[Carpenter] Osage Orange Hedge Row articles

[Kevin Carpenter]

Just in case anyone is interested:

>From 1866: 
http://www.franklincountykansas.net/fcgs/v11/How%20to%20Grow%20Osage%20Orange%20Trees.htm

General background:  Before the invention of barbed wire in the 1880's,
many thousands of miles of hedge were constructed by planting young Osage
Orange trees closely together in a line.   The saplings were aggressively
pruned to promote bushy growth.  "Horse high, bull strong and hog tight." 
 Those were the criteria for a good hedge made with Osage Orange.  Tall
enough that a horse would not jump it, stout enough that a bull would not
push through it and woven so tightly that even a hog could not find its
way through!  After barbed wire made hedge fences obsolete, the trees
still found use as a source of unbeatable fence posts.  The wood is strong
and so dense that it will neither rot nor succumb to the attacks of
termites or other insects for decades.  The trees also found use as an
effective component of windbreaks and shelterbelts.

The end of this link talks about how to create a cattle fence: 
http://www.osageorange.com/Osage_Orange_P.html

>From 1848: 
http://books.google.com/books?id=R-CDJd4cYh4C&pg=PA89&dq=&as_brr=1&ei=Sx3TSbj2FZmYyAT9sqHBCg&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=&f=false

A good link briefly touching on multiple uses: 
http://www.urbanforestrysouth.org/resources/library/Citation.2004-07-16.3010/at_download/file_name

The kind folks at George White Nursery (MDC Seedling source) are going to
see if they can find any current literature (say, post 1900!) on creating
and maintaining such a fence for me.

I wonder if there is a "heritage fencing" group out there somewhere? <smile>

Kevin