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THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[July, 



to the delight of the public and the benefit of the 

 horticultural societies. A night blooming cereus, 

 passifiora or a sensitive plant was looked upon 

 as a wonder of nature. A Stapelia was shown 

 for its disagreeable smell, and people were laughed 

 at on account of the funny faces they made when 

 induced to smell of the flower. Shade trees were 

 only planted in public places and along roads. 

 Fruit trees were planted around homes and an- 

 swered for both purposes. The general landscape 

 was even delightful to behold. The sunny hills in 

 March were blue with violets which scented the 

 spring air with their heavenly odor; the blue-eyed 

 forget-me-not by the brooks, the nymphaeas in the 

 ponds. The meadows, the roadsides, the woods, 

 the whole landscape was embellished from spring 

 to fall with pretty posies. The song of the lark 

 from the air and of the nightingale from the trees, 

 can never be forgotten. Ivy covered whole build- 

 ings, while plants, timely in bloom, were growing 

 in walls, old ruins and churches. In looking at 

 this one is reminded of the old story they tell of 

 an ox which was hoisted up to a steeple to eat the 



grass. 



The German linden is famous, when in bloom, 

 for its healing and nourishing fragrance. So also is 

 the large German honeysuckle, while the German 

 camomile possesses the greatest medical qualities. 

 The old people used to say, "Take off your hat 

 for every camomile flower." No doubt every 

 plant is good for something if we only knew its 

 merits. The sweet spring flowers furnish the 

 first bouquet from the lover to his heart's delight, 

 and rose and peony petals out of the gardens, and 

 the beautiful scarlet poppy and the blue cyanus 

 from the meadows furnish principally the strew 

 flowers for the memorial processions on Corpus 

 Christi day. How gracefully sometimes school 

 girls trim their hats with flowers. Women orna- 

 ment themselves on various occasions with flowers 

 and vines, often carrying a bouquet on Sunday 

 when they go to church. Youths stick a flower in 

 a button-hole, and men often take a flower between 

 their hps, and they never had a feast without 

 some decoration of flowers. The chrysanthe- 

 mums with their bright colored beautiful flowers 

 which are distributed in almost every garden, not 

 only add considerably to the pleasantness of the 

 last fall days, but together with all the rest of the 

 flowers which Jack Frost has not yet reached, 

 they form sacred tributes to the memory of de- 

 ceased relatives and friends on their graves on All 

 Saints' day. And with the fading of the flowers 

 and the brilliant masses of glossy scarlet berries 



of the fire-thorn (Mespilus pyracantha) the season 

 closes. 



Thus it will be seen that in the olden time the 

 people were not without their delights and their 

 pleasures, and if they could not boast of as great 

 art and as great varieties as the people of the 

 present day in gardening and horticulture, they 

 had the substantial satisfaction of feeling that all 

 their simple, and indeed, sensible tastes were 

 charmingly and luxuriantly supplied and gratified. 

 Progress is always moving, but memory often 

 turns back and pauses over the bright spots full 

 of delightful reminiscenses in the long past. 



GROWING HEDGES. 



BY T. G. VEOMANS, WALWORTH, N. Y. 



To grow a hedge successfully, a few matters of 

 importance should receive careful attention. 

 First, make choice of good plants, as uniform in 

 size as may be, cutting off the tip of the tap-root, 

 and the top about two inches above the collar ; 

 and plant in single row, plants six inches apart, 

 and cultivate as well as one would a row of pota- 

 toes. In the spring, one year from planting, cut 

 back to within six inches of the former cut, and the 

 second spring cut again to about nine to twelve 

 inches from the preceding cut ; if it grows well 

 leave it about one foot higher each spring at 

 cutting, till it reaches the height desired, giving it 

 at top the desired shape, pointed to the center, and 

 sloping sharply about half way (from top) to the 

 ground. 



Spring pruning causes more vigorous growth, 

 while summer pruning checks or retards it ; thus 

 the trimming in spring, till the hedge is formed, 

 tends to grow it quickly. Let all future trim- 

 ming be in summer, which will be easily done 

 while the wood is soft, and check the growth, thus 

 easily keeping the hedge in form with only a small 

 amount of pruning, which should be done two or 

 three times during the growing season, and will 

 thus be less labor than one pruning of hard 

 wood; at all times keep the hedge in more perfect 

 form. 



LAWNS. 

 BY CHARLES E. PARNELL. 



It is an old but a very true saying, that a 

 smooth, closely-shaven lawn is the simplest and 

 the loveliest element we can use in the adornment 

 of our grounds. We may procure the choicest 

 flowering plants as well as the most rare ornamen- 

 tal trees and shrubs that our nurserymen and 



