252 STATE HOETICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



THE HOP FOR DECORATION. 



The Michigau Farmer believes there is a use for the hop vino which is wholly 

 unobjectionable — which cannot be said of its ordinary use : 



The mention of hops brings up a vision of the bare poles of a hop yard, with 

 their canopies of verdure, which are to be viewed with an eye single to their 

 commercial value. The good housekeeper usually has a few roots in some out- 

 of-the-way place which she cultivates with a thought as to the quality of her 

 "hop yeast," and from which she gathers the materials for the comforting 

 hop pillow and the soothing poultice. But whoever has seen a wild hop-vine 

 making its way in the world to the very tip-top of a slender sapling, running 

 riot over a dilapidated rail fence, or hanging its graceful garlands of drooping, 

 pale green bells over the naked limbs of some prostrate woodland giant, 

 exemplifying how nature strives to cover with loveliness the decay she herself 

 causes, will recognize its decorative possibilities. There are no gay flowers, no 

 odor save that of cleanliness, to attract the senses. The eye alone is pleased 

 by the graceful abandon of tlie luxuriant vine, and the contrast of light green 

 panicles and the deeper hue of foliage. Once started they live on indefinitely, 

 dying down in autumn to send up pale, slender shoots in the spring. With all 

 their coquetry there is an humble air about them, as if they were conscious of 

 the ignoble uses to which they were born, and they appear to best advantage 

 over the woodshed door, climbing against the kitchen window, or cherishing 

 the top of the well-house in a loving embrace. They give an excellent effect, 

 however, when planted with other climbers, the blending of foliage being 

 agreeable, and the wreaths of pendant, nodding blossoms, yellowed with golden 

 grains of lupulin, not suffering in grace or beauty by contrast with even the 

 beautiful clematis. 



HIGHWAY TREES. 



STREET AND ROADSIDE PLANTING. 



We condense from an excellent article in Vick's Magazine some hints on 

 roadside planting : 



'Urees should always be planted so as to give a good broad walk between the 

 row and the fence or road limits. Objections are sometimes made to this 

 because of the diflB.culty in protecting them while young, but it must be 

 remembered that the trees are to remain for generations and the sacrifice of a 

 little time and expense is but little compared with the enhanced effect when 

 the trees are large and grand. 



While we plant trees on our grounds with special reference to the orna- 

 mental effects of their outlines and their beauty of the foliage, the primary 

 object in street planting is ample and lasting shade during the summer season. 

 Trees are subjects of comparatively slow growth ; a generation that witnesses 



