LH' NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



one of the earliest blooming flowers, throwing out its showy head soon 

 after the frost leaves the ground. Tulips and other bulbs of this class 

 do best in a rich, sandy loam, well rotted manure being used for 

 fertilizer. The manure, however, should not come in too close contact 

 with the bulbs as it sometimes causes decay. The planting should be 

 done carefully, setting the bulbs from tw^o to five inches below the 

 surface. After the ground is frozen three or four inches deep a top 

 dressing of leaves or coarse manure should be applied to keep the 

 ground from drying out and to prevent alternate freezing and thawing. 

 This covering should be taken off in the spring just as growth peeps 

 through, leaving just a thin cover on the ground. 



Other hardy and satisfactory bulbs to plant are hyacinths, narcissus, 

 crocus and most of the lilies. The hyacinths and lilies should have more 

 sand mixed in the soil as these rot more readily than the others. They 

 should be planted deeper than the tulips, the hyacinths four or five 

 inches deep and the large growing lilies about eight inches deep. 



PRUNING SHADE TREES AND ORNAMENTALS. 



At certain seasons of the year it seems that many people have a 

 desire to have their shade and ornamental tress cut to pieces and em- 

 ploy the first man who professes to know anything about pruning to do 

 the job for them. Often this man is not an experienced tree trimmer, 

 but a tree butcher who not only mars the beauty of the trees by his 

 cutting and slashing but impairs the health of the tree as well. Much 

 of this is done each year in the cities and larger towns of the state. 



The proper pruning of a tree or shrub requires good judgment on the 

 part of the workman. There should be a good reason for removing every 

 limb before it is touched with the knife or saw. Pruning, as practiced 

 by some, has the effect to render trees and shrubs unnatural and in 

 elegant. Every tree, shrub and plant has a habit of growth peculiar to 

 itself, and this very peculiarity is one of its beauties. By pruning all 

 trees into regular shapes their identity is destroyed. The pruning 

 knife, therefore, should be handled with judgment and care to assist 

 nature. Straggling branches should be removed, the head should be 

 thinned when too dense and the dead woods removed. When more severe 

 pruning than this is practiced there should be special reasons for doing 

 so. 



Different shrubs have their peculiarities of habit and foliage, and we 

 should aim to preserve them as far as possible. Judicious pruning to 

 preserve health and vigor is necessary, but trimming all kinds of shrub'^ 

 into one form shows a lack of appreciation for natural beauty. Wiegelas, 

 mock orange and other shrubs that flower on the wood of the preceding 

 year's growth should be pruned in the summer after they have finished 

 flowering. Those that bloom on the new growth may be pruned in the 

 winter or spring. 



Evergreens, except those planted in hedge rows, should never be 

 touched with a pruning knife except occasionally to thicken the. growth 

 and to preserve the shape. 



