312 



GARDENING. 



July 



becoming necessary therefore to plant 

 large specimens. Such a proposition 

 confronted me. Immediately behind the 

 edge of the lawn here shown runs the 

 main ravine some eighty odd feet deep. 

 A spur extends into the lawn at the left. 

 Sitting in the rusticseat shown, and look- 

 ing to the left in a line with the tall white 

 oak whose bare trunk is seen, one can 

 enjoy a magnificent view of Lake Michi- 

 gan, over the tree tops of the ravine. 

 These trees growing on the sloping banks 

 from a V shaped frame, but their tops 

 are low enough to enable a part of the 

 beach and the waters to the sky line to 

 be seen. Here is a view worthy of an ex- 

 tended visit, where one should loiter and 

 watch the everchanging cloud effect upon 

 1 he water, or on moonlight evenings fol- 

 low the incoming golden sheen from the 

 rising August moon 



A rustic seat on a bare lawn would be 

 uninviting, a rustic arbor, considering 

 the other surroundings, would be out ot 

 place Nor is there any arbor-forming 

 tree that seemed suitable. The weeping 

 ash or Camperdown elm would in tune 

 sweep to the ground, and interfere with 

 the outline of the curve ot the outer edge 

 of the lawn, narrowing in view this point 

 of land whereas it is essential that it be 

 broadened rather than narrowed. In 

 thinking over the matter I came to the 

 conclusion that a matured thorn would 

 be just the thing . Were the situation one 

 on a large open lawn where the foliage 

 would be seen against the sky, I would 

 have chosen the variety Crataegus crus- 

 galli the cock-spur thorn, as the strati- 

 fied layers of foliage are very effective, but 

 that effect would be lost so close to the 

 ravine trees. 



Our woods are full of thorns and I am 

 inclined to think there has been consider- 

 able hybridizing as there seem to be 

 forms not recognized by local botanists 

 or described in the ordinary literature. I 

 commenced looking around for my tree. 

 The first requisite was a broad spreading 

 umbr.lla form. In flower all are about 

 the same, that is, the distant eftect, so I 

 paid no attention to that feature. Then 

 comes the foliage; some are dark and glis- 

 tening, certainly a good feature; and 

 finally the color and disposition of the 

 fruit Here was an essential point. To 

 have a handsomely berried tree in such a 

 prominent situation was an object. I 

 therefore put off my hunt until fall, and 

 must confess that my search was a long 

 one I often found the exact form I 

 wanted, but the berries were poor in 

 color Plenty of brilliantly colored ber- 

 ried ones wefe seen, but the tree lacked 

 size or form. 



Finally in a farmer's cow-yard I saw 

 mv tree ' The top was one mass of small , 

 very bright red berries in flat clusters, 

 each berry the size of a plump currant, 

 and the foliage dark and glossy. A bar- 

 earn was soon made with the farmer, and 

 farly in January a trench three teet deep 

 and fully as wide was dug around the 

 tree in a circle so that the inner ball was 

 nearly nine feet in diameter In very 

 early March, after the ground was well 

 frozen a four-horse team, and four 

 men with jackscrews and heavy tim- 

 bers proceeded to the tree and it was 

 brought to its present home with a ball 

 of unbroken soil about its roots over 

 eight feet in diameter and fully three teet 

 thick in the center. Only two roots ex- 

 tended beyond the ball of earth, and they 

 not thicker than one's finger. 



In the meantime a hole tor its reception 

 twelve feet in diameter and three feet deep 

 was prepared and filled with good soil. 

 On the top of this soil was placed a very 



thick layer of manure, so that when 

 wanted, the soil was not frozen. The 

 first summer no manure was given the 

 tree, nor was the sod allowed to grow 

 within the twelve foot area. In Septem- 

 ber, the soil was scraped off for a depth 

 of six inches and a layer of bone meal and 

 fine manure put on and the soil replaced. 

 This spring it made magnificent growth 

 and flowered to perfection. It is the most 

 expensive tree on the place, but is cheaper 

 than a summer house whose place ittakes, 

 and is an object of admiration when in 

 flower and again when in berry. 



About the same time I moved this tree 

 I saw one moved near a neighboring 

 town, with a ball but four feet in diame- 

 ter, showing myriads of roots cut off, 

 some quite thick. It is needless to say 

 that the tree died the same year. 



W. C. Egan. 



Battlefield Flowers. 



BATTLEFIELD FLOWERS. 



FLORAL TREASURES OF GETTYSBURG. 



Thinking of Gardening when on a visit 

 to the battlefield of Gettysburg in the 

 early days of June, I noted all the wild 

 flowers and trees I saw on the trip, 

 assured that it would interest some of its 

 readers at least to know something of 

 them. I may not have space to name but 

 the most striking of what I saw. From 

 Philadelphia. I took the beautiful Read- 

 ing route, which takes one via Reading, 

 Harrisburg and the Cumberland Valley 

 to Gettysburg. Those who love trees 

 and flowers would be pleased with the 

 view from the car window; the agricult- 

 urist with the splendid crops, the horti- 

 culturist with the beautiful trees and 

 flowers, and the lover of the nature with 

 the splendid picture the whole presented. 

 The slippery elm, Ulmus fulva, is abund- 

 ant along the Schuylkill River near Nor- 

 ristown. Its broad leaves and somewhat 

 drooping habit well distinguishes it from 

 americana. Not far above that city the 

 Jersey pine, Pinus inops, appears. This 

 is not a tall grower, but forms a bushy 

 small tree. It is not at all abundant 

 along the route. The white pine is scat- 

 tered pretty well all along the route, and 

 especially after passing Harrisburg and 

 getting in closer contact with the Blue 

 Ridge. The rare Pinus pungens grows 

 near Harrisburg, but it was not visible 

 from the cars. It distressed me to seethe 

 ravages of the locust borer. The yellow 

 locust is abundant in the Cumberland 

 Nalley. In some cases dozens of trees 

 were visible, the tops entirely dead, all 

 due to the borer, which has long made 

 the growing of this tree for posts some- 

 what unprofitable. Even at Gettysburg 

 the work of the borer was visible on 

 manv of the trees about the field. 



The deciduous trees of Gettysburg did 

 not appear to me to be in great variety. 

 Among oaks, the white, red, pin, swamp 

 white and chestnut seemed to complete 

 the list. The chestnut, Quercus prinus 

 montana, is abundant on the rocky hills, 

 especially on the summit of Big Round 

 Top. And I found that the group of oaks 

 at the Bloody Angle, the crest of Pickett's 

 charge, some 25 trees or more was with 

 but two exceptions, composed of this oak. 

 It is one of the most ornamental of the 

 genus, its large, shining, chestnut like 

 leaves rendering it so. 



The Judas tree, Cercis canadensis, as 

 well as the butternut, walnut, ash and 

 hickory are common everywhere. In the 

 Devil's Den, a wierd looking place, where 



boulders of many tons weight each are 

 rolled one on the other, three or six deep 

 in places, many of the trees named are 

 growing. In addition to those named I 

 found the following trees and shrubs in 

 this vicinity: Red cedar, witch hazel, net- 

 tle tree, Celtis occidentalis, linden and 

 hornbeam. And of vines and plants: Wild 

 grape, Virginia creeper, tradescantia, 

 Heuchera americana Fumaria officinalis 

 and, though not in flower, lots of 

 Solidago csesia. Of shrubs in general seen 

 in various portionsof thefield, the follow- 

 ing comprises the list: Rhus glabra and 

 copallina, wild plum, Prunus americana. 

 Viburnum prunifolium, and acerifolium. 

 Spiraea {Neillia) opulifolia, Cornus panic- 

 ulata,Zanthoxylon fraxinwtolium, Rubus 

 odoratus, Ceanothus americanus and 

 Cerasus virginiana. Of these a large 

 patch of the Viburnum acerifolium was 

 particularly beautiful. It was on a hill- 

 side near the famous Culp's Hill, and had 

 spread to cover a space of about eight 

 feet square, and being full of its white 

 flowers it was a pretty sight. 



Among herbaceous plants the prettiest 

 sight I saw were the masses of Pentste- 

 mon pubescens. Not a dozen or two, as 

 sometimes seen near home, but a 

 thousand. In old meadows, cleared 

 woods, along the road side it appeared, 

 sometimes in hundreds in one place. As 

 all were in perfection of bloom the lovely 

 scene the bluish purple flowers created 

 can be imagined. Could not the seeds be 

 sown broadcast in some meadows now 

 bare of them, or one or two plants set out 

 and allowed to seed themselves? 



In similar situations in many portions 

 of the field were a great many of the 

 bright colored Phlox pilosa, a species 

 not at all common. Not having one at 

 home, I possessed myself of one from a 

 corner of the "wheat field" nearto a little 

 stone which told me "Here fell Fred. 

 Chapman, Capt. Co. H. 27th Conn. Vol." 

 Another pretty phlox, maculata, was 

 growing in wet places. This is a taller 

 grower than the other, and is one of the 

 parents of many of our common garden 

 perennial phloxes. 



Veronica officinalis displayed itself 

 nicely on a sloping bank, for which pur- 

 pose it can be planted to advantage, as I 

 have found. Asclepias quadrifolia was 

 nicely in flower, rubra was about to 

 open, and a solitary plant of tuberosa, 

 not yet showing flower, proved its exist- 

 ence there. 



Among other plants in flower were the 

 following: Houstonia cserulea, present 

 everywhere, even on the elevated round 

 tops; Lysimachia quadrifolia, Hieracium 

 renosum, Aquilegia canadensis, the com- 

 mon scarlet columbine; Specularia per- 

 foliata, Cynoglossum virginicum, 7has- 

 pium aureum, Nuphar advena, Solanum 

 dulcamara, Thalictrum cornuti, Oxalis 

 violacea, Smilacina racemosa, Zizzia 

 integriiolia, and Senecio aurea. The lat- 

 ter existed in great quantities in the 

 meadows, its yellow flowers contrasting 

 nicely with the green about them. 



Of ferns, the variety is not large. One 

 of the commonest is Woodsia obtusa and 

 it thrives nicely there. It is abundant 

 on the Big Round Top, along with Aspi- 

 dium marginale. Polypodium rulgareand 

 Botrychium virginicum were observed, 

 but not an osmunda of any kind. Near 

 the famous Spangler's spring in what was 

 the Confederate lines, I found a rock fairly 

 covered with the walkingfern, and Asple- 

 nium ebeneum was abundant and flour- 

 ishing in the same place. 



Along Hancock avenue, Slocum avenue, 

 and in other portions of the battle field, 

 trees have recently been planted, where 



