258 



TEE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[^September, 



if it were not so late, leaving the ground bare 

 in early Summer would be not wholly un- 

 bearable. It is very likely to get control 

 where the lawn is from seed. Perhaps the 

 only way to be sure of excluding it is to sod with 

 tough Blue Grass sod. The practice of watering 

 lawns with the hose, now so common, favors 

 " Fall Grass." It loves a rich and rather damp 

 soil. It seldom gets ahead much in dry 

 places. 



While noting Spring gardening one need not 

 overlook how beautifully Fall flowers may 

 adorn. From the time the perennial Phlox 

 opens, about first of August, there is a continual 

 succession of flowers till the Golden Rods and 

 Asters finish the list. We do not know of any- 

 thing more interesting for a specialty than a col- 

 lection of Fall blooming Aster-like plants. 



Another pretty specialty might be a collec- 

 tion of climbing vines arranged as a regular 

 vine garden. These can be arranged in the 

 shape of bowers, arbors, festoons, wreaths, or 

 in pyramids or poles. Some would be regarded 

 for their beautiful flowers and others for their 

 beautiful foliage, while their graceful habit, 

 made perhaps still more pretty by the hand 

 of art, could be made to add an attractiveness 

 to grounds scarcely dreamed of now. 



As the planting season arrives, it is as well to 

 repeat what we have often remarked, tlnit the 

 relative advantages of Spring and Fall planting 

 are about evenly balanced. Failures follow all 

 seasons. How to plant is of far more impor- 

 tance than when to plant ; and the selection of 

 stock to plant of far more importance than the 

 time when it is done. A tree that has been once 

 or twice before transplanted, and again cai'efiilly 

 and intelligently taken up, may be successfully 

 removed at either planting season, with the odds 

 of perhaps one hundred to five in its favor. But 

 a tree never before transplanted— such, in fact, 

 as a tree from the woods, or left standing in the 

 nursery from the seed bed — is very risky at any 

 time, and depends rather on the weather follow- 

 ing transplanting for the fii'st few weeks for any 

 probability of success. In selecting trees for 

 planting, then, be very particular to ascertain 

 that they have an abundance of fibrous roots, 

 and are carefully removed. In this region we 

 would plant evergreens at once, after or in pros- 

 pect of the first good rain. Deciduous trees we 

 would plant just before the final fall of the leaf, 

 shortening off" the ends of those shoots that were 

 not quite mature. 



COMMUNICA TIONS. 



GARDENING IN THE SOUTH. 



BY WILLIAM SAUNDERS, LONDON, ONTARIO. 



Our correspondent, Mr. Saunders, has been 

 traveling South, and contributes the following 

 notes of his gardening impressions to the Cana- 

 dian Horticulturist : 



Atlanta, " the Chicago of the South," is well 

 situated on a very elevated plateau, more than 

 one thousand feet above the level of the sea, 

 and is probably the healthiest city in the South, 

 and enjoys a temperature comparatively cool in 

 the hottest periods of the year. It is the centre 

 of an extensive railway system, and has a busy 

 aspect ; its population is about forty thousand, 

 one-third of which is black. Since the burning 

 of the cit}' after its capture by Sherman, towards 

 the close of the war, it has been almost entirely 

 rebuilt, many of the buildings being of a very 

 substantial character, and some of the private 

 residences quite elegant. 



An early morning walk revealed some novel- 

 ties. One of the first things which attracted my 

 attention was a tree new and strange to me, one 

 which is extensively used here as a shade tree. 

 It was leafeless at this season, but being decked 

 with large clusters of milk-white berries, was 

 very attractive. This proved to be the Pride of 

 India or Chinaberry Tree, Melia Azedarach. 

 The berries are said to contain saccharine mat- 

 ter, and were used to make a fermented alcoholic 

 beverage during the time of the war. One who 

 has only seen the beautiful glossy foliaged 

 Euonj'mus Japonicus in greenhouses or as a 

 small half-hardy shrub in the open border during 

 Summer, can form no idea of the beauty of this 

 bush here, where it is perfectly hardy and thrives 

 most luxuriantly. It bears trimming into all 

 sorts of shapes, and makes the prettiest hedges 

 I have ever seen. In addition to the richness of 

 its evergreen foliage, it is doubly attractive in 

 Winter when adorned with its bright-red berries ; 

 the long luxuriant branches thus richly orna- 

 mented are much used for interior decorations, 

 producing admirable effects. Shortly my atten- 

 tion was riveted by a lovely evergreen with an 

 enchantingly soft foliage, about ten or twelve 

 feet high and eight or nine in diameter. I had 

 seen small specimens of it in the North, and 

 recognized it as the beautiful Deodar Cedar. It 

 was a lovely sight to watch the graceful waving 

 of its branches in the morning breeze, and the 

 effect of the sunlight on its silver}^ and hoary 



