/%. 



GARDENING. 



37 



SCREEN OF CAROLINA POPLAR 



we protect our fall- planted evergreens the 

 first winter with a good thick mulching 

 of sedge, other litter, or tree leaves over 

 their roots against hard frost, and 

 branches or other shelter for their tops 

 from the cold winds. Tobankiipaniound 

 of earth over the roots to firm the plants 

 against winds, shed water, and help pro- 

 tect them from hard frost is often recom- 

 mended for evergreens, but in the case of 

 evergreens branched to the ground and 

 set out in our gardens this is impractica- 

 ble. For apple, pear and other fruit trees 

 out in the orchardthis earthingupisboth 

 practical and beneficial. 



With care most any deciduous trees may 

 safelj' be planted in fall, but, we should 

 prefer leaving oaks, beeches and mag- 

 nolias till spring. Whatever has to be 

 done in this line should be done as soon 

 as possible to give the trees a chance to 

 get a little hold of the soil, or at least 

 plumped up and their wounded roots well 

 on to healed before winter sets in. There 

 is nothing new in planting. It consists 

 of carefully lifting the plants, preserving 

 as manv roots to them as possible, never 

 letting the roots get exposed to wind, 

 sunshine or other dryinginfluence, cutting 

 off clean the wounded ends of roots, and 

 jjiTini g in the branches or tops of the 

 trees at planting time. For planting dig 

 out a deep, wide hole for each tree, re- 

 moving the poor or subsoil earth and re- 

 |)lacing it with good soil; fill the hole 

 pretty well up, having it like an inverted 

 Ijasin, high in the middle and deeper to- 

 wards the sides. On the hillock in the 

 middle, which should be deep enough for 

 the tree to rest on, set the butt of the 

 tree, spreading the roots outward on all 

 sides; now fill in some fine mellow earth 

 among them, pack firmly and level up 

 evenly. Or. if you choose to give the tree 

 a good watering, a good practice in light 

 land but not advisable on clay soils, leave 

 a little basin around the stem and fill it 

 up with water; when it settles level up 

 the ground. 



K good many people nowadays don't 

 believe in heading in deciduous trees at 

 planting time and insist they have better 

 success when thej' don't do it. But our 

 experience is positively in favorc f pruning 

 hard at plantirg time. 



All deciduous trtes exposed to winds in 

 winter are the better of the support of a 

 stout stake. Tie the stem to the stake 

 with strong, soft cord, a hay rope, or 



better still a piece of marline passed 

 through a bit of old rubber hose— just 

 hose enough to go around the tree and 

 keep the string from cutting in to it. 



THE CflROLINfl FOFLflR. 



The Carolina poplar {Populus inonili- 

 fera) is one of the commonest of trees, it 

 is easily propagated, easily raised, 

 plentiful in nurseries, and t is a 

 tree of very 'ast growth, and great 

 hardiness. In fact young trees are really 

 handsome plants. It is largely used to 

 plant on bleak exposures to m.ake a quick 

 shelter, with white maple, box elder, and 

 Cutalpa speciosa as associates. It and 

 these other trees are also often inter- 

 planted with more valuable permanent 

 trees, say walnuts, oaks, etc., to act as 

 nurses, and as they begin to crowd the 

 others these aie cut out a few at a time. 

 They are not uncommon as street trees; 

 indeed growing in the tainted soils with 

 their roots under the sealed pavements of 

 streets, few trees keep as healthy as docs 

 the Carolina poplar, and it submits very 

 kindly to the pruning shears. It is largely 

 used as a street tree in the city of Wash- 

 ington, D. C. Its principal use as astreet 

 tree however, is as a supernurnerary, fill- 

 ing in the long intervals left between 

 young hard maples, elms, or other desira- 

 ble trees. The proper distance apart for 

 large shade trees on our streets is 50 feet. 

 During the first few years after planting 

 so wide an empty spaceis very discourag- 

 ing to citizens cryingforimmediateshade, 

 and it is to fill this gap that Carolina 

 poplars are used temporarily, one or two 

 or three poplars— mostly one— being 

 planted between every two maples, but 

 the moment the maples grow out enough 

 to touch the poplars, the latter are cut 

 out, giving the maples all the room. We 

 can keep the poplars from growing out to 

 touch the maples for along time by short- 

 ening in their branches, treatment they 

 submit to with good grace. 



Besides using them as trees they make 

 a capital and quick hedge-screen. The 

 accompanying illustration is engraved 

 from a photograph, sent to us by L. S. K. 

 of Rochester, N. Y., and aptly shows i heir 

 eligibility for this purpose. Our corres- 

 pondent writes: "This is a hedge of five 

 years' growth of Carolina poplar. It is 

 "cercainly very satisfactory as a quick 

 growing screen." For such a purpose, 

 if you want a quick, thick effect, of no 



great height, set the plants about three 

 feet apart in the row; but in the long run 

 four feet apart will be better. The first 

 year after planting, wait till towards 

 spring, then cut the plants well back, this 

 causes them to thicken up from the bot- 

 tom and increase in fullness. And every 

 spring after, head them back considera- 

 bly, it will keep them leafy at the base, 

 and they will make a tall vigorous 

 growth in summer anyway. Another 

 plant that makes a very beautiful quick 

 screen in the same way is the laurel-leaved 



RHODODENDRONS, AZALEAS, ETC. 



Let me say, with Mr. Parsons, Sr., with 

 whom I conversed two years ago: beware 

 of rhododendrons, azaleas, andromedas. 

 etc. grown in peat soil. I moved a lot 

 l.ist spring that were planted three or 

 four years before and some of them were 

 just about the same as when planted; 

 roots still within the original small black 

 ball and leading a miserable existence. I 

 added a lot of 63 rhododendrons gotten 

 from Mr. Anthony Waterer through Mr. 

 J. W. Elliott, Pittsburg, and these had 

 been grown in sandy loam. They bloomed 

 earlier than my others, by two to three 

 weeks and have grown this first season 

 six to eight inches, with lots ol bloom 

 buds out for next year. Also I added to 

 the azalea bed 36 grown in sandy loam, 

 and though some had small tops the 

 roots were large and bimchy, so they 

 made a fine start I have a bed of 86 

 azaleas and a bed of S6 rhododendrons; 

 replanted both last spring, throwing all 

 dirt out three feet deep and filling in 

 about one loot deep of stores and brick 

 bats, with two feet of old sods from a 

 meadow, first putting some long rubbish 

 on top of the stones. Our valley is all 

 underlaid here with limestone; in grading 

 my lawn I quarried about 1.000 perches 

 of stones out to get the grade right. As 

 I was afraid the soil might not suit rho- 

 dodendrons and azaleas, I had a chem- 

 ical analysis made and found only about 

 one-third of one per cent of lime in the 

 soluble part with about one per cent more 

 of insoluble; as the meadow sods had a 

 considerable amount of sand, just right 

 ior the purpose to make it loose and por- 

 ous, I feel pretty safe so far as lime is 

 concerned, and all the plants are doing 

 finely so far except the unfortunates 

 above mentioned with cramped feet like 

 an unfortunate Chinese lady. They will 

 come right in time probably. Just' now 

 ray azalea and rhododendron beds are 



Ablaze with can.nas.— Mme. Crozy, 

 Alphonse Bouvicr, Capt. Suzzoni, Flor- 

 ence Vaughan, Sunshine, F^gandale, Queen 

 Charlotte, etc. The soil suits them ad- 

 mirably and with plenty of water thej' 

 are now a blaze of glory and I believe the 

 crowding of azaleas, etc. will not be an 

 injury until they get larger. I have some 

 fear, however, that it may make them 

 less able to resist cold next winter. My 

 rhododendrons all came through last 

 winter, though some were roughly used. 

 M;inj' of my evergreens were injured and 

 some killed. Retinosporas "especially 

 suft'ered. 



TRANSPLANTI.NG WILD KALMIAS. 



I have frequently seen advice in Gar- 

 I>E.\ING not to try to move kalmias from 

 the woods to lawn, but to take nursery 

 stock on account of the great mortality 

 with former. Well, last year I moved 

 seven or eight large ones, 3 to 3' 2 feet, 

 with stems the size of a broomstick, and 

 every one lived and is doing finely, al- 

 though it was so late they had shoots 

 three or four inches long starting, and 



