150 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



must plant in wet weather, be careful not to pack the muddy soil and 

 don't be surprised if it bakes hard when it dries. If dry at planting 

 time, water the plants. First pack the dirt firmly about the roots, 

 leaving a basin-like depression about the shrub, then pour in enough 

 water to wet the ground down below the lowest root. A dipperful of 

 water won't do that. A half pailful won't. Pour a pailful or two 

 about the shrub, let it all soak away and then fill up the basin with 

 loose, dry dirt. Watering during summer should be done in the same 

 way. It will not be needed often. Watering every few days is worse 

 than no water, because you will not do it right if you water so often. 



Cultivate the shrubs until they are large enough to shade the ground. 

 Cultivate all the ground. Do not let the grass get in. Do the work with 

 the hoe if necessary. If you do not have time for cultivation, mulch 

 the ground with straw, hay or coarse stable litter. This doesn't look 

 as good as grass at first, but the extra growth and beauty of the 

 shrubs will more than compensate for a year or two of bare ground 

 or unsightly mulch. Besides, you can grow some low annuals or 

 herbaceous perennials in front of the shrubs to hide the bareness at 

 first. 



Prune shrubs when they are planted, cutting off a considerable part 

 of the top. Pruning in after years will consist in cutting out the older 

 and weaker parts of the bushes. As a rule, do not cut back the shoots 

 much and do not keep the shrubs sheared, but let them follow their 

 own inclinations as to habit of growth. Just keep them vigorous by 

 judicious thinning. Of course, some things must be pruned more se- 

 verely. Hydrangeas and the more tender roses should be pruned back 

 severely in spring or fall. Even althea and snowball are sometimes 

 benefited by severe pruning. 



All shrubs, even the wild things, will be better for some fertilizer. 

 Mulch the ground with stable litter in the fall and in the spring remove 

 the coarser part of the mulch and work the rest into the ground. The 

 mulch in winter will help many of the more tender shrubs and it will 

 not injure the hardy ones. It will be well to apply some well-decayed 

 stable manure also. 



If you do not like shrubs now, try the things suggested here and 

 you will change your mind. 



DISCUSSION. 



The President We will give five minutes to the discussion of this 

 valuable paper. It is a subject we ought to know more about. 



A Member: You stated something about cutting off bushes of the 

 different kinds of shrubs within six inches of the ground; do you then 

 cover them up until spring? 



Professor Emerson: We have had altheas go through the winter at 

 the farm without any protection the last three or four years. Some of 

 the altheas, single flower, will grow in this part of the state without 

 any protection. You will find at Milford, this state, some large bushes 



