Evening star., 1933-10-07
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

What the home gardener often for
gets is that Nature is something like
a great machine which has been care
fully made, set. started and then left
to run by itself by an owner who has
gone away.
That is the impression, at least,
which many an owner-gardeEer gets,
as he watches the procession Of the
days. and weeks, and months, and
years.
The machine runs according to laws,
and really has nothing to say about the
matter. There IS system of checks
and balances The mill takes and re-
jects. according to a fixed program. in
which human pity and love find
strangely little place. This was all
that Omar Khayyam meant by some Of
his most cynical lines.
The moving finger writes. and hav-
ing writ"
We must remember that old Omar
was a gardener, too.
II there Is q certain amount OF life
in the roots. and there are a certain
number Of days in which to make nee
essary growth. the little submachine,
which we call the plant, will begin to
click. one fine day, and the plant will
roll on. II not
Well. all the gardener can do Is to
give every plant he sets out every
chance he can to adjust itself in its
role in Nature.
One of the best ways Of doing this is
to give the roots plenty of time at any
season Of the year. In the Spring this
means as early as possible. In Autumn,
as long before killing frost as may be
| Ill a
and fast rules. no real ways of deter
mining what the subsequent weather is
going to be. The only real way Is to
take a chance-but to take 1t as early
as possible.
The other way Of helping plants.
especially shrubs. is to let them stay
where they are put for at least one full
growing season after they are set In
the grond.
To yank them up just after they
have begun to grow Is pretty hard on
them. That 1t may be done, every
gardener knows, but still 1t cannot be
recommended. And it can be done, of
course, only II one is thoroughly con-
versant with his material and Win his
particular specimens Of that material
To transplant large, sturdy rose
DuSneS Twice IN one growing season, Is
to risk losing them, no matter how
sturdy they may be. The blow struck
the root system is a terrible one, even
If the plant has stalks as big around as
a good-si2ed rope.
Now rosebush Is tough-if such a
plant cannot stand too many trans
paintings too close together, what
chance have lesser plants?
=
Not survival alone, but the fact of
thrift must be considered. Our proverb
has it, "A plant oft removed cannot
thrive" 1t does not say cannot live"
Many plants. i'll treated. will manage
to hang onto life. Every one has seen
them in gardens. with a few sickly
leaves at the end Of otherwise bare
branches.
They are alive. but they are not en-
joying life. And no one else can enjoy
them either.
Here Is sweet shrub" for instance,
which has been moved so many times
that it gave up caring a long time ago.
Today 1t IS doing the best it can-be-
meath bench! 1t was not put under
the bench but the bench was put over
1t. after 1t was seen to be suffering
Then, in one Of those surprises which
Nature reserves for herself, the shrub
began to grow up through the Stats. 1t
is not thrifty looking. but really Is bet
ter than 1t has been for many months