1879. 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



37 



rope, as *vell as in our country, by the enclosed 

 from the Gardeners'' Record : 



"We read in a Dutch contemporai-y that the 

 magnificent avenue of lime trees on the Arnhem 

 Velperweg, whicli forms one of the chief attrac- 

 tions of the neighborhood, is threatened with 

 utter ruin by the deleterious action of gas es- 

 caping from the under-ground pipes and poison- 

 ing the soil on which it stands. The local 

 authorities are attempting to remedy the evil 

 by digging large lioles round the roots of the 

 trees and filling them in with fresh earth, but at 

 the best this can be but a temporary relief, and 

 it is feared that notliing short of the removal of 

 the main pipes from the present position can 

 save this well-known avenue from speedy de- 

 struction." 



When we consider the great influence for good 

 which trees have on the public health, it may 

 dawn on the intellect of those interested in the 

 sanitary condition of cities, that it is worth 

 while liaving gas mains made gas-tight. 



SCRAPS AND QUERIES. 



Rhododexdron Culture. — F. H., New Bed- 

 ford, Mass., asks : " Should rhododendrons be 

 planted where in the summer, they are shaded 

 a part of the day, or where exposed to the sun 

 all day. Give distance apart for planting." 



The essential part of rhododendron culture is 

 to have cool earth to grow in — earth that is 

 never of a high temperature, or that is ever 

 quite dry or very wet. The little hair-like root- 

 lets like cool, moist air about them, but not 

 water ; with this, sunshine or shade for the foliage 

 is but a secondary consideration. Some of the 

 best rhododendrons we have seen have been in 

 the full sun ; but they soon go back in the full 

 sun, if the soil is apt to bake — that is, get hot or ; 

 dry. 



Usually, in clay soils, the earth has to be pre- 

 pared especially for rhododendrons, by mixing 

 Avith it such as may help it to be porous and cool. 

 This is the reason why peaty soil is often em- 

 ployed. Tlie spongy character retains both air 

 and moisture, and keeps cool. But if the soil 

 has these capacities, peat or earth of that char- 

 acter is not essential. 



Protecting a Leading Shoot of Pine. — 

 B., Cincinnati, Ohio, writes: "I have a Silver 



Fir that I value very much, but every year birds 

 alight on the growing shoot and break it off. 

 It is a year or two before it makes anew leader. 

 It is annovinsr. Is there anv way to prevent 

 it?" 



[How would it do to tie a light stick — a 

 knitting needle if you lik6 — against the leader, 

 so that it is longer than the shoot ? The bird 

 would hardly rest on the needle, and could not 

 on the shoot.— Ed. G. M.] 



Rhododendrons in Massachusetts. — A 

 Xew Bedford, Mass., correspondent would be 

 obliged by a list of rhododendrons "most desira- 

 ble for a bed in the latitude of Boston." 



Lawson Cypress. — B., Cincinnati, O., asks: 

 " Is the Lawson Cypress hardy, and does it grow 

 fast?" It is one of the hardiest in your region, 

 and grows fast. The only objection to it is that 

 in some locations it is likely to get the " dis- 

 ease" wliich destroys the lower branches in sum- 

 mer time, but then there may be a hundred good 

 trees to one that gets this defect. It is the lot 

 of all evergreens from the Pacific coast to serve 

 us this risk, but the Lawson Cypress is so beauti- 

 ful it is worth the risk. 



Ampelopsis Yietchii. — The common Vir- 

 ginia Creeper is one of the most beautiful and 

 best known of ornamental vines, and its habit 

 of clinging of its own accord to walls and trees 

 renders it particularly useful in ornamental gar- 

 dening. But it is questionable whether the Japan 

 species A. Vietchii is not a rival to it. It will 

 not, of course, replace it, for each will have 

 lovers of its own for some purposes or other, 

 but still without any special comparisons, it is 

 intrinsically beautiful. We are moved to these 

 remarks by a photograph of the dwelling house 

 of Mayor Conover, of Geneva, the w^alls of 

 which are covered by tliis vine. It must be 

 a beautiful sight when really seen, for the 

 stereoscopic view alone is particularly attrac- 

 i five. 



The Kentucky Coffee Tree.— In our note 

 on the large one in the grounds of Miss Haines, 

 in Germantown, it was said that the writer had 

 never found any perfect seeds in the seed vessels 

 on the few occasions he had been personally on 

 the grounds ; but we are informed that on some 

 occasions, indeed generally, it does perfect 

 them. 



