Huntsville gazette., 1882-04-01
Usage Orange Hedges.

Wuc1 buC TitIlCn Hull O0ua0S WV
making their explorations in the Missls-
sippi Valley, they found near village
of the Usage Indians tree grown to the
height of thirty or forty feet, the foliage
and fruit of which SO closely resembled
in appearance the orange that it has re-
ceived the popular name OF Usage
orange. The wood of the tree has fine
grain, is tough and very elastic, and was
used by the Indians for bows. From this
fact it received the French name Bols
dare, which has been corrupted into
Bodark, by which name it is in some
sections now called. The tree belongs
to the natural order of UrticaceH, and
was named by Nuttall, Machura Auran-
tiacia, in honor of William Maclure, an
American geologist. 1t IS, however,
generally known as the Usage orange.
Although this tree naturally grows to a
good size, it bears cutting in exceeding
ly well, which, together with the fact
that its branches are well-furnished with
strong thorns, renders it peculiarly
adapted for hedges, especially in the
Middle and Southern States. 1t does not
succeed SO well in higher latitudes, for,
while quite hardy after two or three
years. growth, the young plants are
rather tender.
This tree does not perfect its fruit un-
less male and female trees are growing
in the same neighborhood. but there is
no difficulty in getting good seed from
perfect oranges, or purchasing from any
dealer in seeds. If. there be any ques-
ton about the quality, it can be settled,
and always should be, by mixing them
with moist sand and putting them in
warm place. If good, they will sprout
in few days; if not, they will become
soft and rotten. The seed will keep
year or two under proper conditions,
but much that is worthless is sold, and
it is always best to test it, as it is labor
and time lost to SOW unsOund seeds, as
well as disappointment and aggrava-
ton.
For hedges the seed is sometimes
sown in the rows where it is to remain;
but we think it is better to raise the
plants in beds and transplant them.
The beds should be prepared in fine, rich
mold, with great care, and the seeds
sown as early in spring as is convenient;
they should be placed about two inches
below the surface, and two inches apart,
in drills sufficiently far apart to admit
of cultivation, as the young plants must
be carefully tended and all weeds kept
down during the summer. At one year
old, plants should be large enough to set
in a hedge. In the meantime the place
where the hedge is to be established
should be plowed several times during
the summer, the grass, weeds, and sods
killed out, and fertilizers applied. In
short, nice, rich, friable bed should be
prepared for the reception of the plants.
The latter may be set in the fall or early
spring at the South, but in the more
northern States the spring is the time.
The tops of the plants should be cut off
to within six inches of the ground, both
because they will then be more likely to
live, and because they will throw out
more branches. If there are any long
central roots, usually called tap roots,
these should be shortened, leav-
ing none over foot long.
When the plants are ready, pre-
pare the hedge bed by narrowing or
otherwise leveling it, and draw a line
along its center, by which dig out a
trench to depth sufficient to accom-
modate the roots of the plants, which
should be set ten inches apart, and quite
as deep as or a little deeper than they
were in the seed bed. The rule
should be to set them so that when
the ground has settled, say in two
or three weeks, the plants would be
in the same relation to the sur
face as in their original position. The
soil should be placed firmly about the
roots, and with such care that
every little root or fiber should
come in contact with it. When
the plants are small and have few
fibrous roots, they may be planted with
dibble much more expeditiously than
with spade, but while we might COM
promise and consent to the use of the
trowel, we believe that the best results
can be obtained by the proper use of the
spade.
Many will not like the trouble of rails
ing the plants from the seed, and, in
deed, in many eases it will be prefera-
BILE to buy them from nurserymen.
which can usually be done for 50 Or $4
per thousand, and in considerable guam
titles for less A thousand plants will
set more than fifty rods, and the cost of
making a bed and raising plants would
pay for good many thousand, even if
you are successful, which is not always
the case. Beside, in buying them you
gain year at least in time. Some have
tried raising plants from cuttings OF
stems or roots, but this method is so un-
certain that we can not advise any to
try it. When the plants are well estab-
lished, which they should be after one
years growth, they should be trimmed
in just enough to give them goodly
shape, but in after years they will, in
consequence of their robust growth, re-
.quire to be well cut into form in the
spring before the leaves start, and per-
haps receive little trimming in during
the summer.
Some have objected to the Usage
orange as hedge plant because of its
tendency to sprout freely from the root
While this occasions some labor in cut
ting out such sprouts as come where
they are not wanted, those that come
within the limits of the hedge growth
serve to thicken and improve it. As an
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