Evening star., 1935-01-16

are, In the vernacular. nobody's busi-
ness-except the owners. He must
know better than any one else,
whether the tree is worth more to
him up than down.
1t will always be sad business to
lose a good tree, however, so 1t is
evident that such task, which must
be done right, and therefore costs
money, ought to be done only after
mature reflection. The Winter garden
tours, personally planned and carried
out, will, after awhile, enable the
owner to make up his mind in the
best way.
Now is a good time to put well-rot-
ted COW manure on the borders. Ow-
ing to their insistence upon it, by
hundreds Of city gardeners, it may be
obtained more easily now in and
around q great city than 10 years
ago. Perhaps not all that is offered Is
100 per cent, but with any gardening
eye ct all the purchaser scarce can 60
wrong, and he will find that even II
the fertilizer is not up to the sellers
claims for 1t, stih it will be q very
great deal better than nothing.
The accent during recent years has
been placed upon cow manure for
flower borders, rather than for placing
over lawns, as in the old days. 1t is
now believed that the latter practice
not only fostered too great a growth
Of inimical weeds, but blotted out
the sunlight from the lawn, and
thereby did more harm, in some re-
spects, than good.
Cow manure ought not to be placed
on borders too soon, else the main
fertiliZing elements will be washed
down too low in the earth for the
roots to get at them. This, at least,
is the theory. Just how any one,
even AN expert, can arrive SO posti-
lively at this conclusion we are un-
able to understand.
If the theory is fact, however, no
doubt it will be best to put on good,
well-rotted COW manure some time this
month. or in February. early, at the
latest. This will permit-again ac-
cording to the theory-the chemical
elements to be washed into the soil,
but not below the roots. Just about
to the roots, If you please. Then
when Spring comes, in earnest, as 1t
will some 60 days hence, perhaps q
little earlier, or later, according to
the sort of Winter yet to manifest
itself, the shrubs and flowers will
have plenty of good food to their
liking.
In addition. the humus, or bulk
part Of the manure, will be there on
the surface, ready to be forked under,
to integrate itself with the soil, light
ening it, making it more meally and
pleasant to work with from every
standpoint. Even the most amateur
ish of amateur gardeners feels, and
rightly, that there Is no fertilizer
quite as good as this.
n
January is a good month, too, to
take stock of climbing roses, and to
prune fruit trees. Already we have
seen tree men at work.
Now the long new canes OF climb
ing roses, which have been whipping
in the wind all Fall and Winter to
cate, should be differentiated from old
canes The new ones will bloom, and
the old ones will not, therefore the
new ones must be tied up to sup
ports. and the old ones marked for
excision. This necessary pruning may
be deferred until February.
There is a great deal to be said
for climbing roses, and especially for
some of the older varieties, such as
the tough. stanch, beautiful original
DR.. Van Fleet, with its waxy leaves
and beautiful flowers. As far as we
can find out this climber still is the
peer of any of the newer So-called
"everbloomers" built partly upon 1t.