THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[January, 



sides the gardener; and the gardeners engaged 

 are of the cheapest kind, and for all grudgingly 

 paid. It should never be forgotten that it costs 

 something to keep up a garden as well as to 

 maintain horses and carriages. We build sta- 

 bles, and buy fine animals, but we well know 

 that this is but the beginning of an annual cost. A 

 garden must be viewed in the same light. Many 

 lose interest in their gardens through getting 

 poor gardeners. There is nothing new, no taste, 

 no enjoyment. Far better to get some one of 

 superior education and pay him well, though 

 we have but half the extent of ground, or a much 

 less number of greenhouses. We should advise 

 all our friends to cut down their large gardens, 

 employ with the difference only first-rate men at 

 a fair price, and it will be wonderful how much 

 the interest in the garden will grow. 



Some judgment is required in pruning flower- 

 ing shrubs, roses, etc., although it is usual to act 

 as if it were one of the most common-place opera- 

 tions. One of the most clumsy of the hands is 

 commonly set with a pair of sheers, and he goes 

 through the whole place, clipping off everything 

 indiscriminately. Distinction should be made 

 between those flowering shrubs that make a vigo- 

 rous growth and th ose which grow weakly ; 

 and between those which flower on the old wood 

 of last year, and those which flower on the new 

 growth of next season, as the effect of pruning is 

 to force a strong and vigorous growth. Those 

 specimens that already grow too strong to flower 

 well, should be only lightly pruned; and, in the 

 same individual, the weakest shoots should be 

 cut in more severely than the stronger ones. 

 Some things like the Mock Orange, Lilacs and 

 others, flo'wer on the wood of last year— to prune 

 those much now, therefore, destroys the flower- 

 ing; while such as Altheas, which flower on the 

 young wood, cannot be too severely cut in, look- 

 ing to that operation alone. 



Among the prettiest effects in gardening is the 

 combinations of various plants. A mass of Hol- 

 lyhocks for instance, in front of an evergreen is 

 singularly pretty. In the fall of the year the 

 colored leaves of the .Andromeda arborea, give 

 great beauty to a mass of Rhododendrons, as 

 also do Chrysanthemums and Japan Anemones 

 in the fall of the year. There are positions in gar- 

 dens where hardy Cactuses, and such artificial 

 things as Yuccas, look particularly beautiful. 

 It is the test of true garden culture, that one 

 is able to bring ovit fine effects from these simple 

 and well known things. 



COMMUNICA TIONS, 



RARER ORNAMENTAL TREES AND 

 ORNAMENTAL GARDENING. 



BY SAMUEL PARSONS, JR. 



(Prize Essay for Massachusetts Horticultural Society.) 



(Concluded from page 359.) 



Among the lindens, our attention is attracted 

 by a curious variegated linden, which shows 

 leaves spotted and streaked with yellowish- 

 white, often to the total exclusion of green. 

 And we must not forget to notice, down near 

 the stream, a fine specimen of the purple-leaved 

 birch. It is one of the best among new acqui- 

 sitions of lawn planting material. The general 

 habit is that of a somewhat dwarf-growing birch, 

 but the color is brownish red, copper color, or 

 more truly a deep rich purple. Good purple- 

 leaved varieties of any tree are not common. 

 Indeed, we may not hope soon to gain anything 

 of equal value with the purple beech, but the 

 birch is in itself so fine that it is a great thing 

 to discover a purple-leaved variety of that tree. 

 I feel that I have only touched on the manj' 

 new and valuable deciduous trees on the lawn, 

 but have accorded them more space than the 

 evergreens, because I believe deciduous trees 

 are, in the main, best suited to our lawns in 

 America. Intense though short-lived heat and 

 sudden changes do not favor the growth of ever- 

 greens in the same degree as the more equable 

 climate of Europe. We find, however, on this 

 lawn, a very choice collection of new evergreens. 

 Among the spruces we noted several, and chief 

 among those the large-leaved hemlock (Abies 

 Canadensis macrophylla), the weeping hemlock 

 (Abies Canadensis pendula Sargentii), and the 

 blue spruce of the Rocky Mountains (Abies pun- 

 gens). The hemlocks of this trio are peculiarly 

 suited to small places, but the last named spruce 

 is of larger size. Breadth and depth of masses 

 and color, statuesque form and curious yew-like 

 habit characterize the broad-leaved hemlock. 

 It has little of the ordinary appearance of the 

 hemlock about it, and is more hardy under the 

 peculiar conditions that sometimes affect the 

 common hemlock. It was a seedling discovered 

 in Flushing a few years since, yet it has already 

 achieved favorable recognition from the best 

 judges of lawn planting material. If the broad- 

 leaved hemlock is somewhat stern and mascu- 

 line in its outline, the weeping hemlock is es- 

 sentially feminine in its graceful curves and 

 fountain-like sprays of green. Many ordinary 



