THE 



GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



AND 



HORTICULTURIST. 



DEVOTED TO HORTICULTURE, ARBORICULTURE AND RURAL AFFAIRS. 



Edited by THOMAS MEEHAN. 



Vol. XXL 



NOVEMBER, 1879. 



Number 251. 



Flower Garden and Pleasure Ground. 



SEASONABLE HINTS. 



It is now so well uuderstood that we may have 

 an immense addition to our list of hardy ever- 

 greens if we will only shelter them, that we ex- 

 pect all those who love these varied Winter 

 favorites will take measures this season to plant 

 shelter belts in exposed places, or else to set the 

 common hardy trees like Norway and Hemlock 

 Spruce, and Scotch, Austrian and "White Pines 

 thickly about, so that the rarer ones can be put 

 between them. 



Not a quarter of a mile from where we are 

 writing these lines are three beautiful specimens 

 of the Picea Moriiida, one of them perhaps 

 twenty feet high, and forming a picture of beauty 

 that we seldom see in any tree. Yet if we apply 

 for a young plant in any Philadelphia nursery 

 we should be told that the tree was " too tender 

 for that latitude." The secret of the success of 

 these specimens is that the wind is on all sides 

 broken by a number of Norway Spruces about 

 thirty feet high. 



Almost all young trees are tenderer than they 

 are when older. It is therefore no test of the 

 hardiness of some rare thing, that a small plant 

 is killed in the winter. Silver Firs almost al- 

 ways get killed back for a few years in this sec- 



tion, unless protected, but yet gain a little in 

 strength. After they are ten years old they will 

 endure our hardest weather. So Spanish Chest- 

 nuts, English Walnuts, and many others, will 

 die back considerably, until they get strength. 

 Therefore, protect any valued young plant, if 

 possible, no matter how hardy its reputation 

 may be. 



Leaves are the natural protectors of grass ; 

 clearing them from lawns has a tendency to 

 impoverish the vegetation. Mowing of course 

 also weakens a lawn. This makes an occasional 

 top dressing advisable, — any decaying matter 

 will do. This is the season to apply it. We 

 would not, however, use stable manure when 

 other can be had. It is so disagreeable in color 

 all winter, — and there are other objections be- 

 sides. Sometimes lawns, after frequent mow- 

 ings, become so weak, that not even manurings 

 will bring them up again; for, as we have often 

 taught our readers, cutting off green herbage 

 weakens vitality. When this is tlie case, small 

 Veronicas and other minute weeds, which the 

 scythe does not cut, grow strong enough to crowd 

 out the enfeebled grass. We have seen resort 

 made to weeding in such cases with little bene- 

 ficial results. The best plan is to break up the 

 lawn at this season, let it lie all winter, and seed 

 it again anew in the spring. The Elue Grass of 



