Work for the Month of December 



Conducted by Henry Gibson, New York. 



I'KU'rECTIXH SI11U'|:S AM) TREES. 



Every winter sees tlie loss of trees and shrubs which 

 by the exercise of a Httle care and forethought might 

 be saved. 



Especial!}- is this sn with those of an evergreen 

 character. Protecting with leaves and other litter is 

 all very well in so far as it goes, but this we think is 

 not all that should be done. Weather conditions prior 

 to the ap]jroach of winter play a not uniniijortant part 

 in the successful wintering of these subjects. If a 

 prolonged spell of dry weather is e.\|)erienced previous 

 to the oncoming of severe weather, we are of the 

 opinion that all trees and shrubs should have a thor- 

 ough good watering, previous to being nnilched ami 

 otherwise protected for the winter. A very large per- 

 centage of trees and shrubs that are winter killed die 

 from the very same cause that many di> during the 

 summer, a lack of water at the roots. 



Usually neither the heat nor the cold is responsible 

 for it, save perhaps insomuch as they effect the mois- 

 ture in the soil. There is, as is well known to anyone 

 who is familiar with even the most elementary rudi- 

 ments of plant physiolog}', far more transpiration 

 from foliage on clear sunny days, than there is during 

 cloudy weather. It is apparent therefore that when a 

 dry spell has preceded hard freezing weather there is 

 likely to be very little moisture in the soil, wdiereb}' 

 the roots can supply the demands made upon the leaves 

 for moisture. To help them do this shading with 

 leaves and other litter has to be resorted to, thus 

 checking the loss of moisture through the leaves, and 

 consequently the demands upon the roots. 



The plants are protected from drying winds for the 

 same reason. If rains and snows have saturated the 

 ground with moisture and frost has not penetrated 

 very far in, neither shelter from drying winds nor 

 high sun would be necessary, for the roots would be 

 able to meet all demands made upon them. 



One has only to turn to many of our street trees 

 in the summer for an example of the effect that heat, 

 light and drying winds have upon them. Often the 

 foliage on the south side will be scorched while the 

 rest of the tree will be in good condition. 



The reason is that the roots have been unable to 

 make good the demands for moisture caused by the 

 more intense heat and light on that side of the tree. 

 The Yews and other evergreens aftVird us another 

 good example, this time in winter. Who of us has 

 not noticed dead foliage on the southern side of these 

 evergreens, especially just above the snow line where 

 the intense light demanded more nidisturc than the 

 roots could supply. 



Forest trees are now dormant and any necessary 

 jiruning and trimming should be attended to. It is 

 to be feared that on a great many places these trees 

 are left to take care of themselves, with the result 

 that they develop into a shapeless mass of branches. 

 In a perfectly balanced tree all the branches are grow- 

 ing from the center outwards, and at no point do 

 they cross each other. A tree with one main trunk is 

 usually more symmetrical than one that is forked, 

 though the latter will cover a wider area. It is the 

 forked tree that produces the ingrowing branches and 

 these shoidd be cut out to give free access to light 



and air. Dead limbs siiould also be cut out. In cut- 

 ting oft' branches the cut should always be made as 

 near the main stem or branch as possible so that in 



time the wound 



wil 



heal over. Sawing an inch or 



twii on the under side nf the branch will prevent tear- 

 ing off the bark when the limb falls. 



Some very profitable wdrk may be done in winter 

 wlien other outdoor o])erations are more or less at 

 a standstill by going over these forest trees with a 

 small hatchet and cutting away dead bark and de- 

 caying wood. Cavities mav be cleaned out to live tis- 

 sue and then coal tarred over to prevent fungus dis- 

 eases from getting a hold of them. 



We believe that cleaning out a cavity and tarring: 

 it over is preferable to filling with cement. The wounds- 

 made by cutting off' branches should be tarred over 

 as the work of cutting jjroceeds, this saving the time 

 and trouble of erecting the ladder and going over them 

 a second time. 



II.\I!Dy SHIU'B.S. 



Deciduous shrubs may still be planted so long as the 

 ground is in condition to receive them. When rain or 

 snow has made the ground wet and heavy it is better 

 to defer this work until spring. 



Ground intended for this class of shrubs should be 

 trenched as deep as the soil will allow. Poor soil 

 should be enriched by a generous supply of rotten 

 manure, leafsoil and fibrous loam. In the case of 

 hollies it is advisable to give each one a root bed of 

 three parts fibrous loam to one part rotten manure. 

 The hole for each shrub should be made large enough 

 to allow all the roots to rest in a natural position. 

 Tread the soil firmly about the roots, adding a few 

 spadefuls at a time. Tall growing shrubs should have 

 a stout stake provided to prevent swaying by the 

 wind. Be careful to secure the shrub in such a inanner 

 as to ])revent damaging the bark. A piece of hose 

 through which the wire is passed will accomplish this. 



Established shrubs should have all dead wood cut 

 out during the winter. 



THE FKflT (;.\KDEN. 



Strawberries, Raspberries, Currents and other small 

 fruits should be mulched well with rotten manure or 

 salt hay before severe weather sets in. When the 

 ground is frozen over an inch or so in depth is the 

 time to do this work. 



The strawberries should have all the runners cut 

 away and if the ground is at all baked it would be 

 well to scratcli it over a little, but on no account must 

 the roots be disturbed. Raspberries respond to lib- 

 eral treatment and when mulching put on plenty of 

 manure, and dig it in next spring. 



-Small trees of ap])les, pears, jx'aches, etc., should have 

 the soil pulled u]) to the base of the plants and when 

 the ground freezes a good mulch of manure should be 

 put on. This treatment may also be extended to the 

 older trees that are bearing with considerable benefit. 

 The old saying "let well enough alone" is apt to prove 

 misleading at times and particularly so when applied 

 to fruit trees. Quite frequently we see trees that are 

 bearing freely almost ruined because they are allowed 

 to exhaust themselves by carrying heavy crops with- 

 out receiving any compensating supply of manure at 



