164 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



{June, 



confusion about Poplars. One calls the cotton- 

 wood "nionilifera," another "angulata." We 

 have had the black Italian Poplar, and the white 

 Italian, the Carolina Poplar, and the angustifolia, 

 and the varieties are rather mixed up. 



[The kind under culture known as angulata 

 has a rough bark at four years old. The one 

 called monilifera has a smooth bark far on 

 towards old age. — Ed.] 



We have a plant Desmodium pendula that 

 blooms in September, which is very pretty, and 

 bears a profusion of blooms when flowers are 

 rare, and consider it worthy of attention. 



Magnolia trees of the Chinese varieties live 

 much better, we tind, if they are worked on the 

 M. tripetela, atTording so many more fine roots, 

 which the acuminata, unless often transplanted, 

 are very deticient in. 



RHODODENDRON CULTURE. 



BY ALEXANDER MESTON, ANDOVER, MASS. 



Around this neighborhood where shrub or tree 

 planting is to be done, beds have to be made ex- 

 pressly to insure success. We have here three 

 beds of Rhododendrons, and prepared a fourth 

 last Fall for planting soon ; the beds now planted 

 are a great success, having been well prepared 

 at first. 



In making the beds we take off the surface 

 sod and any good soil, laying it aside, then take 

 out the gravel three feet deep ; we then throw 

 the surface sod and soil in the bottom, turning 

 the green side down. 



The compost used is bog or swamp peat, not 

 dead sour stuff three or four feet deep, but the 

 fibery sod of the surface, a spade depth, where 

 ferns and native Azaleas grow. This is brought 

 home and chopped up fine, throwing aside all 

 dead wood or large roots ; when all is gone over 

 once we then add a good load of well rotted leaf 

 mould to six loads of peat, and a load of sharp 

 river sand is added, and the whole is turned 

 three or four times to insure thorough mixing, 

 likewise helping to pulverize the whole. We 

 proceed next to fill the bed, beginning at one side, 

 keeping the roughest towards the bottom and 

 treading all down firmly as we go along, leaving 

 the bed rather higher than the surface of the 

 ground, as it will settle a little ; the bed is then 

 ready for planting. 



As regards varieties, all the Catawbiense var- 

 ities are hardy, and can be had from almost pure 

 white to dark purple. In making a selection it 

 is best to pay a visit to some nursery when they 



are in full bloom and choose for yourself. Young- 

 stocky plants are preferable to old woody ones ; 

 give plenty of room when planting as they soon 

 fill up. 



As the soil will be exposed to the sun for some 

 time before they are able to shade it; give a 

 mulching with some litter to prevent drying at 

 the roots. Should a continuance of dry weather 

 set in, the leaves droop, their edges roll back- 

 wards, then water is wanted and must be given 

 to insure success the following season. In an- 

 swer to a correspondent in the February num- 

 ber as whether to plant in the shade or full sun? 

 I say plant in full exposure to the sun, and they 

 will stand the Winter far better; the time to 

 shade is from November to March, or from the 

 time severe weather sets in until it is past : this 

 is necessary in Massachusetts, and pine boughs 

 I find answer the purpose well. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



The Tulip Tree.— Mr. C. M. Hovey tells 

 the Gardeners'' Chronicle that the Tulip tree " in 

 America is not a very common tree in culti- 

 vated gardens ; as Americans are proverbially in 

 a hurry to get up shade trees, as they do a house^ 

 they neglect the Tulip tree and the Magnolia^ 

 and take the Elm, the Horse-chestnut,the Maple, 

 and other trees." 



It so happens that the Tulip tree is a much 

 more rapid grower than the Horse-chestnut or 

 many maples ; the common Silver maple alone 

 possibly exceeding the Tulip tree. The prover- 

 bial haste of Americans can therefore have little 

 to do with the imaginary scarcity; for after all 

 the scarcity is but imaginary. The writer of 

 this once asked a prominent Boston amateur 

 why American trees were scarce on his grounds, 

 and was answered that the nurseries of that city 

 imported most of their young nursery stock from 

 England, and of European species, and hence 

 he could not find American kinds to plant. We 

 fancy Mr. Hovey must be speaking of his own 

 city experience, when he continually represents 

 to Europeans that Americans neglect their own 

 beautiful trees. If it is true of Boston we know 

 it is not true of other large American cities. 

 We will say at least for the nurseries radiating 

 from Xevv York, Philadelphia, and Boston, that 

 leaving out the Norway maple, Horse-chest- 

 nut, and Norway spruce, nine-tenths of the 

 trees sold are American species. Of the Tulip 



