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THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



be divided. In planting the tops the l)ulbs should he on 

 a le\-el with the surface of the soil. Diu-ing- winter verv 

 little water is needed, and the plants must be kept in a 

 greenliouse, or room, in a light position, and are protected 

 from actual frost. One feature of the Scarborough Lily 

 is that it is evergreen, and curiously enough it is one of 

 the relatively few plants that refuses to hybridize. 



WI.XTER FLOWERING GERANIUMS. 



Geraniums intended for winter flowering should now 

 be in 5 or 6-inch pots. The flower spikes should not be 

 allowed to develop until the chrysanthemums are partially 

 over. A shelf fi.xed up in a light position in carnation 

 house where the atmosphere is fairlv drv suits them very 

 well. 



If the crop of flowers is wanted from Thanksgiving on 

 to the beginning of the new year no more pinching of the 

 buds should be done after the advent of November. Feed- 

 ing should be done regularly once the pots are well filled 

 with roots. Liquid cow-manure is not to be recommended 

 for these geraniums as a soft rank growth, and but few 

 flowers will result. We find Clay's fertilizer apijlied as 

 a top dressing is more conducive to the production sur- 

 face roots, and short jointed, stocky growth that flowers 

 profusely during the winter months. 



THE E.\RLV X'INEUV. 



December first is the earliest practical date for starting 

 the early vines into growth ; and the house should l)e 

 thoroughly cleaned and renovated in readiness for a start 

 awav at that time. When the leaves have fallen ])rune 

 the laterals back to two eyes, b'ancy canes that have not 

 reached the limit of their allotted space, may be allowed 

 an extension of several feet. It is a good practice to 

 anticipate the future bleeding of the vines, and dress all 

 cuts with some styptic. The condition of the vines dur- 

 ing the past season will be a determining factor as to 

 what cleaning they will require. If they were clear of 

 mealy bug, red spider, etc., little cleaning will be neces- 

 sary. If on the other haml they were badly infested with 

 these pests, every bit of loose bark should be removed, 

 to expose their hiding places, and make it easier for the 

 w'inter wash to do its work. As an ordinary preventive 

 winter wash Gishurst's compoimd is effective, and the 

 vines may be gone over several times if necessary. 



The border should be attended to, and any mulching- 

 material removed carefully. If no surface roots are 

 visible an inch or so of the soil can be removed, and re- 

 placed with fresh loam. 



Young vines not having the soil extended to the limit 

 niay have an addition, if they have thoroughly permeated 

 what they have with roots. 



Keep the house as cool as possible from now until start- 

 ing time. Even a little frost would not be harmful pro- 

 vided it did not enter the border. 



PRUNING THE SHRUBBERY. 



Shrubs may in general be divided into two classes, 

 those blossoming in the spring as a result of blossom 

 buds formed the previous summer, and those blossom- 

 ing in the fall, as a result of blossom buds formed on 

 new shoots of the same season. Examples of the first 

 class are the lilacs, forsythias, s])iraeas, Japanese 

 quince, flowering currant, etc. : of the second, hy- 

 drangea, hibiscus, syringa or mock orange, privet and 

 snowberry. 



It will readily be seen that to prune spiraeas, lilacs 

 and other spring blooming shrubs while they are dor- 

 mant would mean the removal of many jjotential blos- 

 soms. For this reason shrubs of this class are not 

 pruned until after the flowering season has passed. At 



that time an efl:'ort should be made to remove old 

 flowers before they go to seed, as in the case of the 

 lilac, and to head back the straggling shoots as well as 

 remove crowding ones. In the case of Spiraea Thun- 

 bergii, scarcely any ]iruning will be advisable, even at 

 that time. I)ut the \'an 1 louttei should suft'er the re- 

 moval of about half of the canes wdiich have blossomed. 



In the dormant state, a shrub, like the Spiraea Van 

 Houttei so much used for the sake of the wreaths of 

 wdnite blossoms, will appear much taller than it will 

 when loaded down with the summer burden of flowers, 

 and while one may feel tempted to cut back the strag- 

 gling ends of the branches in the spring, vet he finds 

 himself rewarded for not doing so until the summer 

 when he will usually determine on the method of thin- 

 ning away entire branches rather than heading them 

 back. 



Especially wdiere shrubbery is massed in group 

 ])lantings, and it should preferably always be used that 

 way, does it seem foolish to lr\ and limit the height 

 of the planting in the early spring, and introduce a 

 horizontal or unbroken sky line. To be sure, every 

 one is entitled to his own upinion as to the most pleas- 

 ing form and height for a shrubbery bed, but if nature 

 were permitted to build her own graceful outlines, and 

 run some shoots up higher than others, the effect 

 would be more pleasing to the eye than wdiere a hedge 

 formation was made the uniform rule. IJsually the 

 healthiest wood on the shrub is that at the tips of the 

 branches, but if these are constantly cut back, the 

 shrul)s assume a thick top, wdiich in the case of many 

 shrubs is not as desirable as the more natural form 

 when pruning is made to consist of the removal of en- 

 tire branches which have become old and have served 

 their purpose. 



In the case of the hydrangea, and other fall bloom- 

 ing shrubs, however, a heading liack in the spring be- 

 comes a very desirable practice. There are more buds 

 in the spring than the plant can make good use of, 

 since each one represents a ])Otential shoot which will, 

 if allowed, grow out for a considerable length, and 

 bear as many flowers as the plant is ca])able of sup- 

 ]jorting. Accordingly, the limiting factor as to the 

 number of blossoms becomes not, as in the case of the 

 spiraea, the number of buds left intact in the spring, 

 but the vitality of the summer's growth as depending 

 on the soil fertility. ISy removing one-half or more 

 of the w'ood of last year's growth on each branch, the 

 strength of the shrub will be confined to a few flower- 

 ing shoots, with the result that the plant will be kept 

 within reasonable botmds, and a larger size will be 

 attained by the fewer blossom panicles that result. 



It goes without saying that decayed stubs should be 

 removed as soon as seen, and their occurrence should 

 be prevented by proper handling of the ]iruning shears 

 when the w(;)und is first made. If the cut is made to 

 occur at a jioint immediately above a lateral branch 

 or bud. sap will be drawn up into this branch or bud 

 and the wound will heal over, but if, on the other 

 hand, the cut is made some distance away from any 

 lateral branch or bud. there will be nothing to neces- 

 sitate a flow of sap in the region of the wound, and 

 the tissue will die liack. — Il.rchaiii^c. 



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