■141 



HORTICULTURE 



May 10, 1919 



RAMBLING OBSERVATIONS OF 

 A ROVING GARDENER 



The fragrant Korean Viburnum, V. 

 Carlesii, has now been tested long 

 enough in this country to show that 

 it is perfectly hardy even in the cli- 

 mate of New England. It is certainly 

 a valuable addition to the early flow- 

 ering shrubs, yet possibly it has been 

 praised too unreservedly in some of 

 the magazines. It is not particularly 

 beautiful as to habit or foliage, and 

 therefore no great adornment to the 

 garden, except when in bloom. Then, 

 however, it has few rivals. All the 

 flowers in the clusters do not open at 

 the same time, and the combination 

 of white blossoms and pink buds adds 

 to the beauty of the plant. There 

 seems to be a tendency to use this 

 viburnum very freely, and as most 

 gardeners are not familiar with It, 

 some remarks by a writer in The Eng- 

 lish Garden may be appreciated. 



He says: "Viburnum Carlesii is so 

 fragrant and so short lived that I 

 have taken to growing a few bushes 

 in pots. I find they flower freely and 

 respond willingly to a little judicious 

 pruning. Moreover by keeping a 

 plant or two in a cold corner, the 

 short lived season of bloom is greatly 

 prolonged, lasting until the lilacs be- 

 gin. It is a great pity that the blooms 

 of the Viburnum Carlesii so soon fade 

 when out, not lasting well at all in 

 water. Cannot some one give us a 

 hybrid between the Laurestinus and 

 Viburnum Carlesii? What a delight- 

 ful shrub it might be." 



Professor Sargent, of the Arnold Ar- 

 boretum, has pointed out that the 

 Japanese species, V. bitchuense, has 

 been mistaken by Japanese botanists 

 for V. Carlesii, and sent to this coun- 

 try and especially to Europe under the 

 latter name. It is suggested that care 

 be taken to obtain the right species. 

 It is quite possible that the writer 

 quoted is not growing the true V. 

 Carlesii. 



• • • • 

 It will be rather a surprise to Amer- 

 ican gardeners to learn that Magnolia 

 machrophylla is a hard tree to grow 

 in England, soon dying out even at the 

 Kew gardens, as it seems to suffer 

 badly from spring frosts. It has 

 proved perfectly hardy in Boston, 

 where the temperature goes very 

 much lower than in England. Appar- 

 ently there are a few trees in England 

 which have thrived, but they are very 

 few. 



This magnolia is an especially in- 

 teresting tree and seems worthy of 



wider cultivation in New England. It 

 has the largest leaves and the largest 

 flowers of any tree which grows out- 

 side of the tropics. A very good speci- 

 men is to be found at the Arnold Ar- 

 boretum, and the fact is noted every 

 year that the flowers have a remark- 

 able attraction for the rose bugs, 

 which sometimes almost fill the deep 

 cups. The creamy white flowers are 

 fragrant and sometimes nearly a foot 

 in diameter. The leaves, which oc- 

 casionally reach thirty inches in 

 length are silvery white on the under 

 side. This is a native American tree, 

 coming from the southern states, and 

 though hardy it should be given a 

 sheltered spot, not so much to protect 

 it from the cold as to shelter it from 

 high winds, for otherwise these winds 

 are likely to whip the immense 

 leaves into shreds. Magnolia macro- 

 phylla is the last of the magnolias to 

 bloom. 



• * * * 



It is an interesting fact that some of 

 the rather rare foreign trees brought 

 to this country occasionally are found 

 in private collections. While on a re- 

 cent visit to Newport, the writer 

 learned of a Cercidiphyllum of far 

 greater size than any specimens to 

 be found in a public collection. New- 

 port has another interesting tree, in 

 a Fernleaf Beech, which stands on the 

 grounds of the Redwood Library. It 

 is a rather interesting fact that no 

 record can be found as to the origin 

 of this tree, which is a very fine speci- 

 men. The fernleaf beech is a very 

 good looking tree at all ages, being 

 unusually symmetrical. If it is to be 

 grown as a lawn tree, its lower 



branches should always be kept intact. 



• • • • 



At Newport there is also an old 

 specimen of the Yellowwood tree or 

 Virginia, and the gardeners say that 

 while this tree is remarkably hand- 

 some and a fine ornament on large 

 estates, it splits easily and therefore 

 is often disfigured when it gets old. 

 The breaking down of the limbs soon 

 spoils the symmetry and general ap- 

 pearance of the trees. An attempt has 

 been made to keep this specimen men- 

 tioned intact by the use of support- 

 ing rods, but unfortunately the bands 

 were fastened around the limbs, with 

 the result that the last state of the 

 tree is worse than the first. There is 

 one peculiar feature of the Virginia 

 which may not be commonly known, 

 which is that it flowers only every 



other year and that every tree in the 

 whole country flowers the same sea- 

 son. 



• • • • 



There is a warm discussion in some 

 of the English papers about gardeners' 

 wages. The following is presented by 

 one land owner as expressing the 

 views of those who hire garden help. 

 It will be interesting to see how it is 

 received by the gardeners of this coun- 

 try. 



"We must remember that, outside 

 kitchen gardening, it is practically 

 non-productive or luxury labor. Wlen 

 things settle down, employers will find 

 that their incomes are reduced by in- 

 come and super tax probably by a 

 third, or perhaps by half. They will 

 also find the purchasing value very 

 much reduced, and that they have to 

 pay far more for practically every- 

 thing — indoor servants, food, clothing, 

 coal, education of family, traveling 

 rates, repairs and, in case of land- 

 owners, estate building, etc. A}so 

 they will probably realize that the old 

 kitchen garden and orchard are bcth 

 far larger than is necessary for the 

 wants of their household. Now, gar- 

 dening is a very pleasant and attrac- 

 tive profession, the labor '(outside 

 digging) is not really hard, and much 

 of it is quite suitable to woman labor, 

 which will assuredly be competitive. 

 Under these circumstances it seems 

 probable not only that the number of 

 men gardeners employed will be far 

 less, but also possible that the law of 

 supply and demand will again reduce 

 the wages considerably." 



NATIONAL PUBLICITY CAMPAIGN. 

 The following, from President Am- 

 mann of the Society of American Flor- 

 ists and Ornamental Horticulturists, 

 is interesting at this time when flor- 

 ists everywhere are wondering as to 

 the future: 



"Better than ever — Good sales at 

 high prices — Easter trade makes rec- 

 ord — Complete clean-up — Supply insuf- 

 ficient — Little complaint at high prices, 

 big increase over last year, etc. 



"Say, brothers, don't that sound 

 good? It means so much for you and 

 your loved ones' 'better living,' 'bet- 

 ter labor,' an8 'better environment' — 

 wonderful in contrast with just a short 

 time ago! 



"But, after all, isn't it what we are 

 entitled to? Are we not just coming 

 into our own, largely because we have 

 taken time by the forelock and adver- 

 tised? Publicity: that's it. 'O well,' 

 you say, 'not altogether.' No, but 99 

 per cent of the increased business is 

 directly creditable to it. 



"Say, brother, ARE YOU ON THE 

 HONOR ROLL? If not, why not? If 



