Galvanized wire should be always
used, on account of its durability.
Osage orange hedges require more care than buckthorn, in assorting
plants of equal size and vigor, and the rejection of feeble plants. Like
all other hedge plants, they should be set in a single line, and eight
inches apart is a suitable distance. For the first few years the ground
must be kept well cultivated. It is partly tender and will not endure
the winters at the North, unless on a well-drained soil. Hence the
importance of placing a good tile drain parallel to the hedge and within
a few feet of it. Thus protected, good hedges have stood for twenty-five
years where the thermometer has often shown ten or twelve degrees below
zero, and sometimes lower.
No hedge is more commonly mismanaged than the Osage orange. It is
planted in imperfectly prepared ground; vigorous and feeble plants are
planted indiscriminately, cultivation and pruning are omitted or not
done thoroughly, resulting in broken and irregular lines. When more care
is given, the hedge is nearly spoiled by being pruned too wide at the
top, the heavy shade above causing meagre growth and openings below.
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