Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1892-06-25
JAPANESE GARDENING.
MINIATURE JUMPERS AND cE-
OARS a CENTURY OLD.
rIny Cherry Trees In Full Bioom-BeaF-
ing Fruit Of Normal size-The
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.
II is possible that nearly every intelli-
gent newspaper reader has heard of
the Japanese drawf cedars. II is safe
to say. however. that this same read
er thinks little or nothing OF all that
is implied in that term until he is sud-
denly confronted with living speci-
men.
Think OF III 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 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 a 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 yiolets. At I'D years
the screw pine. with perfect trunk and
paim-like fronds. does not reach
height of is inches.
In cedar and juniper strange to
say the messy foliage attains the us
ual size seen in this division of conf
fers In fir palm or bamboo the
leaflets are correspondingly dwalfed
into what might be truly termed
baby leaves. A cedar becomes gro
tesoue. as well as curious and inter
esting when its branches are trained
round and round. so that its greenery
viii form perfect discs.
The practical Western man is in
clined 10 ask: Why do the Japanese
resort 10 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 sl2. japanese
gardeners tell you that dwarting is a
very difficult art requiring twenty
years TO learn. So far as the Orientals
win explain the process. they say that
| it is necessary to keep the plant in
one pot and gradually lift it to prevent
It's roots spreading. This lifting must
be done daily for years The plant is
also ..watered" with secret mixture.
made after a recipe handed down in
Japan through many centuries
The cedars make very little trouble
After they have attained certain
age they are not expected to grow
any more They will live a Ions
time. needing no more care than
little watering, like any ordinar.
plant
The so-calIed Towering shrubs
have also become the object of tn
Japanese dwarfer's skill Imagine
cherry tree 10 years old, but only
feet tall Think OF it growing in
common red earthen flower pot bu
loaded with snowy blossoms of th
full natural size. 1t is just as easy I
imagine a plum tree In both O
these the flowers appear before tn
leaves. Strange TO tell. the tiny tree
produce full sized fruit which attai
their proper color and are fit to eat
Perhaps the strength of the plant i
kept in by what appears to be tn
usual practice of chopping the ends O
the branches and twigs squarely of
The beautiful magnolia stellata. 0
star blossomed magnolia is somewhs
of a rarity IN this country. 1t is oC
casionally seen in parks and gardens
in company with other better-kno
) Japanese species OF this superb genu:
Scarcely so often on this continent
! it beheld in reduced abnormal form
! But when so beheld il displays charm
I all its own.
A little magnolia bush may stan
above the pot in which it is plante
: about eighteen inches The cream,
{ white blossom. family tinged wit
pink on the outside will be quite {
4 large as it ought to be on bus
q twenty feet high. So will the pa.
q green, velvety buds But the lit
\ bush itself? Possibly its ungracefr
s form let some light into the secret
I the surprising size and vigor of Il
! buds. The bush is cut down to o,
, main branch. with an extra twig
\ two at the root This reminds us
g one of the ways in which the Japane
J. produce chrysanthemums--that is
e pinching all the buds of the side of
e stalk and allowing the streng
Y OF the plant to run into one bud at Il
!, top.
= The dwarf azalea seems rather "a
!. for a dwarf II may reach a height
i. from , to % feet This does not 10,
n very short in comparison with 4
tiny, long-lived screw pines and fiji
b particularly as an azalea bush. in
h, natural state, never does grow We
= tall. Still feet is a decided decrea
! from or TO- Perhaps the most 81
y, prisiug feature of tho dwarfed azal
is nos its stunted stature but its |
dueed COVERS
Ia a Temple Court.
. In the magnificent court of I
| - Al.