THE 



GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



AND 



HORTICULTURIST. 



DEVOTED TO HORTICULTURE. ARBORICULTURE AND RURAL AFFAIRS. 



Edited by THOMAS MEEHAN. 



Volume XVIII. 



MARCH, 1876. 



Number 207, 



LOWER »ARDEN AND If LEASURE pROUND. 



SEASONABLE HINTS. 



One would suppose that with all that has been 

 said in our pages in regard to deep planting, we 

 should not see much of it done ; but it is very 

 common, and we have to note the evils continu- 

 ally in our travels. If the land is dry and sandy, 

 or the trees with a few heavy roots of a thick 

 " tap" like character, it does not matter so much. 

 In the sands of New Jersey one may set trees 

 deeper without injury than in Pennsylvania, and 

 one would find much less injury in the dry earth 

 of Colorado, than in the moister climate of Iowa. 

 The Oak or the standard Pear does not suffer 

 much from deep planting, but it is best to set 

 them but little deeper than they grew before. 

 Fibrous rooters like Maples and Ashes must be 

 kept tolerably near the surftice, while hair-rooted 

 things, such as Rhododendrons and Azaleas, if not 

 growing in almost open sand, must be set on the 

 surface or not at all. We note these remarks 

 through having recently seen the attempts of a 

 friend, and we are sorry to say, a reader of the 

 Gardener's Monthly, to grow the Rhododendron 

 on quite an extensive scale, a comparative foilure 

 from deep planting. They were not very deep 

 either ; an Apple would not have rebelled at the 

 treatment. The balls of roots in a Rhododendron 

 should be set, as a general rule, on the ground, 

 and the earth drawn up about the roots, and 

 pressed very firm. 



What we say of deep planting for trees, applies 

 also tu deep planting of flower or other seeds. 



We may put a Walnut or Chestnut several inches 

 under ground, or six inches under ground if sown 

 in sand; but for our ordinary seeds, we want 

 them as near the surface as we can get them. 

 Suppose we actually take our readers to the gar- 

 den, and show them practically how to sow their 

 flower seeds. 



The day is warm, and the surface soil just dry 

 enough to powder when struck with the back of 

 the trowel. We should not ask their company 

 otherwise, for when the soil is sticky it won't do 

 to sow seed. The ground has been dry several 

 days before. The surface is now powdered and 

 about the thickness of the trowel blade scraped 

 off. The seed is then sown, the soil drawn back 

 and beat firmly down on the seed. You see how 

 near the top we sowed the seed, and how firmly 

 we beat the soil over it, and we spoke about a 

 " first principle." This principle is this :— Seeds 

 want moisture to make them grow, but they 

 must also have air — one is an evil without the 

 other. If deep they get only water, in which 

 case they rot. If entirely on the surface they 

 get only air, and then they dry up. " But, Mr. 

 Hintsman, why beat the soil so firm?" Another 

 principle, dear lady, lies there. Large spaces in 

 soil enable the earth to dry out rapidly ; small 

 spaces, on the other hand, hold water. Crush- 

 ing earth, when dry, gives it these small spaces, 

 or as gardeners call it, makes it porous, and thus 

 you see we have set our seeds where they will be 

 near the air, and fixed them so that they shall be 

 regularly moist. 



While caring for the flowers, forget not the 



