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ROUGH NOTES ON HORTICULTURE FROM THE WEST. 



ing- to the present constitution of things, 

 who could, or can, transplant a large tree 

 without injuring its roots, and that very 

 materially, and it is a mistake which al- 

 most all of us fall into to suppose that the 

 power of the leaves for good is according 

 to their number. Ten strong powerful 

 leaves in a healthy vigorous state will do 

 more good than five times the number in a 

 languid state, as they are often seen to be 

 the first year or two after a tree is removed. 

 Therefore, the great aim of the planter 

 should be to prepare his trees before their 

 removal, so that whatever the number of 

 the leaves may be in the following season, 

 every one of them should be in a flourish- 

 ing condition ; for unless they are so, it is 

 needless to look for a speedy restoration of 

 the roots or branches. All ornamental trees 

 and shrubs, particularly the latter, will re- 

 quire a little pruning, more or less, every 

 season ; but when the subject has been 

 well attended to for years, all that will be 

 needed can be easily done in summer dur- 

 ing the growing season. When a tree or 

 bush begins to get naked below, 'it is a 

 sure sign that it ought to have been pruned 

 long since, or that the situation is too 

 crowded for it; for nakedness produced by 

 starvation or old age always begins at the 

 top of the plant. How plants become na- 

 ked at the bottom is this : the first two or 

 three tiers of the lower branches get over- 

 topped by some of those immediately above 



them, and these, by throwing off the rain 

 and obstructing the sun from them, soon 

 cause them to dwindle away by degrees 

 until they die outright, and leave a naked 

 void. This is the most common case of 

 bad management, and it often results from 

 a mischievous doctrine which has taken 

 hold of some people's brains, and which 

 they never cease pushing at you right and 

 left. In the park and forest, it is all very 

 well to see plants growing in their own 

 way, and a naturalist may go and enjoy 

 ! them there until his toes get frost-bitten ; 

 but within the boundary of the garden 

 every plant ought to be attended to as care- 

 fully as if it were grown in a pot for a 

 London exhibition ; staked, trained, and 

 pruned as regularly as a Geranium. But 

 having occupied so much with these gene- 

 ral remarks, I must put off the subject of 

 pruning to another day; and meantime, 

 any tree or shrub, or climber, which looks 

 stunted, or in an impoverished state, ought 

 to be examined at the roots, beginning by 

 making a trench outside of the roots, as 

 our editor advised to take up the Magno- 

 lia, at page 14 ; and after freeing the tops 

 of the roots a little, and all the way round, 

 shovel out all the poor soil, and fill the 

 trench with a good compost of fresh soil 

 and some rotten dung. If the plant is on 

 the grass, put a layer of the bad soil under 

 the turf before you replace it. 



D. Beaton. 



ROUGH NOTES ON HORTICULTURE, FROM THE WEST. 



BY DR. J. A. KENNICOTT, OF THE GROVE, ILLINOIS. 



A. J. Downing — Dear Sir: I have not 

 only your general permission, but your di- 

 rect encouragement, to furnish for your 

 pages — "short notes, adapted to western 

 readers," suggested by the text of the Hor- 

 ticulturist. For this roving license, I am 

 truly thankful. It is a great pleasure for 

 me to write on rural subjects ; especially, 

 as in this instance, where the thoughts are 

 in the text before me. This pleasure I en- 



joy, perhaps, like most inveterate gossips, 

 at the expense of others. But of this, my 

 readers are the best judges. 



The science of horticulture, west of the 

 state of Ohio, is in its infancy, — but a 

 strong and promising infancy. " The young 

 giant of the west," indeed grows apace; 

 and though, as friend Wight says, his 

 bony legs and brawny arms protrude from 

 the sleeves of his coarse jacket, and the 



