The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1880-06-10
How to Grow an Usage Orange Hedge.

How to Grow an Usage Orange Hedge.
There are two methods of raising the
Usage Orange, one from seeds and the
other from cuttings of the root. The
tree is di9ceous; that is. some of the
plants are male, bearing only staminate
flowers, while others bear pistillate
flowers and seeds, but both are alike
available for hedge purposes. Each
fruit produces large number of seeds,
about 5000 of them filling a quart meas
ure. The tree is closely related to the
Mulberry and its large orange-shaped
berry is an aggregation Of numerous
seeds with their pulpy adherent mat
ter closely compressed together and adj
herent.
1t will not do to SOW the oranges or
fruits in the soil in their natural state,
as it would be great waste of seed and
the plants would come up in thick clus-
tiers. The proper way is to buy the
seeds of some of our leading seedsmen
who have them by the bushel. The seed
is mainly procured in Texas or Arkan-
sas, and is obtained by washing the ripe
fruits in water until all the pulp is
washed away; the seeds are then dried
and are ready for market. The seed
should be sown either in autumn or
spring, choosing a good piece of we'll
MANFRED garden soil. well spaded and
pulverized. Open drills with a hOe-as
you would for peas-from six to eight
inches apart, SOW the seed about two
inches apart and cover them about an
~ Al, NNIns,
the autumn, they will not make their
appearance until next spring. When
the plants are up all they need is an oc-
casional hoeing or stirring of the ground
and to be kept carefully clean of weeds.
If the soil is very strong and rich, they
may be suitable for transplanting after
one We lr's growth, but they generally
require two years growth for this pur-
pose.
The best season for planting hedges
is as early in the spring as the ground
is mellow enough to work well. Spring
planting in our northern ATTITUDES is to
guard against the heaving out of the
young plants by the coming out of the
frost at the breaking up of winter.
Southwark, where this does not occur.
autumn planting succeeds very well.
The line of fence or hedge should be
laid out and plowed and finely pulver-
lied two or three feet wide; then stretch
a line for any convenient distance and
dig out trench eight or ten inches
deep, keeping its upright or firm bank
next the line; then on the opposite side
dig another trench six inches from the
81, ID -, thoen +ronaha-, cnf
the young plants twelve inches apart,
breaking joint in the second row with
those of the first line; that is, set the
plants of the second row midway of the
spaces between the plants of the first
row. As the plants are set, fill the earth
into the trenches and press it firmly
round the stems of the plants with the
foot, and finally, level the whole off
nicely with rake or hoe.
Previous to planting, the plants from
the seed-bed should be carefully sorted
out, and those of corresponding size and
strength planted together. Each plant
should be cut down, before planting,
to within two inches of its ground line
in the seed-bed, and all the larger roots
shortened back about One-third of their
length. Care must be had not to allow
them to become dried by the wind or
sun. The season after they are planted
each plant will throw up several shoots;
these are to be shortened back the
ensuing spring to within six inches
of the ground; and then for the en-
suing five or six years the growth of
each year is to be shortened back to
twelve inches, making the hedge
five and a half or six and a half
feet high at the end of the term.
The hedge should be kept gradually
trimmed on the sides as it grows, to
make it thicken, observing to so trim it
that the sides have sloping form, and
not perpendicular one. The sloping
form gives the light and rain a better
opportunity to act on the foliage than
does the perpendicular one, and so
prevents the hedge from becoming bare
at the bottom, and also prevents the top
of the hedge from being broken or
spreading out of shape owing to the
weight of heavy SHOWS in winter.
Early in the spring or in the autumn is
the best season for trimming a hedge;
summer trimming in this climate, ow-
ing to our intense summer heats, is al
WAYS injurious, as the plants are too
suddenly checked in their growth, and
are rendered liable to attacks of mildew
or other diseases.
No weeds, especially coarse-growing
ones, should be allowed to grow near
the hedge; they are sure to iniure it,
and often produce gaps in it by smoth-
ering its growth. 1t is only veXation and
vanity of spirit to plant hedge unless
you mean to take good care of it. Do
ing that. it is the cheapest and most
beautiful fence you can have. and fully
repays the cost and time it requires to
get it into shape. -RUraL Ne1O Yorker.