Verdant  hedges  are  elegant  substitutes  for  stone  or
wooden  fences,  and  we  are  surprised  that  their  use  has  not
been  hitherto  more  general.  We  have  ourselves  oeen
making  experiments  for  the  last  ten  years  with  various
hedge-plants,  and  have  succeeded  in  obtaining  some
hedges  which  are  now  highly  admired.  Five  or  six  years
will,  in  this  climate,  under  proper  care,  be  sufficient  to
produce  hedges  of  great  beauty,  capable  of  withstanding
the  attacks  of  every  kind  of  cattle ;  barriers,  too,  which
will  outlast  many  generations.  The  common  Arbor  Vitm
(or  flat  Cedar),  which  grows  in  great  abundance  in  many
districts,  forms  one  of  the  most  superb  hedges,  without  the
least  care  in  trimming;  the  foliage  growing  thickly  down
to  the  very  ground,  and  being  evergreen,  the  hedge
remains  clothed  the  whole  year.  Our  common  Thorns,
and  in  particular  those  known  in  the  nurseries  as  the
Newcastle  and  Washington  thorns,  form  hedges  of  great
strength  and  beauty.  They  are  indeed  much  better
adapted  to  this  climate  than  the  English  Hawthorn,  whtch
often  suffers  from  the  unclouded  radiance  of  our  midsummei
sun.  In  autumn,  too,  it  loses  its  foliage  much  sooner  than
our  native  sorts,  some  of  which  assume  a  brilliant  scarlet
when  the  foliage  is  fading  in  autumn.  In  New  England,
the  Buckthorn  is  preferred  from  its  rapid  and  luxuriant


'    TREATMENT    OF   GBOUNO. ^FOEMATION    OF    WALKS.        297

f(rowth  ;*  and  in  the  middle  states,  the  Madura,  or  Osage
Orange,  is  becoming  a  favorite  for  its  glossy  and  polished
ibliage.  The  Privet,  or  Prim,  is  a  rapid  growing  shrub,
well  fitted  for  interior  divisions.  Picturesque  hedges  are
easily  formed  by  intermingling  a  variety  of  flowering
shrubs,  sweet  briers,  etc.,  and  allowing  the  whole  to  grow
t(^ther  in  rich  masses.  For  this  purpose  the  Michigan
rose  is  admirably  adapted  at  the  north,  and  the  Cherokee
rose  at  the  south.  In  all  cases  where  hedges  are  employed
in  the  natural  style  of  landscape  (and  not  in  close  con-
nexion with  highly  artificial  objects,  buildings,  etc.),  a
more  agreeable  effect  will  be  produced  by  allowing  the
hedge  to  grow  somewhat  irregular  in  form,  or  varying  it
by  planting  near  it  other  small  trees  and  shrubs  to  break
the  outline,  than  by  clipping  it  in  even  and  formal  lines.
