i36 



* * * GARDENING. 



Jan. 15, 



always a living crop of leaves on an ever- 

 green, a later one than that which falls. 

 There are two or three crops of leaves on 

 the tree at one time. It is because of 

 there being so many on at once that so 

 many errors are made in the pruning of 

 them at transplanting. The knife is used 

 freely, the branches are clipped in quite 

 close and, as there appears an abundance 

 of foliage below the cut, everything is 

 thought to be right. Pretty soon this 

 closely pruned tree dies, and then perhaps 

 the operator may learn the fact that he 

 had cut off every living leaf, those he had 

 left being old ones which were about to 

 drop. 



The foliage which drops about October 

 is practically useless for weeks before 

 that, so that an evergreen sheared of all 

 but this is in just the same plight as a 

 deciduous one stripped of its leaves i i 

 late spring, and it dies. It is as effectu- 

 ally killed as it would be if sawed off to 

 the bare trunk. Besides this all that 

 have had to work among evergreens 

 know that unlike deciduous trees they 

 rarely make new growth from old wood. 

 There is no doubt that too severe a trim- 

 ming of many an evergreen hedge has 

 caused permanent injury to it, as the 

 close cutting has to many a transplanted 

 specimen. I have seen more than one arbor 

 vita; hedge cut back below its foliage, 

 never to become green again, and I 

 regret to add that instances of dead arbor 

 vita; hedges in which bag worms had 

 been permitted to eat off the foliage, are 

 far too numerous. An arbor vita; so 

 denuded of foliage is of no further service, 

 and may as well be dug up and burned. 



As the season for transplanting as well 

 as for pruning will soon be here, efforts 

 should be made to do the work carefully, 

 that close pruning may not be called for. 

 Do not cut below the living foliage; and 

 keep this in mind whether it be a case of 

 transplanting, or the pruning of a speci- 

 men or a hedge. Joseph Meehan. 



Philadelphia. 



GINKGO BILOBfl. 



( Maidenhair- tree. ) 



It seems singular to me that so beauti- 

 ful, and at the same time so interesting a 

 tree as the ginkgo should not have been 

 more written about in Gardening than 

 it has. It occupies a peculiar station in 

 the classification of arboreal life, being 

 as it were, half way between the conifer- 

 ous and the deciduous trees, possessing 

 characteristics of each. 



It is a monotypic genus, as if the Crea- 

 tor was so satisfied with its beauty that 

 one representative was enough. Its hab- 

 itat is northern China and Japan, "where 

 it attains a height of sixty to eighty feet 

 according to Nicholson, but Von Mueller 

 describes it es "A deciduous fan-leaved 

 tree, one hundred feet high, with a 

 straight stem twelve feet in diameter," 

 and he turther states that they "are esti- 

 mated to attain an ageof three thousand 

 years." Mr. Chrysty says "it is the 

 grandest and most highly esteemed tree 

 in Japan." Fortune states that "the 

 seeds are edible and when pressed yield a 

 good oil. The fruits, sold in China under 

 the name of 'Pakoo,' are not unlike dried 

 almonds, but white, fuller and rounder." 

 The wood is soft white, and takes a beau- 

 tiful polish. 



This tree is often catalogued as Salis- 

 huria adiantifolia and is so known in 

 many gardens. When established in a 

 well drained soil its growth is rapid and 

 the tree is at first inclined to be pyra- 

 midal in form. Meehan advises cutting 

 several times when young to make a 



compact, round-headed tree. In this 

 country we have a fastigiate form which 

 grows in a dense columnar shape, quite 

 picturesque in its way. England claims 

 to have a weeping variety and also one 

 with variegated leaves. 



The common name "Maidenhair tree," 

 given it on account of the resemblance of 

 its leaves to one of the ferns, has been 

 taken advantage of by the irresistible 

 tree agent, who is well aware of the fond- 

 ness of the gentler sex for the immeasura- 

 ble beauties of fern life, and I can recall 

 one instance where one so convincingly 

 described the beauties of a real live tree 

 bounteously clothed with maidenhair 

 fern leaves, a thing so rare that but few 

 had reached us from Japan, that a lady 

 paid this scamp fifteen dollars for a nurs- 

 ery scrub. True, he promised that it 

 would live, and it has, but it were better 

 it had died, as she obtained a cripple that 

 will remain one as long as she lives. The 

 tree is not an expensive one and had this 

 lady sent her order to any responsible 

 nursery she would have obtained one for 

 a dollar that would be an ornament to 

 her grounds by this time. W. C. Egan. 



UIT1S G01GNETIAE. 



This ornamental grape vine has caused 

 considerable comment in England on ac- 

 count of its beautiful coloring in the fall. 



One writer describes the variations of 

 color as "very rich and extensive," turn- 

 ing "to yellow buff, orange and purple, 

 the purple becoming crimson before the 

 leaves fall." And further states that no 

 two leaves color in the same manner. 



Another writer, however, states that 

 its coloring is no more brilliant or effect- 

 ive than the American Ampelopsis quin- 

 quefolia, our common Virginia creeper. 



Undoubtedly this vine is a valuable 

 acquisition in the moist climate of Eng- 

 land and Ireland, but whether it will 

 retain this characteristic of inttnse color- 

 ing in the drier atmosphere of the Pnited 

 States is yet to be determined. Several 

 vines have been grown here during the 

 past few years and it would be interest- 

 ing to the readers of Gardening if their 

 owners would give their experience with 

 it. It is a native of Northern Japan and 

 grows abundantly in the low woods near 

 Hakodadi, where there is abundant 

 moisture, especially during the fall 

 months, and its habitat being so nearthe 

 coast enables it to receive considerable 

 moisture at other seasons from the sea 

 breezes. It would be well worth trying 

 this vine in the regions around Puget 

 Sound. 



Should it prove hardy in the northern 

 states there is a future before it even in 

 the absence of the splendor of its fall 

 coloring, as it is a rapid grower and 

 under good culture produces leaves eleven 

 inches long and fully as wide. It is 

 named in honor of Mme. Coignet, of 

 France, who brought the plant to the 

 notice of the French people. M. A. 



SflRUBS FOR SMALL PLAGES. 



A subscriber residing in Ohio asks this 

 question: "What shrubs would you sug- 

 gest for people of moderate means, whose 

 places are small and who have but little 

 time at their command to give them 

 special attention?" 



In answering that question, where the 

 number of species is limited owing to the 

 small area at disposal, one's preference 

 for particular shrubs is apt to assert 

 itself, but the inquiring party can change 

 the relative position of those mentioned, 

 as in fact any and all are choice garden 

 shrubs. 



The requirements demand unquestiona- 

 b'e hardiness, freedom from blight and a 

 robust constitution. After these should 

 come their ornamental value, either in 

 flower or foliage. 



Were my grounds so small as to admit 

 of only one shrub, I would makeit aeom- 

 pound one, and in a generous-sized hole 

 set two plants of Rosa rugosa, one pink 

 and one white flowering form, planting 

 closely together so as to form one shrub. 

 I select this rose because from early sum- 

 mer until long after the earlier mild frosts 

 it is in bloom, and during the latter half 

 of the season its large brilliant heps fur- 

 ther enhance its beauty. The heavy, rich- 

 looking, dark green, wrinkled foliage is 

 in itself interesting, and formsanenehant- 

 ing setting for its large sweet-scented sin- 

 gle flowers. I use the two forms because 

 while making a symmetrical bush both 

 colors are obtained. 



Had I room for another I would choose 

 Spirzva Van Houtteii, whose long arching 

 pendulous branches are so thickly clothed 

 in June with small white flowers as to 

 make a fleecy mass, and whose foliage 

 turns to pleasing tints in the fall. 



If still another I would add Hydrangea 

 paniculata grandiBora. The large trusses 

 of white flowers would add a fall bloom 

 to my limited garden, but I would find 

 time somehow to give it the copious 

 watering it so delights in. 



In increasing the list from now on it is 

 very difficult to place one ahead of an- 

 other, all are equally good. Any good 

 catalogue describes them accurately: 



Cerasus Japonica var. rosea pendula. 



Prunus triloba. 



Philadelphia coronarius. 



Philadelphus Gordonianus. 



Philadelphia speciosissimus. 



Syringa villosa. 



Berberis Thunbergii. 



Hypericum aureum. 



The last two are quite dwarf and will 

 grow in partial shade. 



There is only one lilac in the list {Syr- 

 inga villosa) and that a late bloomer and 

 lacking the fragrance of the common 

 forms which are omitted on account of 

 their tendency to mildew, better grow 

 them in a back yard for their cut flowers. 

 W. C. Egan. 



THE TULIP TREE. 



(Liriodendron tulipifera). 



Our northern forest has no more beau- 

 tiful large tree than this member of the 

 magnolia family. In some sections it is 

 known as the white-wood, and in others 

 as the tulip tree. It bears a botanical 

 name in which the rhythm is most pleas- 

 ing, Liriodendron tulipifera. The literal 

 translation of its generic term is "lilv 

 tree" and "tulipifera" means tulip-bear- 

 ing. The large tulip-shaped, fragrant 

 flowers appearing in June readily sug- 

 gested this. 



The leaves are large, fresh looking and 

 most singularly lobed, their peculiarform 

 having given rise to a local name in some 

 places of the "fiddle-tree." Their fall 

 coloring is a pleasing yellow. 



It is in the winter season that its hand- 

 some, evenly-tapered trunk, especially in 

 young specimens, can be admired. Its 

 bole is smooth and round and its surface 

 beautifully striated by lines of a lighter 

 shade than theirimmediatesurroundings. 

 The whole aspect it presents either in 

 summer or winter is that of an elegant 

 clean tree. 



When established its growth is rapid 

 and in time it becomes a very large tree. 

 It is not easily transplanted unless quite 

 young, and then its removal should only 





