228 



GARDENING. 



April 75, 



meal, mixing it with the soil at the time 

 of repotting. The only reason I can see 

 why I have succeeded where others have 

 failed is in the fact that mine are kept in 

 a moist earth having an under drainage, 

 while others I know of have kept theirs 

 where the outside of the pots were dry, 

 and the roots coming to the dry sides of 

 the pot have been injured. Nothing in 

 the line of flowers gives me more pleasure 

 in winter or require less attention than 

 my poinsettias. It is now four years 

 since the first plant was given me, and it 

 is now branched out like a tree, is five 

 feet high. I keep it in a bay window on 

 west side of the house. 



Brooklyn. Mrs. S. B. Terry. 



[The fame of Mrs. Terry's poinsettias 

 have come to our notice, at our request 

 she has very kindly given us her method 

 of cultivation. We are assured by a 

 critical florist that Mrs. Terry's i^oin- 

 settias are as fine as anything seen in a 

 greenhouse; they have good foliage, short 

 stems, big heads of bracts, and they last 

 long in beauty. It is a fact that the 

 floral beauty of poinsettias, calceolarias, 

 and a good many other plants under 

 favorable conditions, will last longer in 

 the window than in the greenhouse.— Ed.] 



LftROE flIBISCUS BUSHES WANTED. 



Edgemoor writes: "The variety that 

 I refer to has no relation to hollyhock. 

 The specimens I now have are, 1 should 

 judge, at least twenty-five years old and 

 are cut back to a height of about five 

 feet. They bear a profusion of large, bell 

 shaped, crimson flowers, and bloom all 

 summer. I got a lot a couple of years 

 ago; but they were too small to be effect- 

 ive and some of them were double and not 

 nearly as showy as those with single 

 flowers. Can you put me in the way of 

 getting what I desire?" 



Ans. We presume you refer to Hibiscus 

 rosasinensis, if so, florists don't keep 

 large plants in stock, it wouldn't pay 

 them to, you should put an advertisement 

 in Gardening asking for what you want 

 and the size you would like to get. If it 

 is a hibiscus at all, it must belong to the 

 same family as the hollyhock. 



Trees and Shrubs. 



fl CROUP OF FINE TREES. 



Mr. Henry Probasco of Cincinnati 

 often came to see us and always selected 

 the finest and rarest conifers we had. 

 Speaking about the different kinds, one 

 day, and that they would lose their 

 lower branches or get partly denuded 

 after a certain time, he quietly turned to 

 me and said "friend Trumpy, when I have 

 enjoyed their beauty for ten or twelve 

 years I consider that they have paid me 

 "far more in pleasure than I paid for them 

 in money, and I can afford to plant 

 younger ones in their place." He took 

 the right view of these things. But there 

 are many people who cannot see beauty 

 in trees except in large, mature individ- 

 uals. Who can stand in front of the 

 Dosoris or Hunnewell conifers, and they 

 are comparatively young plants, without 

 a profound sense of admiration for them? 

 We once had a very beautiful group of 

 pine trees that was greatly admired by 

 visitors, we took specimens of all our 

 kinds and planted them on the side of a 

 hill where they grew thrifty, but on ac- 

 count of encroaching town improvements 

 they had to be removed. A north-facing 



A GROUP OP PINE TREES. 



hillside is the best situation for such a 

 group, which if necessary might also 

 serve as a windbreak, and on the sky line 

 they are to the north what the palms are 

 to the south. In large grounds the trees 

 may be planted 50 apart, closer in 

 moderate sized grounds, and in small 

 places only the lesser growing sorts 

 should be set out. The group as marked 

 in the accompanying sketch would make 

 a handsome showing. 



Key to group oe pines {Pinus). 1, 

 Bhotan pine (P. excelsa); 2, dense flow- 

 ered Japan pine (densiffora); 3, Scotch 

 (sylvestris); 4, Austrian {Austriaca); 5, 

 American white pine (Strobus); 6, Cor- 

 sican (Laricio); 7, dwarf mountain 

 (Mughus); 8, red {resinosa); 9; Corean 

 (Koraiensis); 10, mountain-top {monti- 

 cola); 11, Pyrenean {Pyrenaica); 12, 

 pilch [rigida); 13, dwarf white (Strobus 

 compacta); 14, Austrian; 15. dwarf 

 mountain. J. R. Trump v. 



Kissena, L. I. 



TREES AND SHRUBS FOR HOLDING RIVER 

 EMBANKMENTS. 



The covering of banks of streams and 

 rivers with a dense growth of trees and 

 shrubs, suitable for binding the soil and 

 holding the banks intact, so as to resist 

 the erosion resulting from periodic inun- 

 dations, is an important question. For 

 holding the banks of streams of a mixed 

 clay nature, the black willow [Salix 

 nigra), peach willow (S. amygdaloides), 

 and golden willow are excellent and so 

 are the lower growing purple willow (S. 

 purpureum), the long-leaved willow (S. 

 longi folia) and the basket willow (S. 

 viwinalis). The last named holds banks 

 in this neighborhood with wonderful 

 tenacity. The shining-leaved willow has 

 been tried, but does not appear to be suc- 

 cessful, it is however, fine as a nurse plant 

 in plantations. The two alders {Alniis 

 incana and A. serrulata) are two stand- 

 ard plants for holding banks. Once they 

 are established they resist the action of 

 ice and floods with remarkable success. 

 False indigo (Amorpha /rut;cosa) spreads 

 rapidly and is very persistent, bladder 

 senna (Colutea) is also very serviceable, 

 and so too are the red osier dogwood and 

 the panicled dogwood, the last named 

 forms dense thickets and is excellent for 

 holding the banks of streams. The two 

 wild grape vines ( Vitis riparia and V. 

 cordifolia) are good and the climbing bit- 

 ter-sweet [Celastnis scaridens), the vir- 

 gin's bower {Clematis Virginiana) and 

 Virginia creeper, all hold the soil tenac- 

 iously once they are established. 



Among large trees the Carolina poplar 

 is one of the best for this purpose. The 

 American white elm, the western plane, 

 the white and red maples and yellow and 

 red birch are all good. Among small trees 

 the different native thorns, such as black 

 or pear thorn, scarlet fruited thorn and 

 dotted fruited thorn, are good; they grow 



slowly, but once established they resist 

 well the action of water. 



In planting sandy slopes or embank- 

 ments, if they are very ste p it is first im- 

 portant to have them graded or cut down 

 to the angle of repose, otherwise heavy 

 rains, thunderstorms and spring thaws 

 will constantly wash the soil down to the 

 bottom of the slope and leavethe rootsof 

 plants bare, so that they will make but 

 little progress. Our native staghorn, 

 smooth and dwarf sumachs, are good on 

 sandy slopes, the last named is a little 

 difficult to establish and perhaps not 

 more than 507o will live, but once it 

 starts it grows rapidly. The sand plum 

 (Prunus pumila) is most excellent on 

 sterile sandy slopes, and the beach plum 

 (P. maritim'a) does well. The purple wil- 

 low, shining-leaved willow, the dwarf 

 willow (Salix tristis), long-leaved willo^v 

 and S glaucopbylla and others do well 

 on sterile sandy slopes. Bay berry (My- 

 rica cerifera) is an admirable shrub for 

 sand banks, in fact it is one of the best. 

 Bladder senna does well and multiplies 

 rapidly. It has taken possession of some 

 sterile banks in this neighborhood un- 

 aided. If the sand is of a loamy nature 

 box thorn (Lycium) will do well. The 

 Carolina poplar, Mahaleb cherry, Euro- 

 pean birch, canoe birch and American 

 white birch and the red pine, pitch pine 

 and Scotch pine will all do fairly well on 

 sandy banks. 



On banks or slopes of a somewhat rocky 

 nature, the buffalo berrj' (Shepherdia 

 Canadensis) is excellent; the New Jersey 

 tea (Ceanotius) does well and the prairie 

 vi'iWow (Salix hitmilis and S. tristis) are 

 suitable. The snowberry (Sympbori- 

 carpus) does well on rocky slopes in this 

 neighborhood. A good many of our wild 

 roses do well on rocky land; R. humilis 

 is one of the best and R. Wichuraiana is 

 also admirable. If there are seams of 

 fairly good soil Hall's honeysuckle will 

 spread nicely and the common woodbine 

 (Lonicera grata) and the yellow flower- 

 ing honeysuckle (Z.. /lava) do admirably 

 among rocks. The bush honeysuckle 

 (Diervilla triiida) is very suitable; Euotiy- 

 mus radicans does well if there are seams 

 of fairly good soil for it to root into, and 

 Viburnum acerifolium and V. pubescens 

 are useful. The yellow, bristly and 

 clammy locusts are good; once they take 

 posession, if they are cut back they will 

 sucker persistently and take possession. 

 Among evergreens the common juniper is 

 good, the Canadian yew does well in the 

 shade, and the red cedar, pitch pine and 

 red pine will do well on mixed rocky 

 slopes. J. Dunbar. 



Rochester, N. Y. 



TREES THAT HAY CROW ON CLAY HILLS. 



In my rambles I havesecn the following 

 trees and shrubs growing on poor clay 

 hills. Very likely some of them may be 

 noted in botanical books as growing in 



