The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1881-10-15

The discussion upon the desirability
of hedges will, probably, always 90 on,
and upon our prairies, where fencing
material is scarce, there will always he
those who will conclude to adopt
hedges to greater or less extent. All
the advantages and disadvantages OF
over and over again, and are pretty
thoroughly understood. A good hedge
is lasting and etfectual, and if properly
cared for-which it must be in order to
make q good fence-it is ornamental.
The Usage orange has increased in
popularity among the hedge plants,
and its hardness has recommended it
to those who live no further north than
the latitude of Chicago, and even
further north. When a good hedge is
once grown, good fence is not only
constructed, but it has been more
cheaply constructed than any other
fence can be. 1t requires some little
time to get a fence OF this character,
but when it is got you have one that
will not blow down or rot down, and
the time spent in trimming and caring
for it is not greater in the long run
than that expended upon common
fences.
The objections urged against hedges
the that they shade the land and bank
as we'll founded. Ii the hedge is al
lowed to grow to the size of trees the
shade will of course be detrimental, but
it is not supposed that farmer will
permit such growth, which will not only
destroy the value of the hedge as
fence, but will do the damage com.
planned of, And as to the banking of
snow the hedge is no more the cause of
that than a board fence is; and even
rail fence will do it. But the thing
itself is not Objectionable. On the con-
trary it is desirable. 1t is better to have
snow banked than to have it blown en-
tirely off We are not the only one who
has had a fine growth of wheat along
fences where the snow has been banked,
while other portions of the same field
upon which the snow did not lie pro-
duced very poorly. 1t will not do to
object to snow lying upon the ground,
and upon second thought no one will
do so. During such late seasons as our
last spring was, it may be inconvenient
w llthNC ollON plCcCI tAl u pun bllC
as it was along hedges late into the sea-
son; but such experiences are excep-
tiOnal, and do not furnish sufficient ba-
sis for the utter condemnation of hedges.
OF the kinds of hedge which have
been tried, as we have already said,
the Usage orange has proved the most
satisfactory and will be the hedge of
the future. There are some, however,
who, either through an imperfect
knowledge of the merits of the Usage
orange or from a satisfactory expert
ence with other hedges are not inclined
to try Usage. We now have before us
a communication relative to buckthorn,
and are especially asked as to the
method of saving the seed to plant If
the seed is gathered and dried they will
keep indefinitely. But we would not
advise its cultivation. 1t is of very
slow growth, and it is said by those
who have tried it that it is not suited to
this climate. Drouth affects it very
much. 1t requires three times longer
to bring it to maturity than it does the
Usage orange, and during two-thirds OF
the time it must be cultivated with
great care. We repeat that if anything
is to be used for hedging, use the Usage
orange. - Western Rural.