TH!-: GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



627 



(Jut in Glendale, California. 

 THE SPINY CACTUS tlicru is a unique and ex- 

 FOR FENCES. tiLiiiLly satisfactory guard for 

 an orange grove and apricot 

 orchard, being simply a cactus fence. Having suft'ered 

 considerable loss by having his fruit stolen from the 

 trees by passers-by. this rancher, after trying all other 

 ordinary kinds of fence to no avail, decided to establish 

 a precedent by growing a cactus-hedge fence. Suiting 

 action to the thought, he secured a large number of the 

 spiny-cactus leaves and planted them along his fence line. 

 These grew very rapidly and in the course of a little over 

 a year the fence had attaine<l the height of about three 

 feet. Up to the present time this hedge has grown to 

 enomious proportions, being from six to twelve feet in 

 height and from four to eight feet in thickness. 



It is practically impossible for any one to climb the 

 hedge or to go through it. On each of these cactus leaves 

 are hundreds of needle-like spines, ranging from one to 

 two inches in length and being at the base about as thick 

 as a match. These spines grow in clusters of from two 

 to six each. The wound made bv these spines is peculiar. 

 .\t the time they enter the flesh they cause hardly any 

 pain, but an hour or so afterward aching begins and con- 

 tinues for several hours. The flesh in that section be- 

 comes swollen and inflamed. 



During the blooming season of this cactus, which is 

 between the first of May and the last of July, this hedge 

 fence presents an unusually beautiful appearance. The 

 spiny buds form on the edges of the leaves, generalh 

 clustering about the tips. Thev remain in bud form for 

 several weeks and then break into a delicate bloom. In 

 a short time what is known as the "cactus apple" forms, 

 which a few days later becomes ripe and may be eaten 

 with safety, although it is very difficult to gather. This 

 cactus required no cultivatidn or irrigation. — Country 

 Geutlemau. 



WHY SOIL 



MOISTURE IS 



NECESSARY. 



.According to Dr. Hermann 

 THE OLDEST von Shrenk, of St. Louis, the 

 LIVING TREE. oldest living tree in the world 

 is the Santa Maria del Tale 

 cypress in .Southern Me.xico, believed by experts to be 

 between 5,C00 and O.OOO years old. Just at present it is 

 on the firing line of one of the uprisings and in peril 

 from cannon fire and musketry. This has prevented Doc- 

 tor Shrenk from determining accurately its real age. He 

 took measurements in 1903, a century after Humboldt 

 discovered it on his famous tour, but could not get the 

 consent of the ma\or of Santa Maria del Talc to bore 

 out a half-inch plug to the center of the truck, where 

 there was a girth of one hundred and tvventy-si.x feet 

 at four feet from the ground. Prof. Asa Gray estimated 

 its age at 5,124 years and Prof. Alphonse de Candolle at 

 6.000. Doctor Shrenk hopes vet to attain his desire. — 

 Excliangc. 



A very large per cent, of 

 the bulk of garden plants is 

 water — from 7.S to 90 per 

 cent. Much water passes 

 through the roots, stems and leaves and then ofif into the 

 air, being the medium that carries raw material to where 

 it can be manufactured into ready plant food and then 

 takes this food to all growing parts to build tissue. 



From tlie soil about the ])lants nuich moisture is con- 

 stantly evaporated. The exact amount needed for any 

 given crop cannot be determined, for conditions varv the 

 amount used and wasted. V>v\ it is large. 



If w'e could know the reason for the failure, or ])art 

 failure, of every cri)p that does not yield a maximum 

 harvest and could classify those causes we would be 

 amazed at the number of poor crops that needed more 

 moisture. Every process of the living j^lant demands the 

 presence of this universal li(|uid. 



If from any cause there is a scarcity, then the functions 

 of the plants are impaired or checked, plant food is not 

 gotten ready fast enough to keej) all the growing tissue 

 supplied and the waste material is not well disposed of. 



It is needful, therefore, to have an abundance of water 

 from the beginning. 



-A systematic culture of the garden plot — a culture that 

 forbids the ground to remain Imig without an earth nnilch 

 to discourage evaporation and to urge the root svstems 

 to CO deej) where droughts do little harm, is a great part 

 of the prudent gardener's philoso])hy. It prepares both 

 the ground and the plant for emergencies. Rains are ab- 

 sorbed to keep the plants through dry times. — Ves;ctahlc 

 Grozver. 



THE 

 GOVERNMENT'S 



It is stated that the annual 

 I iovernment distribution of 

 vegetable and flower seeds 



GIFT OF SEEDS, amounts to over 497 tons, or 

 enough to fill 20 freight cars. 



For the last three years each of the Senators, members 

 and delegates in Congress has been allowed 20,000 pack- 

 ages of vegetable and 2,000 packages of flower seeds, 

 each package consisting of five packets containing differ- 

 ent kinds of seeds. The Secretary of Agriculture is al- 

 lowed 1,000,000 packages of vegetable and 150,000 

 packages of flower seeds. Members of Congress are per- 

 mitted also to exchange their vegetable-seed for an equal 

 number of flower-seed packages, or vice versa, to suit 

 the demands of their constituents. Thus the Government 

 provides seeds enough to allow every family in the coun- 

 try at least one packet. — Exchange. 



That poisonous gas as a 

 THE POISON vermin exterminator is a very 

 MENACE. positive danger in the hands 



of careless people is not suf- 

 ficiently emphasized i)\ those who advise the use of such 

 materials. Coincident with the appearance of a warning 

 in these pages against the use of poisons for liousehold 

 pests we read of the death of two men from the fumes 

 of hydrocyanic gas which was being used to exterminate 

 vermin. The significant fact is that this material was 

 being handled by a professional, who was presumably well 

 aware of the dangerous nature of the gas. Despite his 

 apparently careful methods in sealing the room the gas 

 penetrated to another ]iart of the building and resulted 

 in the fatalities. 



\\'ere there no otiier methods to exterminate pests, 

 such accidents might be excused: but if in the hands of 

 an expert the ]ioisonous gas is so deadly, what of the 

 danger when it is administered by a layman? — Count r\ 

 Gentleman. 



GOLDEN GLOW. 



Oh golden crown of our bed of flowers. 



How joyously _\ou greet the hours! 



How lavishly your wealth you give 



To creatures all that near you live ! 



A'ou swav and nod in sinnmer breeze. 



.\ mecca of the jiilgrim bees : 



You filter sunshine through the rain. 



.\nd vie with sunbeams out again, 



Like winsome smile on liuman face. 



Your gladness bring to every place : 



Our homage thanks we give to you. 



Philanthropist of flowers ! anew. —P.. Priicc. 



