THE 



GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



AND 



HORTICULTURIST. 



DEVOTED TO HORTICULTURE. ARBORICULTURE AND RURAL AFFAIRS. 



Edited by THOMAS MEEHAN. 



Vol. XIX. 



JULY, 1877. 



Number 223. 



XOWER M^ARDEN AND IfLEASURE liROUND. 



SEASONABLE HINTS. 



The many who admired the massing of the 

 leaf plants in the bedding at the Centennial 

 grounds last year, and have endeavored to imi- 

 tate it this, will do well to remember, that just 

 now much pinching in of the young shoots 

 has to be done. It is the new growth made this 

 month that gives the best colors in August 

 and September, and this reminds us the Salvias 

 were also pinched in ; but where a fine early 

 bloom of scarlet sage is desired, they should 

 have no pinching back. 



All who have given attention- to hardy shrubs 

 know how unsightly the prevailing fashion of 

 winter shearing — for we cannot dignify the 

 practice by calling it pruning — renders the 

 bushes ; and yet all feel the want of some meth- 

 od of keeping them within bounds, and in a 

 somewhat cultivated form. If the strong shoots 

 are thinned out now, all this trouble is obviated. 

 The same remarks apply to street trees, and all 

 others that it is desired to keep low and bushy 

 to the base. 



Hedges must be served in the same way. Trim 

 off — regarding a due conical shape — all strong 

 top shoots, and suffer the weaker and lower ones 

 to grow as widely and freely as they will. 



In many gardens there will be roses of poor 

 and inferior kinds, or of good ones that the 

 owner may desire superseded by better ones. 

 This may readily be accomplished by budding or 



inoculating, and now and next month is the sea- 

 son to operate. 



In almost all works on budding it is recom- 

 mended to take the wood out of the bud to be 

 inserted. This is necessary in the English cli- 

 mate, but unnecessary here, and never followed 

 by practiced hands. 



Amateurs may have some rare or choice shrub 

 they may desire to increase. They may now be 

 propagated by layers. This is done by taking a 

 strong and vigorous shoot of the present season's 

 growth, slitting the shoot a few inches from its 

 base, and burying it a few inches under the soil, 

 or into a pot of soil provided for the purpose. 

 Anything can be propagated by layers ; and it 

 is an excellent mode of raising rare things that 

 can be but with difficult}' increased by any other. 



The raising of new varieties of florists' flowers 

 is an interesting occupation to the amateur. The 

 process of hybridization, applies to all plants as 

 well as to grapes ; but good improved kinds of 

 some things may be obtained from chance 

 seedlings. The finest and doublest of Roses, 

 Petunias, Dahlias, Carnations, etc., should be se- 

 lected, and as soon as the petals fade, they should 

 be carefully removed, or they will cause the deli- 

 cate organs of reproduction to decay before 

 maturity. A flower may be so very double as 

 not to bear seed at all, as in the case of the 

 Gillyflower or Stock ; but if the pistil remains 

 perfect, as it usually does, seed will ensue. 



Dahlia seed may be preserved till the Spring. 

 Antirrhinum, Rose, Carnation, and such hardy 

 perennials, should be sown soon after ripening. 



