354 



THE GARDENERS MONTHLY 



[December 



and keep them bushy is our great object The 

 principal pruning is therefore in summer. The 

 winter pruning is simply to keep them in shape. 

 There is, however, one kind of pruning which 

 just suits both the principle and the season, 

 namely, thinning out where thick planting has 

 been adopted, as it is now by all who want a 

 new place to look well without waiting too long 

 for the charm. 



There are many beautiful plants which we can 

 enjoy if we only take care to keep them from the 

 sun in winter. The Evergreen Ivy is one of this 

 class. In Pennsylvania it will rarely live on the 

 south side of a building without some injury; 

 while on the northern side, it is usually able to 

 get through. This shows that it is not a ques- 

 tion of the thermometer, for it is much colder on 

 the north side of a house than on the south ; but 

 it is rather through the more rapid escape of 

 moisture on that side. But the lesson is of 

 value in teaching us to shade any valuable broad- 

 leaved plant which we may have. The Japan 

 Euonymus, the Oregon grape or Mahonia aquifo- 

 lia, the Rhododendi-on, and other similar things 

 all do very well in this section of the country, 

 if anything be scattered lightly over to prevent 

 injury from the sun. 



Nothing " pays" like surface dressings of ma- 

 nure or good soil to evergreens and ornamental 

 trees. Life is too short for mere natural growth. 

 It is a pardonable vice to wish for large trees. 

 Put on two inches of good stuff, and see how 

 they will go ahead. 



Very few understand that an occasional change 

 of soil is very beneficial to flowers in beds, 

 though all know how important it is to flowers 

 in pots. There is nothing better than surface 

 soil from an old pasture, taken otf about two 

 inches deep, and thrown into a heap with about 

 one-sixth part old hotbed dung to partially de- 

 cay. In addition to this "staple" item, smaller 

 quantity of different matters should be gathered 

 together for peculiar cases, or particular plants. 

 Peat, for instance, will be found very useful for 

 many kinds of plants. This is not, as is often 

 supposed, mere black sand ; but a spongy, fibrous 

 substance from the surface of bogs and boggy 

 wastes. Sand should be collected sharp and 

 clean ; the washings from turnpike ditches are 

 as good as anything. Leaf mould is best got 

 already well decayed from the woods. That 

 one makes for himself from rotten leaves is sel- 

 dom good for anything; it is always sour and 

 seems " indigestible" to vegetation. A load or 



so of well-decayed cow-manure is a good thing 

 for the gardener to have by him, as all those 

 plants that dislike our hot summers, and want 

 a cool soil to grow in, prefer it to any other ma- 

 nure. A small pile of hot-bed manure is almost 

 indispensable to the garden. 



Much will, in many places, be required for 

 dressing of the lawn, which too often is really 

 starved for want of nutriment The modern 

 practice of using mowers, and leaving the short 

 grass to serve as a mulch is a little good; but 

 not near enough to keep the grass in good heart. 

 A top dressing every other year, or every three 

 years, will be of great benefit to the best made 

 lawn. This top dressing may not be of rich or 

 expensive materials. The scouring of ditches 

 will do. Indeed this kind of material is the bet- 

 ter, as more of it can be used ; and thus shallow 

 places, which often exist in lawns of some pre- 

 tentions, may be filled up. We have seen good 

 lawns made in this way from rough places, as 

 bad as if the grass had been sown on a piece of 

 ploughed ground, without any rolling or har- 

 rowing down. The grass sown comes through 

 the filled up places, and a smooth lawn in this 

 way can often be had without the trouble and 

 annoyance of ploughing up and seeding down 

 again, a practice which is often employed where 

 the work was not in the first instance well done. 



COMMUNICA TIONS. 



PARK DECORATION IN THE WEST. 



BY PETER HENDERSON. 



While attending the National Convention of 

 Nurserymen at Chicago, in June last, a number 

 of us made a hasty visit to the parks of that 

 wonderful city, and were perfectly surprised at 

 the splendid results that have been obtained in 

 such a brief time — results that, I believe, are not 

 equalled by any of the parks of our great eastern 

 cities. 



The " South Park" of Chicago we first visited, 

 the floral department of which is under the 

 charge of Mr. Kanze. Unfortunately, the day we 

 called there our time was so limited, that I took 

 no notes and could only judge of it in a general 

 way, to be exceedingly well handled. There is 

 quite a range of greenhouses, probably 10,CXX) 

 square feet, with extensive ranges of cold frames 

 where the plants used in bedding are grown be- 

 fore planting out, upwards of 100,000 of which 

 grown in five-inch pots were set out last season. 



