NOTES ON HEDGING.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXIII, Issue 3037, 20 April 1867, Page 6

NOTES ON HEDGING.

Much has been said of late in agricultural papers on hedging, and its importance justifies all that has been or cau be said in its favour, as it is the method by which much of the enclosure of the farming lands of the prairie must of necessity in time at last be effected. Having during the past season travelled through a good many counties of Illinois and lowa in about the lititude of Chicago, and noting some of the defects in their system of management, I propose to point out what I conceive to be a radi l cal error in the general management of hedging. 1 do this with the more assurance, having been practically concerned with hedging for more than thirty years. I first began with the Virginian thorn, 1 sometimes called the Washington thorn, and, though tolerably successful, it has not been quite satisfac-j tory ; but for the last ten year 3 I have tried the osage orange, and with proper treatment I think it; the far preferable material. The hedges so prevalent in the West are of this material, but after being planted and got to growing, there the attention has generally ceased, when it should have but just began. Soon after I began , with the osage orange, I got Dr. Warder's book onj hedging, as soon as published, and have followed its directions and considered it a success. We now have a hedge that is proof against any stock, and> would almost turn a rabbit. The great secret of management is early and regular cutting back the upright shoots, leaving the side branches, thus dividing the growth and causing it to spread, and not allowing the upper shoots to develop and smother the lower ones, as they assuredly will do if allowed to grow unpruned. I would earnestly advise all who have hedges to get Dr. Warder's book and follow its teachings, and I am satisfied they will be amply rewarded. Those who have hedges, if not too large, had better cut them down at once and begin anew by trimming as directed. The great object is to get a thick bottom, and this can only be done by close cutting down while young : this will take some labour, it (is true, but what good was ever accomplished without labour? — and remember that it it working for future time. In first trimming we used a pair of large garden shears, but lately my son got an old sword blade and ground it up, and nsed that ; and this, if not literally turning a sword i *;o a ploughshare, is at least turning it into a pruning implement. And by giving this a backhanded upward stroke, an active hand can trim many rods in «■ day, from a quarter to half a mile. It should be a one when the shoots are tender, say a little after midbummer. Dr. Warder gives particular directions, from the sowing of the seed to the finishing of the hedge, with plates showing the different implements used. I see some have planted the seed where the hedge is to grow. This I think is not a good plan ; first, it requires more work to keep the young plants clean than if in a bed, and then there must he, more seed used than necessary, and some will have to be taken out, or we shall not be sure of enough to have the plants at regular distances that are left to grow. Our plan has been to plant in beds four feet wide -with alleys between, and the seed dibbled in rows across the bed wide enough apart to use a hoe between the rows. For planting the hedge, have the ground prepared beforehand ; then stretch a line with marks on it the distance apart for the plants, and then make a hole with a dibble at each mark, or insert the spade a little slanting, and raise the earth up by raising the spade ; then insert the plant under it, then withdraw the spade and press the earth on to the plant ; either method is soon done. I see by an advertisement that a machine has been patented for a hedge-trimmer by horse power ; this is what I have been looking for, thinking that our machinists would bring out one ere long, and if a good one it will bo a great desideratum, and make the labour of trimming much easier and more expeditious. Again, let me urge those who contemplate planting hedges to follow Dr. Warder's recommendations, and lam sure they will be successful ; and one need to travel but a little on the prairie country to see the want of success with the present management. There is one well-managed hedge near Richmond, Indiana, and it seems a perfect success, worthy to be followed. — Yardley Taylob in Prairie Farmer.