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VORV^ 



THE 



GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



AND 



HORTICULTURIST. 



DEVOTED TO HORTICULTURE. ARBORICULTURE AND RURAL AFFAIRS. 



Edited by THOMAS MEEHAN. 



Volume XXVII. 



APRIL, 1885. 



Number 316. 



Flower Garden and Pleasure Ground. 



SEASONABLE HINTS. 



In these seasonable hints we endeavor to pre- 

 sent such facts as may serve to jog the memory, 

 keeping that which is absolutely new for the body 

 of our work. In the South tree planting will be 

 about over, while in the bleaker North with its 

 remarkably persistent winter the work has but just 

 begun. The fall of the year is the best planting 

 season South ; April and May, in the North. 

 What we say now for the North will therefore soon 

 be seasonable South ; only a few months ahead of 

 time, and therefore not likely to be forgotten. In 

 regard to planting, we cannot do better than repeat 

 advice we have more than once given in our paper, 

 that to be successful, we should not let the roots 

 dry for an instant between taking up and planting, 

 everybody knows, but everybody don't do it ; in 

 fact, everybody deceives himself. We have seen 

 this distinguished individual leave the tops of trees 

 exposed to the sun, with a mat or straw thrown 

 over the roots, and think all was right — or heel in 

 for a day or two, by just throwing a httle dirt over 

 the roots. This is a little good; but everybody's 

 fault is, that although this may be ten minutes of 

 good, he expects to get ten hours, or even ten days' 

 value out of it ; and thus he suffers more than if he 

 had done nothing, because he forgets that the 

 branches evaporate moisture from the roots in a 

 dry wind, and the juices go from the roots through 



the branches very nearly as well as directly to 

 the air from the roots themselves. So with heel- 

 ing in. The soil is thrown in lightly, or at most 

 just "kicked" down. "It is only temporary," 

 very few of the roots come in contact with the 

 soil. They can draw in no moisture to supply the 

 waste of evaporation, and thus they stay day after 

 day — everybody satisfied because he sees the 

 roots covered ; really worse than if they had been 

 exposed. We have no doubt that more trees are 

 lost from imperfect heeling in than from any other 

 cause whatever. Of course, if the tops be cover- 

 ed as well as the roots, there is less waste of mois- 

 ture and more chance of success. 



Where evergreens can be benefited by pruning, 

 April is a very good month to attempt it. If a 

 tree is thin in foliage at the base, the top of the 

 tree, leader and all, must be cut away. It makes 

 no difference what the kind is, all will make new 

 leaders after being cut back, if properly attended 

 to. We make this remark because there is a pre- 

 valent idea that pines will not stand this cutting. 

 Of course the trimming should be done in a coni- 

 cal manner, so as to conform to the conical 

 style of the evergreen tree. Sometimes an 

 evergreen, especially a pine, will rather turn up 

 some of the ends of its side branches than push 

 out another leader ; when this is the case, cut 

 these away, and a real leader will form the second 

 year. 



