20 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



When the plants are pot-bound repot into five and six 

 inch pots, according to the size of the plants. Alake this 

 their final potting. Use soil mixed as before, but a little 

 coarser, and also pot a little firmer. Staking and tying 

 should be attended to .^o that the plant will be of good 

 shape. 



A\'hen the plants are well estaljlished in their flowering 

 pots a little artificial manure will be a great help to them. 

 Never use it too strong, as the roots of the Lorraine are 

 very tender and this would burn them, causing great harm 

 to the plants. Syringing will be needed on bright da\s 

 as a moist atmosphere is required. 



All bloom must be kept picked off till the plants have 

 made their growth or until about a month before the 

 plants are needed. The jjlants ma\- then be hardened oft" 

 so as to be used in a cool greenhouse or for decorating 

 purposes. 



WORK FOR MONTH OF FEBRUARY. 



(ContiuiicJ from pai;c 18.) 

 cuttings are spoiled by being left in the sand too long, 

 making, as they do, a weak spindly^ growth which has 

 a tendency to turn w-oody at an early stage. More- 

 over, the roots spread into the sand and become inter- 

 laced with others, with the result that many are 

 broken when they are removed. 



If one has no propagating house and one has to re- 

 sort to a part of a bench in a house wdiere a miscel- 

 laneous collection of plants are grown, care should 

 be taken to shade from the sun and avoid drafts or the 

 cuttings will wilt and lose their vitality. 



LE.MON VEREEN.VS. 



Old plants of lemon verbenas that have been restii% 

 should be given a little more water and be placed into 

 more heat. Give them a place where the temperature 

 is near that of the rose house. Treated thus the}- will 

 soon throw out numerous young growths wdiich make 

 fine material for making cuttings of. Placed in a mod- 

 erately warm propagating bed they will soon root if 

 kept moist and shaded. Potted into Z^i-mch pots in 

 a rich compost and moved into four-inch pots as need 

 for it arises, they will make fine stock for bedding out. 



PRACTICAL TREE SURGERY. 



(Coiitiiiucd from f>age 13.) 

 block of cement is then smoothed with the flat trowel so 

 that it will slant slightly downward from back to front. 

 in order to facilitate drainage. Over the top of this 

 •cement block a double or single sheet of tarred roofing 

 <or thinner) paper is placed after it has been cut so as 

 to fit the cavity. On top of this, another block of cement 

 is built as soon as the first block is sufificieutly hard to 

 stand the weight and tamping without forcing any of it 

 out at the bottom of the cavity. If the interior of the 

 cavity extends well above the level of the external open- 

 ing, it may occasionally be necessary to bore or cut a 

 downward slanting hole from the outside to the top of 

 the interior cavity, through which a watery mixture of 

 cement may be poured to fill the upper part of the cavity 

 and the hole. The main opening of the cavity must be 

 completely closed with the stift'er cement before this 

 watery mixture is introduced. When a block of the 

 cement has partially hardened, it will be necessary to care- 

 fully smooth the outer surface or cut it down with the 

 flat trowel to the level of the cambium, taking great care 

 that the latter is not injured in the operation. If the 

 cement is allowed to become too hard to trim with the 

 trowel, it can still, with more or less difficulty, be cut 



back to the cambium line with a cold chisel and hammer. 

 It is a rule with most tree surgeons to trim back the outer 

 surface of the cement to an eighth of an inch or more be- 

 low the cambium and then use a layer of stronger cement 

 (one part of cement to one or two of sand) to raise it 

 to the level of the cambium, after the filling has partially 

 hardened. 



The thinner mixtures of cement will set more firnih-. 

 If any mixtures thinner than the one already mentioned 

 are used to fill a cavity, some sort of cloth or wire dam 

 will have to be used to hold the cement in place until it 

 is hard. For this purpose strips of burlap wrapped 

 tightly around the tree so as to cover the lower part of 

 the opening may be sufficient if the mixture is not very 

 thin ; otherwise, a more closely woven fabric, such as 

 canvas or carpet, may be used. 



After the cement filling has become thoroughly dry, 

 the outer face may be painted with coal tar or paint, espe- 

 cially around the edges where cracks are likely to ap- 

 pear. This should not be done for several weeks after 

 the cement has been put into the cavitv. 



Sheet tin, zinc, and iron have been quite extensively 

 used to cover cavities. When properly applied, these 

 coverings often serve to keep out disease and insects for 

 a long time. Oftentimes they are improperly applied, or 

 the cavity is not properly treated. Under such condi- 

 tions these tin -covered cavities are a greater menace to 

 the tree than open cavities. In preparing a cavity for a 

 sheet-metal covering, all the decayed, diseased and insect- 

 eaten wood is removed in the manner indicated under 

 cement fillings, with two exceptions : There is no need 

 of undercutting the cavity and there should be a narrow 

 half-inch ledge of wood around the edge of the cavity to 

 which the margin of the sheet metal can be tacked. The 

 excavated cavity must be thoroughly sterilized and water- 

 proofed. The sheet metal should be trimmed so that its 

 edges will exactly fit along the edges of the bark. The 

 metal can then be placed on a block of wood and holes 

 an inch or less apart punched or drilled along its mar- 

 gin, through which long, slender, flat-headed brads may 

 be driven into the ledge of wood around the cavity. The 

 edges of the cavity and the inner side of the metal should 

 now be freshlv tarred. The metal is then put in place 

 and nailed with a light hammer, allowing the center of 

 the metal to curve outward, so as to conform to the 

 general shape of the trunk. 



In a tree which is not considered of sufficient value to 

 warrant cleaning and filling the decayed areas or cover- 

 ing them with tin, these may be excavated, sterilized, and 

 waterproofed. In this condition they can often be safely 

 left for years if the waterproof covering is renewed as 

 soon as cracks or blisters appear. 



As a general rule, tree surgery can be safely under- 

 taken at almost any time of the year when the sap is not 

 running too actively and the weather is not cold enough 

 to freeze the cement. In most trees the sap will interfere 

 with the work only from the time the buds begin to ex- 

 pand in the spring until the leaves are full grown. Cement 

 work will be ruined if it is frozen before it is hard. It 

 is not likelv to be injured by frost after it has been drying 

 for a week. 



CALIFORNIA'S FINE ROADS. 



It is repoited that Sacramento Comity, Cal.. will soon vote on 

 a bond issue of 8:2.42.5,000. to construct 271 miles of road and .54 

 1 ridges. The entire mileage is to be hard surface and will com- 

 prise gravel, macadam, a combination of grravel and macadam, 

 and concrete with asphaltic wearing surface. California is 

 rapidly becoming famous for its splendid roads, and when the 

 many excellent county systems, supplementing the .$18,000,000 

 State system, are completed, may well invite comparison with the 

 most noted road systems of Europe. 



