What eats hedge apples?

Squrrels love them.I've seen Deer dig them out of the Snow,tromp them and eat them.

big rockpile

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The town I grew up in has started a chuckin' contest, http://www.hedgeballchuckin.com/
It seems like a fun way to dispose of them.

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Well now you all have me wanting to grow Hedge apples.I have never seen them.Will they grow from the seed?The wildlife around here might enjoy something different for a change.

I worked at a large/small vet clinic in college and we saw a number of cows in the clinic who swallowed whole hedge apples. The fruit lodged in the throat of the cow. The result? Fresh steaks for the farmer. Nothing could be done for the cows - in all cases they were butchered.

My horses and the deer around here love them! I had to bring one of the fruit into work and look it up on the 'net to find out what it is was, though - I was afraid it might be unhealthy for the horses.

I also read that the trees can be pruned while they're young to make a nearly inpenetrable hedge or fence. May have to try that!

Pam <------------- likes the idea of using them as weapons, too....

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My horses love them, if one hits the ground it don't last long. Also when the biting bugs are bad the horses will run to get under a "Bois D`Arc" tree as it seems to repel they bugs. I have a neighbor who is chairman of the "southwest Spanish Mustang Assoc." He has told me these work as a natural wormer in horses as well. A well seasoned fence post will last 50 years in the ground and be so hard that you cant drill it. I've attempted to burn some seasoned wood but it don't burn. I have heard it is one of the woods that you can cut and burn green though. Over all this is a unique tree.

P.S. Only the female trees produce the "horse Apples"

use compressed air as a propellent, and dip the green cannonballs in used motor oil.

spud gun, mark II

Bow wood...sure, that's why it's called bois d'arc.

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In the early days of the 13 colonies, hedge apple was planted to eventually keep in livestock, which in most places roamed free until fences were built or grew. In some places in NJersey when I was a kid you could still find remnants of mile long hedges along old roads and old property lines. They call them mock oranges there.

I had to look them up too, the first time I saw one. They aren't common up here, but do occur in pockets of "Carolinian" forest. Never noticed anything eating them (but haven't spent a whole lot of time sitting on the side of the road waiting to see, either!)

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http://hedgeapple.com/

Planting Hedge Trees - Old Timers told our friend Clark Knapp that they started Hedge Rows by dumping the Hedgeapples in a barrel, letting them sit over the winter allowing them to freeze and thaw until spring when they were soft. They then mashed them, added water and poured the slurry into a plowed furrow and cover about a inch or two. They kept the hedgeapples moist during the winter by drilling holes and letting about 2 inches of water stand in the bottom (if all the fruit is left submerged for extended length of time, they will not sprout).

I have my barrel working in the back yard right now!! The tree is native to the Red River region between Texas and Oklahoma, but has been planted, mostly as hedge rows, in most of the contiguous 48 states. Only the female bears fruit. In confined areas they will grow upright as a tree. In open spaces they will bush out.... making them ideal for training into a hedgerow. It is a very hard wood, that when dried has an extremely high BTU.....

If anyone in Canada has seeds available I'd really be interested in a seed exchange! Seeds can't be sent across the border anymore.

Be careful of burning the wood. It pops real big. The wood when dry will dul a chain saw just like a rock. If you want to make fence post use the wood before it drys out or you will not get a staple in it.

I don't know when I'll be over that way next, but I'll try and remember to make a detour, and see if I can find some for you!

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Half Caper Farm - breeding Saanens, Boers and Nigerian Dwarfs

We have hundreds of Bois D'arcs on our land. One area we have a sign up: The Bois Park".

Something eats the hedge balls/horse apples. Sometimes we'll see a couple sitting on one of our benches 1/2 eaten & sometimes they'll be spread around an open area. We toss 'em into our neighbors pasture for their horses.

We have so many Bois D'arc trees that I've started naming them. (Yes, I'm pretty whacky) I should start a thread about that!!

Patty

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The new black horse, Prince Charlie, thinks Hedge apples are delicious! DD and I were out riding last fall along a county road. One of the neighbors has a line of trees that drop fruit right in the road.

Prince proceeded to eat a hedge apple through his bit, grossing us out to the max! The horse I was riding thought he would try a bite, since Prince made it look so good. He tried one bite, then rolled his eye at Prince as if to say, "what is WRONG with you?" We about fell out of the saddle laughing.

I don't know why it looks so gross, but it does....maybe the latex texture of the fruit?

YES, it burns fine as firewood...but...if you do choose to burn it indoors, you might want to stand way back and make sure the screen or stove door stays shut till it's all burned because it throws out sparks like crazy! In fact, right now I've got on my nice red t-shirt that has a burn hole in it thanks to that crazy yellow firewood.

Pookshollow- if you do, PM me, I have a pretty large seed collection and probably have something you could use.
Not knowing how big seeds are.... 50-60 trees-worth would be awesome, so long as they aren't bean-sized and cost a fortune to mail! Thanks!

I don't know that the apples are good for much, but the trees make fence posts that will last a lifetime.

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Much has been written about hedgeapples keeping spiders and other insects out of your house, but little has been written about the most important use, and that is to rid your body of cancer. I personally know several people who no longer have cancer, thanks to the wonderful hedgeapple. I take a teaspoon daily as a preventive measure. If you would like to check out the healing ingredient, it's called tetrahydroxystilbene. Hedgeapples are not poisonous as some people will try to make you believe. I have used it for several months, if it was poison, I would already be dead. But instead, my cholesteral has dropped 50 points, and other healing properties have been observed.
Other healing stories can be viewed on my website.
www.mullinslogcabin.net