The National tribune., 1882-04-29


In sowing annual Towering plants, like
nignonette or pctunias, in small patches
they can be covered with piece of paper
until they vegetate.
Complaints are also frequent concerning
seeds that purport to produce double flowers
In regard to these il should be understood
that they cannot be guaranteed to produce
none but double flowers, no matter how
carefully they may be saved. The tendency
is to run back to the single form, and il
so per cent. show double flowers it Will be
a fair average with most kinds
In setting out plants in the flower garden
such tender kinds as coleus, dahlias, and
heliotropes should be kept until the last
Verbenas and petunias may be planted
earlier, but any plants that have been
brought forward in frames or in greenhouses
should undergo a "hardening-off" process
that is, they should be gradually exposed
until they become accustomed to the weather
before being set out to full exposure to sum
light and cool nights
The grouping or planting of ornamental
and Towering plants calls forth much in
| genuity; it is oftcntimes overstrained and
meretrcious. Simplicity is one of the ele-
ments Of beauty. \ centre Of broad-leaved
cannas surrounded by petunias make fine
bed; so does a group of scarlet geraniums
surrounded with white Drummond phlox
or white ycrbcnas. A bed of white tea
| roses carpeted with scarlet verbcnas forms a
pleasing combination. Nothing can well be
more satisfactory for Towering than a bed
Of portUlaccas, with a plant or two of
abutilon to relieve its flatness
Since lawn mowers have become plentiful
and cheap the keeping OF good lawns has
been vastly simplified; it required skill in
the use Of the scythe 10 keep lawns closely
cut with that implement The grass should
be cut once week in good growing weather
1t has been recommended to leave the cut
grass as mulch, but this is only allowable
when the weather is dry and the grass thin !;
if continued it will destroy the lawn
Evergreen trees and shrubs are most sue
cessfully transplanted just as they begin to
make fresh shoots. These should not be
mixed indiscriminately with deciduous
trees; neither should large growing ever
green trees be placed close to dwellings on
the south side. A dwelling house nesting
on the sunny side of an evergreen plantation
is cheerful and comfortable looking on
wintry day, but when the evergreens are on
the south front the effect is gloomy and
cold.
This is the best season for clipping ever
green hedges, and for trimming box edgings.
1t is rare sight to see a well kept edging
of box; the plants are either allowed to grow
tall and struggling, or cut square on top, and
given the monopoly of both borders and
walks, as if the sole purpose Of the garden
was that of growing box hedges AS mar
ginal line, defining the garden walk from
the plant borders, and where the climate is
suitable for its healthy growth, no other
plant is so useful as box, but it should never
be allowed to exceed six inches in height
and be kept cut so as to appear like an in
verted Y. The most beautiful box edeing
we ever saw looked, like thick rope laid
alongside of the walk The true dwarf va
riety can readily be cut and kept in any
desired shape. tGs
In planting vineyard, dor~ an arbor, with
grapes, the young plants should be cut down
within two or three inches of the ground
then when young shoots begin to grow rub
them all off except one or two. If two are
retained, pinch the point out of the weakest
in the course of two OF three weeks, but al
low the main shoot to grow uninterrupted
during the season. The more foliage the
plant makes the more roots will be formed:
nothing is more certain in the management
of all kinds of plants than this, that the
more foliage plant produces the stronger
will be its root formation.
In the management of bearing grape vines,
the first attention required after the shoots
have made two or three inches of growth is
disbudding; that is, where clusters of shoots
appear, to rub them of, except the strongest
one. 1t is better to remove them at this
time than to leave them for six or eight
weeks, and then prune them off. Many
grape vines are ruined for the season by this
kind of summer pruning. If buds appear
dIc DOJ Wdnteu CnD t0em Oil
this operation does not check the growth of
the plant because there is no sensible re-
moval of foliage; but let it be delayed until
each bud has grown to a shoot eighteen
inches in length, and if they are then re-
moved great injury will be the result. For
the same reason, as soon as the shoot will
allow the selection pinch out the tips four
leaves beyond the fruit bunch, and in this
way all growths can be managed without
paralyzing the plant at midsummer by prun-
ing out a mass Of healthy foliage.
Strawberry beds should not be disturbed
by hoe or plOw until the fruit has been gath
cred. If weeds require removal, pull or cut
them up with as little disturbance to the !
soil as possible No plants show the good |
effects of irrigation so much as strawberries |
in dry weather when the fruit is forming.
Some kind of mulch, to keep the fruit |
clean as well as to preserve moisture around |
the plants, should be employed The short
grass from lawn cuttings straw, or chatf if |
laid carefully around the plants, will more |
than repay all trouble in the increased crop. |
and particularly in the cleanliness of the |
fruit Strawberries gritty with sand and !
soil are unfit for use.
PLANTING STREET TREEs.-The best trees
- ~,1o,,A -, IN tho oiJae oc ,o,,I1;o