Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1883-05-31
Hedges and Hedging.

The surrounding of gardens and
farms with hedges or live fences is an
imported idea, originating in a country
where labor was. abundant and where
trees and shrubs withstand severe prun-
ing with far less injury than they do in
the United States. In Great Britain,
whence we have derived our notions of
hedges and evergreen trees, the clipped
yeW and the closely shorn hawthorn
hedge were at one time the things which
tested the skill of the gardening fra
ternity, but nowadays the distorted yew
is not considered thing of beauty, and
the hawthorn hedges are disappearing
on many farms which were once cut up,
in checker-board style, with lines of
living green. That the hawthorn hedge
is beautiful object when in bloom, leaf
or loaded with fruit, no one will deny;
but it occupies more land than a fence,
is refuge for many kinds of vermin
and requires much land to keep it in
order. In Great Britain good land is
too valuable to be used or occupied with
hedges, and in the United States labor
is too costly to employ it in keeping
hedges in order, especially on the farm.
If hedges are not pruned annually
they soon become Unsightly and worth
less, either for use or ornament. In the
thousands of miles of hedges set out in
the Western States, one seldom finds
even one mile that has been properly
pruned after the first two or three years,
and the result is long rows of brush, but
not hedge that will turn stock, or that
could be considered an ornament to the
farm. To keep a hedge in order costs
more than the repairs required on an
ordinary wood fence, and where timber
is plentiful and cheap, boards or rails
are the best material for making a sub
stantial fence. The barbed wire is GER
tainly a great invention, and while we
cannot say that we like it as fencing
material, there is no denying its value
for all regions where timber is scarce or
dear.
A well-kept and well-grown hedge is
certainly very ornamental addition to
a farm or garden, and when the owner
can afford it we would recommend both
the deciduous and evergreen kinds, the
latter for ornament and protection from
cold winds, and the former in place of
fences. For evergreen hedges in this
country we have nothing better than the
hemlock spruce and the American arbor
vitae, as both bear the shears well, and
can be readily kept in a close, compact
form. Cattle will break into nearly all
kinds of eVergreens, although in the
South the evergreen thorn will usually
turn stock; but in the North this thorn
is somewhat tender, and where the
plants do not die down, the leaves are
cut by frOsts, leaving them a dull, yell
lowish color in winter. The hawthorn,
so much used in Great Britain for
hedges, does not succeed in this coun-
try; and while our native species grow
readily and soon make an almost i'm
penetrable hedge, they are so liable to
the attacks of various insects that they
cannot be recommended for this pur-
pose.
The Usage orange has long been a
favorite hedge-plant in the West, and it
is probably one of the best, but it grows
very rapidly, requiring constant atten-
ton in pruning; and if this is neglected
the lower branches die off, leaving the
stems bare at the very point where the
hedge needs to be thickest and best. 1t
is very thorny tree, and is not browsed
by stock, and for this reason ranks high
as hedge plant. In travelling through
the Western States some good Usage
orange hedges may be seen, but the
majority of them show neglect. In
stead of being an ornament to the farm,
they are decidedly the opposite, and the
farms they surround would look better
without them.
It is both a waste of time and money
to plant hedge of any kind if it is to
be neglected, for in such cases they are
neither useful nor ornamental, and il
will cost more to dig out the plants and
burn them than it did to purchase and
set them out. The three-thorned acacia
or honey locust is another very good
hedge plant for the North as well as
South, especially for farmers who want
a very strong hedge, but the plants
grow rapidly and require about the
same amount of care in the way Of
pruning as the Usage orange, although
they will thrive in colder regions or fur
Their north.
Having studied this subject of hedges
and hedging for a number of years, and
having had some experience with the
various kinds of plants used for this
purpose, we have come to the conclu-
sion that it is only where fencing timber
is very scarce that farmers can afford tC
plant hedges as. a fence to keep in theil
own or keep out their neighbors' stock
The first cost is but trifle, but the after
care in order to make the hedge effect
i've is where the real cost comes in. The
same is true with ornamental hedges in
gardens, for the annual pruning is al.
most equal to the first cost of pruning
OF course this is no objection where the
owner can afford it, but to those who
cannot, the hedge becomes an expensive
ornament or an unsightly object on &
mans grounds.-M. Y San.