TRAILING ARBUTUS 



pistils with short stamens. What the flower will be 

 is a case of anybody's guess. 



The cultivation of the Mayflower has often been 

 tried but has rarely been successful. Indeed, there is a 

 wide-spread belief that it is impossible. Doubtless it is 

 difiicult, but it is not impossible. 



A recent number of The Garden Magazine^ in its di- 

 rections to gardeners, says: ''Bear in mind that the 

 Trailing Arbutus must always be lifted with its root 

 system absolutely undisturbed. Herein lies the secret 

 of its obstinacy. Take it up after a soaking rain with 

 mud, stones, moss, or whatever surrounds it and care- 

 fully as possible shift it to a sheltered place and cover 

 it from sun and wind for an entire season. An excel- 

 lent plan is to Hghtly fit the sod into a paper pot or a 

 strawberry-box, so that its removal may not even jar 

 the soil about the roots. Colonies of Arbutus creep 

 out into the open and these are most desirable for 

 removal as they have become hardened by wind and 

 weather." 



These suggestions make it apparent that growing 

 Arbutus is no light task. Seedlings are rare, new plants 

 come from rooting branches that sprawl upon the 

 ground. Probably the real difficulty lies in the fact 

 that ordinary garden soil is not suited to it; it requires 

 an acid soil and is intolerant of lime. 



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