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GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



convince him that nursery stock of azaleas jilanted in the 

 Fall succeeds a great deal hettcr than when Spring planted. 

 'I"he Arnold Ahoretnni. h\- the \va\, when it has coni- 

 jileted its azalea jxlantings, will ha\e >et uut no less than 

 300.000 of them which should surely |ii'csenl a glorious 

 showing; in their scaMin. 



The fact that azaleas do so much hetter when planted 

 in the Fall should help to kill some of the existing j>reju- 

 dices against Fall planting. Over thirty years' experience 

 in boreal Xew England has clearly proved that with a 

 few exceptions deciduous shruhs do better planted in Fall 

 than Spring; that rhododendrons transplant very success- 

 fully in August ; that hardy roses planted alx)ut Novem- 

 ber 1 will easily beat those planted in April or ]\Iay ; that 

 apples, pears, plums, cherries, gooseberries, currants and 

 even raspberries amongst fruits are much better planted 

 in Fall : that nearly all hardy herbaceous perennials suc- 

 ceed far better planted in Fall than Spring ; and many 

 evergreens, if carefully planted and ]>roperly cared for. 

 will give just as good results if moved during August and 

 September as in late April and May. Nurserymen are 

 simply overwhelmed each Spring and have but little Fall 

 business. There would seem to be no solid reason why 

 these conditions should continue. He or she who buys 

 fruit trees or deciduous shrubs in Spring nsuallv gets 

 stock which has been dug the previous Fall, and has been 

 carried over \\'inter in storage houses, often the roots are 

 none too damp, and many ]3lants on receipt will ]>resent a 

 more or less shrivelled appearance, in no sense can it be 

 compared with .stock dug in the open. The growers of 

 nursery stock would much appreciate a longer shi])ping 

 season and they can only get it when ])eople awake to the 

 fact that Spring is not the only planting season, and that 

 if they would but buy more in the Fall, they would secure 

 I^etter stock and have it delivered much more promptly'. 

 Why not plan to relieve the Spring pressure by doing 

 some planting the coming Fall? 



The prices of rhododendrons have advanced enorniouslv 

 since the pas.sage of Ouarantine ?>7, but our native varie- 

 ties like maxinnim, catawbiense, and carolinianum are still 

 obtainable at reasonable rates. Catawbiense is the ]>arent 

 nf (lur many beautiful hardy hybrids. There is a ten- 

 dency on the part of landscape men to overplant maxi- 

 nnim, commonly known as "the Great White Faurel." It 

 has the advantage of being a late bloomer ; the trusses are, 

 however, small comi:)ared with those of the hybrids, and I 

 do not consider it in any way comparable with Kalmia 

 latifolia, our common "Mountain Laurel," in beauty. ( )f 

 the hardv hybrids of catawbiense the following- have proven 

 very reliable in the vicinity of I5oston where rhododen- 

 drons have been much planted. Album elegans, blush 

 white, a splendid variety ; delicatissima, white suffused 

 with pink, the finest light colored sort we have, flowers 

 luoderately late ; roseum elegans, rosy pink ; Charles 

 Dickens, scarlet ; Everestianum, rosy lilac, sometimes 

 called lavender ; Caractacus, a reliable purjyle crimson va- 

 riety : album grandiflorum, a robust sort similar to album 

 elegans in color ; atrosanguinea, dark scarlet ; Boule de 

 Niege, of dwarf habit, pure white in color and an early 

 bloomer, good for the front of beds; C. S. Sargent, an 

 excellent crimson ; Kettledrum, deep red ; Mrs. C. S. Sar- 

 gent, a lovely ])ink, and purpureum grandiflorum. jjurple. 

 .•\ number of other varieties have proven hardy but those 

 named give a fine range of colors and should naturally 

 succeed lietter in sections somewhat less severe than here. 

 If broken from the morning sun, kept well niulched all 

 the tiiue with leaves, and moist at the root, there is no 

 reason why rhododendrons should not succeed well. The 

 one time idea that peat was needed for their successfid 

 culture has been long ago exploded, having been abim- 

 dantly proved that they will thrive just as well in loam. 

 Like other members of the natural order Ericace;c, they 

 cannot he grown in soils containing lime, but scientists 

 are now telling us that it is possible to treat such soils 

 and make them grow rhododendrons and allied plants 

 successfuUv. 



The hvlirid rhododendrons are now in their full glory. 

 The past Winter while prolonged was not epecially severe 

 and plants almost without exception came through in ex- 

 cellent condition. \\'e hear much about the Winter kill- 

 ing of these showy plants. I am of the opinion that the 

 main reasons why so many j)lants look miserable in .Spring 

 are not so much low temperatures as a deficiency of moist- 

 ure at the roots, excessive Winter jjrotection overhead, 

 and exposure to biting winds. Young ])lantings in our 

 colder latitudes need a little jirotection the first two years 

 initil established, afterwards they are much better without 

 it. The removal of coverings of evergreen branches or 

 burlap is invariably carried out when we have one of our 

 premature bursts of heat in March, and the sudden ex- 

 l)Osure to hot sun, and later biting frosty winds is in real- 

 ity the cause of the "burnings" of the foliage so much in 

 evidence each season. IT these broad-leaved evergreens 

 go into the Winter with dry feet and the ground remains 

 hermetically sealed for weeks, or maybe months, they can- 

 not be exfjected to come through the Winter well. There 

 is one other menace to successful rhododendron culture 

 in the lace wing fly which is responsible for the deaths of 

 thousands of jjlants, and the disfiguring of many more. 

 This jjest is very destructive to rhododendrons and kal- 

 mias growing in full sunshine, but rarely troubles those 

 in the shade. It can he readily controlled by using a good 

 nicotine spray with some .soap added, .'\phine and other 

 proprietary remedies prove effective; care nnist be taken 

 to use a fine misty .spray nozzle and to direct the s])ray 

 upwards as the pests work Ijelow the leaves and must \x 

 hit and suffocated by contact. 



I have been very much interested in the luovement 

 started recently, to collect a fund, the interest of which 

 will be utilized to perpetuate the memory of Jackson 

 Thornton Dawson for over forty years superintendent and 

 Ijropagator of the Arnold Arboretum, the greatest Mecca 

 of living trees and shrubs on the American continent. It 

 is ]>ro]x)sed to use the interest from the invested fimds for 

 suitable inedals or prizes to be oft'ered through the Massa- 

 chusetts Horticultural Society annually. Probably there 

 has been no more uniiiue figure in the last half century 

 than that of Mr. Dawson, who gave practically the whole 

 of a long and very bu.sy life to the jjropagation, hvbrid- 

 ization, and culture of hardy trees and shrubs. .\s a 

 propagator he was so successful as to be almost uncanny, 

 and during his lifetime he raised plants simpl\' li\- the 

 millions which were sent to nearly all quarters of the 

 globe. To the present generation of tree lovers, the 

 genial face and w;inii hand clas]) of Jackson Dawson is 

 very familiar, but it is fitting that a movement of this 

 kind should have teen started to kee]) in fragrant memory 

 one who labored so long and unselfishly for the advance- 

 ment of .'\merican arboriculture. The treasm-er of the 

 Jackson Dawson Memorial Fund is Thomas Roland, Na- 

 hant. Mass., and V.. 11. Wilson, assistant director of the 

 .\rnold .\rlH)retum and noted plant collector, is acting as 

 chairman of the committee. 



* * * 



In reading the reports of the late Cihcnt Ouin(|ucnnial 

 ivxhibition held at Chent, llelgium, last .'\pril, an exhibi- 

 [Conlinurd on /'i'.t,'i' L"^4) 



