The Portland daily press., 1881-11-22
Leaves for 1eas.Mould and Mulchi

Rake together lot of tree leaves for leaf
mould while you can get them in quantity,
and pile them up in one corner of the yard
or ont-of- -the-wa, nook anywhere, where
they can be kept damp and will not be blown
away few sticks or branches pl iced a.
round the pile, or some rank litter scattered
over it, will keep them In place. Have the
leaves as clean as possible, as many sticks
10 it induce an injurious fungoid growth.
The husks of beechnuts are as bad as sticks.
Oak leaves are most desired for mould, and
as they remain longer on the trees than do
those of naples, magnolias, elms and lin
dens, most gardeners rake up the common
leaves for mulching, fralne-lning and the
manure or rot heap, and afterwards gather
the oak tree leaves for their leaf mould pile.
Leaves for mould should be turned two or
three times within year, and at no time be
allowed to get dry.
Cold frames are usually banked around for
the winter with earth, ashes, manure, or
leaves. prefer the leaves, because ii kept
dry, they are the warIns st covering. They
must be packed very solidly into place, and
if little rank litter or other strawy ma
terial be mixed with them, it will serve to
bind them together. A board, some we'll
packed manure, earth or sod laid along on
the top will help to keep out wet, for the
drier the leaves are kept the more FROST
proof will they be.
Leaves are first-rate mulch for shrubbery
beds, and little earth scattered over them
will keep them in place. In the case of rho
dodendrons, kalmias, and other evergreens
not conifer,us, the winter mulching may
re main during summer as pr0tectlon
ap ainst drouth, and III decay as food Tor the
bushes. This is how the splendid rhododen-
drons at Wellesley are treated. In the front
ward this summer mulching might be un-
IL tho laof.
mould pile are the best substitute. Decidu
GUS shrubs as diervillas, mock oranges,
deutzias and lilacs are very fond of leaf
mould as food, but in poor land old manure
would do them deal more good
The leaves of pines, ,spruces and other con-
ifers make the very best kind of mulching
for trees and shrubs of any sort, also for
herbaceous plants.
Tree leaves as general winter covering
over herbaceous plants, in thickness or COM
pactness no greater than we find over wild
plants in the woods, are beneficial, but when
artificiaIly applied, we should be very care
full and consider well the nature of the
plants to be covered, and act accordingly.
For instance, evergreen plants like cushion
pinks. hardy statices, thrift, canterbury bells,
spring phloxes aid the like, should not be
covered overhead with leaves, because snow
and rain are apt to mat the leaves together
and rot them, and thus rot or bleach tn I,
plants they were meant to save; but they may
be set around those plants with good effect,
and some twigs or strawy material placed
over arI. BIT we may lay them over the
crowns of mist flower, perennial coreopsis,
sednms, Japanese grasses tEutaha), Arun.
do dondr, loosestrife, and most other plants
whose stems die down wholly to the ground.
In the case of bleeding heart (DicintrG spec
tabilis), gypsophilas, perennial poppies and
other plants with thick, feshy roots, can
not favor tree leaves as mulching, because
they attract and harbor wire worms, which
are most destructive to these roots.
In case of Liliuna longJforum, pdrddt-
iuna, pdrUunl, cdrniolicun1, and others
that start into growth late in spring, you
may mulch over with leaves to any extent,
but in the case of hdflsoni, chdtcedonicunn.
testacuns and others that start into growth
quite early, leaves are bad cOvering-bet-
ter use leaf mould or rotted manure. l am
averse to covering bulb-beds with leaves in
any way because should growth begin be-
fore the mulching is removed, as is usually
the case with snowdrops, crocuses, winter
aconites, spring beauty, crown imperials,
ionquils, and several other kinds of narcisus,
bulbous irises, squills and other early bloom
ers, the mulching does much evil; 1t 5leaches
the plants and renders them an easy prey to
soaring winds or strong sunshine. Ii bull
bous plants are perfectly hardy, should
not mulch them; if a trife unreliable, l
should mulch with leaf-mould, or old ma
nure, and allow the same to remain on the
beds after the plants had started TO grow !;
and spread over all some fern hay. flags,
rough sedge or branches, which could be
easily removed or set aside as growth ap-
peared.-Coutry Gentleman.