492 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



much, denser a plant may be induced to grow when frequent clipping has been 

 resorted to. Under the plea of formality, some otherwise careful arboricultur- 

 ists neglect the pruning; but this is a mistaken view, as the operation is merely 

 recommended while the trees are young, so that in after years an occasional 

 refractory limb will be all there is needing cutting. Many careful gardeners 

 prefer leaving this work until about the first week in June, as the first growth 

 which is usually the most vigorous may then be checked, and induced to thick- 

 en up. Sufficient time is also allowed for the new growth to mature before se- 

 vere winter can injure it. 



Training Ornamental Trees. — L. B. Pierce talks well about training trees 

 for ornamental effect, and from an article of some length we take the follow- 

 ing: We should always bear in mind two facts in regard to trees: one that 

 each tree has a beauty peculiar to itself; the other that this beauty is only fully 

 developed where a tree is completely exposed to the air and light, unimpeded 

 by contiguous trees. There is of course a beauty of trees in groups, and the 

 combined outline is often delightful, but there is a constant struggle going on 

 within the group, and the inner branches die, and sooner or later the group 

 loses its beauty, while exactly the opposite takes place in specimen trees of our 

 best varieties, which increase in stateliness and beauty as they grow older. 



Another class of smaller trees is so constituted that it thrives under such 

 conditions, blossoming and forming striking objects of beauty beneath the drip, 

 or in close proximity to larger trees. The hawthorn, dogwood, red-bud, and 

 service-berry are among these, and are highly useful in making an artificial 

 copse or deciduous back-ground. But even these trees have a characteristic 

 beauty that is wonderfully enhanced when allowed independent development. 

 In fact, our most desirable trees need little if any trimming, except when very 

 young, and then it should be done by nipping in the bud rather than by ex- 

 cision. 



Here is a beautiful field for experiment, education and amusement open to 

 ladies. The growing of ornamental trees from seed, and directing their youth- 

 ful branches into positions that will make them objects of marked beauty in 

 after years, is full of interest and fascination. 



Next to giving a tree plenty of room, allowing it to branch low is most essen- 

 tial to its most beautiful development, to promote which the overhanging 

 branches should diverge from the main trunk at a height not to exceed four 

 and one-half feet. There should not be less than three main branches, and 

 these may be kept free from ramifications up to such a height as may seem 

 desirable. All this preliminary work should be done while the tree is yet in 

 the nursery. 



Much hacking and mutilating of ornamental trees might be avoided if people 

 would plant with a regard to the space to be filled, the prospective hiding of 

 desirable views in later years, and the character of trees desired. If the taste 

 is for broad trees and the lawn is extensive, then plant spreading kinds like the 

 oak and chestnut. If the space is narrow and the preference is fastigiate 

 forms, then plant the Lombardy poplar, the upright cypress, the Irish juni- 

 per and other trees of this character, forms which, by the way, are far too 

 scarce. 



Immediate Shade. — Yes, you can have your bare place upon which you have 

 built your new house, look like an old, well cared for place in a few years, but 



