some six years after 
the planting a complete and compact, impenetrable row, 
which will effectually turn from the enclosure all domestic 
animals. 
As belt lines this kind of barrier is perhaps the best of all 
the cheap hedges, easily made, and lasting a life time. 
When used as low line hedges, only these trees are planted 
in the hedge, in the same manner as most other hedge 
plants, and when composed of either one or the other of 
the above, should be trimnfed but slightly the second year, 
and not trimmed at all the first season after planting. The 
second year the trimming of the Spruce should be confined 
to simply cutting those branches at the bottom which ex- 
tend more than two and one half feet from the trunk of the 
plant. Do not prune the leader at any time until you have 
obtained a good compact form of hedge, as high as 
you desire the same to be. Youcan then clip the leader, 
and afterwards your hedge is to kept at this height for all 
time. You can give it a square cut on top, or a slanting 
cut from both sides, leaving the hedge highest in the centre. 
Hedges of this kind are left on the farm one foot to eight- 
een in width. And the cutting at the base being two feet 
to two and one half from the centre of the same gives you 
a very well proportioned and lasting form of hedge This 
rule will answer asa guide for most of the evergreen hedge, 
and we can safely recommend the use of the same. 
The Larches, both European and American, may be used 
to great advantage for plantations, and its very thrifty 
habits, on lofty elevations, place it at the head of any other 
tree we know of.§ 
The foliage of this sub-evergreen when in verdure, is 
always beautiful, and when in the springtime its blueish 
green first appears, tinting the brown stems which have 
laid dormant all the winter, it may be said to have put on its 
resurrection garments and awakened to a new and more 
beautiful life. At this season it is, when the bright crim- 
gon cones of the Larch first begin to show themselves; 
these are truly the June blosoms, and are among the 
minor beauties of this always attractive plant. 
The Larch extends over quite a large tract of country in 
the United States but is much more abundant in the States 
of Maine and New Hampshire, than any of the other States. 
This tree may be found above the river St. Lawrence, as 
far as Hudson’s Bay. At this place it frequently forms min- 
ature forests of several miles in extent. 
OLLIPOD QUILL. 

+The Larches have not been very extensively used separately, either 
one of them; yet so far as they have been used have given good satisfac- 
tion. 
ilpin, who may be considered as the best authority, when s eaking 
of eee nabits and tenacity of the Larch, says:—‘‘It claims the Alps 
and the Appenines for its native country, where it thrives in higher re- 
ions of the air than any other tree of its consequence 1s known to to do, 
anging over rocks and precipices which have never been visited by mor- 
tal footsteps. Oftenit is felled by some Alpine ee and thrown 
athwart some yawning chasmi, where it affords a tremendous passages 
from cliff to cliff, while the cataract, roaring many fathoms below, i# 
seen*only in surges of rising yapor.”’ 
