The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1878-06-27
FARM TOPICS.



Live fences are both attractive, use
full and indestructible, if only durable
and hardy plants for the purpose can be
procured. Much of the beauty of the
English landscapes is owing to the al
most universal hedgerows of the sweet
Towering hawthorn, in which myriads
of small birds find shelter for their nests.
As harbor for birds and as a protec-
ton against sweeping winds, as well as
an agreeable feature of the landscape,
living hedges are exceedingly desirable.
Unfortunately for us there are some
drawbacks to their use here which are
insurmountable. Our climate, both d.
rectly and indirectly, is unfavorable to
the growth or safety of most of those
plants which are useful for the purpose.
The heats of summer produce disease;
the frosts of winter inlure or destroy;
the rigors of the coolest portion. of the
year drive small vermin beneath the
shelter, where, to preserve their exist
ence, they gnaw the bark and destroy
the hedge. Thus, repeated failures,
after costly efforts, have caused an al
tentireabandonment of hedge-plant-
ing everywhere but in the Western
States, where there is scarcely any other
resource than this for fencing.
Nevertheless, there are many places
and occasions where and when live
fences or hedges would be appropriate
and useful. There are ornamental
grounds, lawns, gardens, and farms
which would be greatly improved in APP
pearance, and be safely protected, by
hedges. For all these purposes there
are a large choice of plants. We can
make hedges of black spruce, hemlock,
arbor-vit@, privet, barberry, Usage
orange, and several other plants. Of all
these, the first two are by far the most
beautiful and practically useful for the
purpose to which they are applied, viz:
the Enclosure of lawns, large and small,
and gardens. For farm use there is no
choice but the last mentioned, as this
only is of sufficiently easy growth and
hardness to succeed Overa large length
and breadth of our territory.
The methods of preparing the soil, of
planting, and of caring for a hedge, of
whatever kind it may be, are alike for
all kinds and varieties of hedge-plants.
The safety and prolonged life of the
hedge depends altogether upon con-
Quoting these operations in the most
skillful manner 1t will not do that the
hedge be planted, although this may be
done in the best manner, and left to
take care of itself. The numerous I'M
happy failures seen on every hand prove
this very forcibly. There is needed a
very careful cultivation and nursing for
several years, and after that an annual
trimming to preserve the hedge in good
condition, The proper methods are as
follows:
Preparation for the Hedgeroa0. The
ground should be prepared by deep
blowing, manuring, and thorough har-
rowing If the soil is wet it must be
drained by bitches upon each side, and
the elevation of the center sufficiently
high to keep the roots clear OF water.
The hedgerow should be at least six feet
wide. To begin, the center of the row
should be opened out by deep open
furrow, and this should be stirred as
deeply as possible by passing back and
forth once or twice in it with the plow.
A liberal allowance of good compost or
weil-rotted manure, if the soil is poor,
should be given, and covered by turn
ing the soil back into the furrow upon
the manure. The land is then double
ridged, until the center is raised at least
foot above the sides of the row, and
the surface is then thoroughly har
rowed.
The Selection of the Plants.-No
hedge should ever be attempted by SOW
ing the seed in the row. This would
bring certain failure, for the reason
that the plants would be very irregular
in strength and size, when, on the con-
trary, they ought to be of very even
growth-and. of the greatest vigor. Thrift
ty 1-year-old plants from nursery
should be chosen, if the hedge is of
Usage orange, privet, barberry, or
thorns, while if of any of the ever
greens, thrifty plants not more than Is
inches in height should be chosen.
Pla11ting.sThe row should be pre-
pared by opening furrow u inches
wide and inches deep in the precise
place where the plants are to stand.
This furrow must be perfectly straight,
without crooks or bends. The plants,