The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1892-04-14
JAPANESE GARDENING.
MINIATURE JUMPERS AND CE-
OARS A CENTURY OLD.
Tiny Cherry Trees in Full BIoom-Bear-
ing Fruit of Normal Size-The
Curious Stunning Process
Practiced,

Curious Stunning Process
Practiced,
The Japanese have the reputation
OF being wonderful gardeners says
the San Francisco Chronicle. but the
general American public does not
realize just how wonderful they are
1t is possible that nearly every intelli-
gent newspaper reader has heard of
the Japanese drawf cedars. 1t is safe
to say, however, that this same read
err thinks little or nothing of all that
is implied in that term until he is sud-
denly confronted with living speci-
men.
Think of it! In a blue and-white
porcelain pot, measuring less than one
cubic foot is gnarled juniper not
two feet in height yet whose stout
trunk and spreading limbs gave every
indication of full maturity. Nor is
this all. The pigmy patriarch is prob
ably at least 100 years of age. True,
this is a Japanese yesterday. But
where was our great and glorious re-
public when that tree was first planted
In that same porcelain pot?
A cedar: a juniper, bamboo,
palm Or a screw pine, and the story is
similar: At ID years of age an ever
green tree is no larger than an ordinary
sized bunch of violets. At 12O years
the screw pine, with perfect trunk and
palm-like fronds does not reach a
height of Is inches.
In a cedar and juniper strange to
say the messy foliage attains the u.s.
ual size seen in this division of conf
1ers In fir a palm or bamboo the
leaflets are CORRESPONDENCE dwa1fed
into what might be truly termed
''baby leaves" A cedar becomes GRO
tesque, as well as curious and inter-
estlng, when its branches are trained
round and round so that its greenery
will form perfect discs.
The practical Western man is in
clined to ask: why do the japanese
resort to such barbarous ingenuities
when they do not pay?" For it cannot
pay to raise such miniature monstros-
tiles. A dwarf cedar 10 years old can
be purchased for 81, and another a.
hundred years old for $12. Japanese
gardeners tell you that dwarfing is a.
very difficult art requiring twenty
years to learn. So far as the Orientals
will explain the process. they say that
it is necessary to keep the plant in
one pot and gradually lift it to prevent
its roots spreading. This lifting must
be done daily for years. The plant is
also "watered" with a secret mixture.
| made after a recipe handed down in
| Japan through many centuries.
The cedars make very little trouble.
After they have attained a certain
age they are not expected to grow
any more. They will live a long
time, needing no more care than a
little watering. like any ordinary
plant
The so-called Towering shrubs''
have also become the object of the
Japanese dwarfer's skill Imagine a.
cherry tree 10 years old but only 2
feet tall. Think of it growing in a.
common red earthen flower not, but
loaded with snowy blossoms of the
full natural size. It is just as easy to
Imagine a plum tree. In both of
these the flowers appear before the
leaves Strange to tell, the tiny trees
produce full sized fruit which attain
their proper color and are fit to eat.
Perhaps the strength of the plant is
kept in by what appears to be the
usual practice of chopping the ends of
the branches and twigs squarely off.
The beautiful magnolia stellata or
star blossomed magnolia is somewhat
of a rarity IN this country. 1t is oc-
casionally seen in parks and gardens
in company with other better-known
Japanese species of this superb genus
Scarcely so often on this continent is
it beheld in a reduced abnormal form.
But when so beheld it displays charms
all its own.
A little magnolia bush NAV stand
above the pot in which it is planted
about eighteen inches. The creamy
white blossom family tinged with
pink on the outside will be quite as
large as it ought to be on a bush
twenty feet high. So will the pale
green, velvety buds. But the little
o.'o'A AooStA' IOoolOly 1CS uugrdc6tul
form let some light into the secret of
the surprising size and vigor of the
buds. The bush is cut down to one
main branch, with an extra twig or
two at the root This reminds US of
one of the ways in which the Japanese
produce chrysanthemums-that is bv
pinching all the buds off the side of a
stalk and allOWinp the Stro,,r+L
OF the plant to run into one bud at the
top.
The dwarf azalea seems rather tall
for a dwarf. 1t may reach a height of
from 2 to p feet This does not look
very short in comparison with the
tiny, long-lived screw pines and frs,
particularly as an azalea bush, in its
natural state. never does grow very
tall. Still 2 feet is decided decrease
from 6 or 10. Perhaps the most sur
prising feature of the dwarfed azalea
is not its stunted stature, but its 70