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GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



to do what we can to secure it. Nature lends her most bril- 

 liant colors to dj'e the falling leaves and ripening berries, mak- 

 ing as it were one last dash for beauty before she assumes the 

 sombre garments of the year. Many of the shrubs and trees 

 at our command take part in this pageant of beauty, and by ex- 

 pending just a little thought in selection, some fine autumnal 

 effects and color combinations can be obtained. Ligiiidambar- 

 styraciiiiiia (American Sweet Gum) is one of the most satis- 

 factory trees in this respect A native of the northern United 

 States, it is hardy and affords excellent shade in Summer. 

 From the gray branches hang long stalked, glossy, maple-like 

 leaves of elegant shape which at the tirst touch of cold run 

 from pale green through gold into a deep crimson, sprays of 

 which mixed with pink dahlias, are a thing to be remembered. 

 The leaves, which are fragrant when bruised, remain on until 

 the first frosts Seeds (mostly imported) take a year to ger- 

 minate and when the seedlings are about 6 inches high they 

 should be transplanted into deep, moist loam. 



Liriodcndron tuliftifera (The Tulip Tree) is another beauti- 

 ful North American tree which not only gives good and striking 

 color effects but is also valuable from a decorative point of 

 view on account of its flowers. These open in Spring and 

 early Summer when the foliage is a soft light green. They 

 are shaped like those of a tulip and are sweet-scented, the cujj 

 greenish yellow without and orange within. The leaves borne 

 on this splendidly sturdy tree of which the wide spreading 

 branches often crown an erect stem 60 feet high, are ver\- hand- 

 some and distinctive, with two lobes at the base and two at 

 the apex, separated by a broad shallow notch. In Autumn they 

 are a rich golden yellow. In Great Britain the trees are found 

 to thrive under very varied conditions as regards soil but a 

 good deep loam in a sheltered situation is most desirable. Other 

 trees for Autumn effect are Qucrcus coccinca, Acer sacchaium 

 and Cornus fihrida, which sometimes has its glowing tints aug- 

 mented by the presence of scarlet fruits; whilst amongst shrubs 

 we have Etionyiiuts ahtus — the Japanese Burning Bush, — Ber- 

 beris tnnlgaris. Sambucus, and the many attractive species of 

 Samhucus. — South African Gardening and Country Life. 



ANDROMEDA (PIERIS) FLORIBUNDA. 



Those who live on poor, peaty soils have at least one ad- 

 vantage in that all the charming small shrubs that we know 

 under the general garden name of Andromeda can be grown 

 to_ perfection. One of the earliest and most lavish of bloom is 

 Picris floribinida, a stiff, woody shrub covered in early April 

 withits pretty white bloom. It has the unusual habit of form- 

 ing its flovyer-buds in early Autumn, when, quite six months 

 before its tinie of blooming, it has all the appearance of prom- 

 ising to be in flower within a fortnight. It grows to a height 

 of 6 feet to 7 feet, then taking a form between bush and sinall 

 tree. We have it by one of the several paths that lead from 

 garden to wood, in company with Ganitheria, Skimmia and the 

 dwarf alpine Rhododendrons, all plants that thrivi; In i ur light, 

 sandy soil. — The Garden. 



THE POPULARITY OF TUFTED PANSIES. 



A summary of some of the dwarf plants used for Summer 

 planting in the flower garden in a recent number makes one 

 realize how much the Tufted Pansies predominate for such 

 work in the majority of gardens. When one sees them in 

 mass in scores of varieties thoroughly well done there is no 

 question as to the reason for their popularity, because, in addi- 

 tion to their freedom and long-continued blooming season, they 

 give in their variety almost every shade of color with the ex- 

 ception of scarlet, and this has led to the exclusion of many 

 dwarf plants largely used at one time but now shelved in 

 favor of the Pansies, as the Av,'?Lr{es.t^ Ageratum, Gazania splen- 

 dens. Tageles piiniila. and the white Alys.mm. Those retained 

 either supply a shade unknown in the Pansies, as in Linum 

 graiididoruin, or have a peculiarity of their own, as in Cuphea 

 platyccntra. A grand point in favor of the free use of these 

 Pansies is their adaptability to association with so many dif- 

 ferent plants, both hardy and tender, as Roses and Pentstemons 

 in the one and Fuchsias and Begonias in the other, and many 

 other things classed as bona fide greenhouse or stove plants 

 that are occasionally used in the llnwer garden. I noted above 

 the free and continuous blooming of these Pansies, but it must 

 be remembered that this is only obtained by liberal culture and 

 making sure that the soil is always fairly moist, the latter se- 

 cured by a good soaking and a surface mulching if the weather 

 prove hot and dry. In addition to the many different shades 

 commonly known and planted, some new varieties have been 

 introduced in recent years in copper and brown which serve 

 as capital carpet plants to Roses of similar hwe.— Gardening 

 Jlhistrated. 



WHITE FOXGLOVES. 



One of the many interests of the garden is the gradual better- 

 ing by selection of some kind of flower. Among a batch of 

 white Foxglove grown some twentv-five years ago there came 

 one absolutely without spot of any kind. It is usual for them 

 even when colored spots are absent, to have some kind of faint 

 spotting of pale buff or brown; but the unspotted white one 

 was isolated, and every year there were more of the pure white 

 Now the strain may be considered fixed, for though there may 

 still be here and there the faintest trace of spotting, one may 

 say that quite 95 per cent will be pure. The whole growth is 

 handsome, the spikes well over 7 feet in height and of good 

 form ; the individual bloom held in the hand might almost pass 

 for a white Gloxinia. It is a plant for many uses; in patches in 

 garden borders or among shrubs, but best of all in woodland. 

 When a tree is grubbed, leaving a space of loosened soil, we 

 sow the white Foxglove, and in two years time there is a noble 

 group of the pure white spires.— ^/^^' Garden. 



HOEING IN DRY WEATHER. 



The amateur gardener is at first inclined to be rather sceptical 

 about the advantages of hoeing in times of drought. He does 

 not see how it is that breaking up the surface soil is going to 

 prevent his plants from drying out. The constant use of a hoe 

 is worth any amount of watering. 



Any soil, whether it be light or hea\-i-. is composed of count- 

 less numbers of minute, almost spherical particles, the water 

 forming almost continuous channels from the lower levels of 

 the soil to the surface. When evaporation is taking place at 

 the soil level, as it is always doing to a certain extent, and to a 

 greater degree in hot weather, a stream of water is continuously 

 being drawn up to take the place of the moisture evaporated at 

 the surface, and the reserve water a foot or so down gradually 

 becomes exhausted as it travels up to be dried by the sun's 

 rays. By breaking up an inch or two of soil at the surface with 

 the hoe these continuous channels of water are disturbed and 

 broken through, and the moisture ceases to be drawn up by the 

 action of the sun. .A. loose layer is provided at the surface 

 through which the water only rises upward with difficulty, as 

 the further apart the particles are the more difficult it is for 

 the water to form continuous channels. This continuous hoeing 

 in dry weather conserves the moisture in the lower soil levels, 

 where it is available for the roots instead of its being evaporated 

 into the air and lost to the plant. 



So if you are afraid that your vegetables are suffering from 

 drought, ply the hoe vigorously and ■ leave the watering can 

 severely alone. — Gardening Illustrated. 



PEACH LEAF CURL. 



Having regard to the ease with which Leaf Curl of Peaches is 

 controlled it is remarkable how wide-spread this unsightly malady 

 remains. So long as it was supposed that the mycelium of the 

 fungus (Exoascus deformani:) perennates in the tissues of the 

 Peach tree, and growing with the new shoots infected them in 

 turn, it seemed hopeless to attempt to check the malady by 

 spraying. But a crucial experiment made some years ago at 

 Wisley showed, nevertheless, that spraying may serve to arrest 

 the disease in the most strikingly peremptory manner. A row 

 of Peaches trained against the south side of a wall was chroni- 

 cally affected with Leaf Curl and almost completely unfruitful. 

 It was decided to test the effect of spraying with Burgundy 

 mixture, which had been used, already with marked success by 

 Dr. Home in controlling American Gooseberry Mildew. In 

 order to secure if possible a decisive result, one-half only of 

 each fan-trained tree was sprayed. The work was done in the 

 early Spring, just before the buds were about to expand. The 

 result was remarkable. As the new foliage developed that on 

 the sprayed half of the tree was as clean as the hand of the 

 healed leper— that on the other was distorted and discolored 

 after the drastic fashion of leaf-curled foliage. The conclusion 

 was therefore plain : that the Spring infection is the result of 

 the germination of spores shed from diseased foliage during the 

 previous year, and lodged in or between the bud scales where 

 they hibernate, start into growth as the buds expand, and infect 

 the young foliage. When this mode of infection is understood 

 it is easy to realize also how it is that Spring weather acts so 

 often as the deciding factor — determining whether infection shall 

 take place or not — for the spores are minute and are likelv to in- 

 fect the tissues of the leaf only under conditions most favorable 

 to them. These conditions are either moist air and developing 

 leaves gorged with water or dry air due to winds, with con- 

 sequent injury to and reduced resistance of the young foliage. 

 Hence it is that the gardener is apt to attribute" Leaf Curl to 

 adverse Spring weather and to ignore the fact that it is only 

 a contributory and not a prime cause of the disease. In view 

 of these facts two conclusions may be drawn — one with cer- 



