SOCIETY OF NORTHERN ILLINOIS. 267 



about the comparative hardiness of plants, and the experience of uur 

 eastern brethern was not a sure or reliable guide for us. By exper- 

 ience we found our soil was wanting in some characteristic or had 

 to much of something, so that all varieties of kalmias rhododendrons 

 and their near relatives will not thrive here, although east they 

 grow well at a much higher latitude. Again we have a bad climate, 

 its extreme heat and cold, wet and drouth are very trying to all 

 shrubs, yet with these drawbacks we have a great many fine varieties 

 that will do well here. 



In planting shrubbery, first get the hardiest varieties, those that 

 are known to stand in your vicinity the various vicissitudes of the 

 seasons and try the tender later. Do not get large or fully grown 

 plants, they require to much time to overcome their removal and 

 again get established, thereby liable not to give good satisfaction; 

 but always commence with small or medium sized plants and as 

 they grow the interest in them will increase. It is very discourag- 

 ing to fail in our first effort, very often causing an abandonment 

 of the field. Do not set the plants in a sod and leave them to take 

 care of themselves, for they will surely die, but they must be 

 placed where you can spade around them and give to them at least 

 as much care as to a hill of corn or potatoes; they need no more 

 cultivation than those, but surely need as much. 1 often recom- 

 mend to those setting, that a border of flowers or a flower bed be 

 placed around them for several years after setting so as to insure 

 care, the care to the flowers insures the care of the shrubs. When 

 shrubs are planted in masses, for the first few years it is a very good 

 plan to plant bulbs and roots of perennials among them to insure 

 cultivation. We have our grounds in which the shrubs, etc., are 

 planted, spaded every year in June and hoed several times after 

 through the season. For best results, plant shrubs in masses and as 

 soon as they begin to crowd, thin them, taking the poorest and leav- 

 ing the best and rarest. Shrubs generally grow hardier for a while 

 with age, so that with care in protecting them for a few years many 

 will endure a much lower temperature than in their infancy. 



About five miles from where I reside is a wiegelia rosea, thirty 

 years old, eight or ten feet in height, and when I last saw it in bloom 

 it was a sight worth going several mileis to see. This plant was pro- 

 tected awhile. Protection from our cold, dry west and south west 

 winds is desired; it is as much the cold, dry winds in winters as in- 

 tense cold that destroys plants. The planting on the south or south 

 west side of a building is not generally an advantage, the heat of the 

 mid-day sun, especially in winter on the trunk, or trunks very often 

 is injurious; would prefer to shade them, especially those not fully 

 hardy, to prevent injury to the bark from constant thawing and 

 freezing. A belt of evergreens on the west side of the lawn or 



