5o 



GARDENING. 



Nov. i, 



every year and our illustrations show 

 what we accomplish by doing it. Were 

 we to allow the leader to run at will it 

 would soon shoot up far beyond the 

 thick body of branches and form an ugly 

 thing indeed, but every spring we cut it 

 back to six ten or twelve inches of its 

 base and allow it to throw up a fresh 

 leader. We never have any trouble in 

 getting good leaders How can we reach 

 up so high to cut the leader? By stand- 

 ing on a pair of high folding steps and 

 using an extra long handled v\ aters' tree 

 pruner. 



If you want real pretty fir trees be sure 

 to set out small plants — not over two 

 feet in height — that are young, branched 

 to the ground and perfect in every way. 

 A misshapen young plant is apt to con- 

 tinue to be misshapen and a little plant 

 that has lost its lower branches can never 

 regain them in later 3'ears. 



Fir trees as a rule like good, firm soil, 

 and a little moist if practicable. In the 

 niighborhood of cities, especially of 

 smoky ones, neither they nor other coni- 

 fers are apt to thrive well. 



Among the more desirable fir trees for 

 garden purposes are the following: The 

 Colorado Mountain fir (A. concolor), 

 and be sure it isn't the form from Califor- 

 nia as the latter is barely hardy here; it 

 is one of our hardiest and most desirable. 

 The Cilician fir (A. cilicica) from the 

 Cilician Taurus; it has a contour not un- 

 like Nordman's fir, but not so dense, and 

 it starts earlier into growth than the 

 latter. The Sachalin fir {A. sachalinensis) 

 and Siberian fir 1.4. siberica) are a good 

 deal alike, very pretty and hardy, and 

 have a tendency to lose their lower 

 branches in early life. 



Veitch's silver fir (A. Veitchii) is a very 

 beautiful evergreen with prominently 

 white undersides to its leaves Alas, it 

 shows a tendency to dropping its lower 

 branches early. This last tendency is 

 also peculiar to A. brachyphylla. another 

 Japanese silver fir of pronounced beauty. 

 The Algerian fir (A. numidica) is one of 

 the most distinct and beautiful of all, but 

 unfortunately not reliably^ hardy much 

 north of New York. It grows beautifully 

 at Dosoris. It is indigenous to the 

 mountains of Algeria. I rom the mount- 

 ains of southern Spain we have .4 . pinsapo, 

 a rigid and select appearing species which 

 behaves splendidly on Long Island, but 

 would need shelter or protection if planted 

 much farther north. The balsam fir (.4. 

 balsamea) abundant in the northern 

 mountains of this country is pretty while 

 it is small and young, but it is so hard to 

 get middle-sized trees of it to hold their 

 lower branches that we don't plant many 

 of them now-a-days. The same, but in a 

 lesser degree, may be urged against Fra- 

 ser's fir (A. Fraseri) from the Carolina 

 mountains. 



The common silver fir tree (.4. pecti- 

 nata ) of Europe accommodates itself very 

 easily to this country but it hasn't the 

 noble effect that Nordman's fir and some 

 others have. Although .4. tirma is the 

 common silver fir tree of Japan it never 

 appealed to us with much favor as a gar- 

 den plant; its growthisn'tassymmetrical 

 as we would wish. While the Columbian 

 fir (A. amabilis) always made a fair 

 growth with us at Dosoris, it got 

 "burned" a little in winter and again in 

 summer. A. grandis from California is 

 very slow growing with us. Webb's fir 

 (A. Webbiana), from the Himalayas, is 

 too tender to consider. Low's fir (.4. 

 Lowiana), where it lives well thrives 

 nicely, but it is not to be depended on. 

 Wm. Falconer. 



DIMENSIONS OF TREES AT MATURITY. 



I am planting a new place and endeav- 

 oring to lay it out myself. As I have 

 alwavs found Gardening reliable in its 

 inlormation, and furthermore seemingly 

 willing to reply to the inquiries of its pat- 

 rons, I ask for information. 



I had placed stakes where I had intended 

 planting some trees, but am told by a 

 professional that I am planting too 

 closely — too near roadways and paths. 

 I find out from this criticism that I am 

 ignorant of the dimensions that most 

 trees attain at maturity. Would you 

 kindly give the dimensions attained by 

 the heads of the accompanying list of 

 trees, in say fifteen or twenty years, not 

 telling how far apart to plant, but give 

 size of heads. J J- 



Wisconsin. 



Silver leaved maple, :i5 ft. 



Wier's cut-leaved maple, 30 fi. 



Negundo maple, 20 fr. 



Norway ma pie. 25 ft. 



Schwedler's maple, 20 ft. 



Sugar ma pi*'. 25 ft. 



Ginnala maple. 12 ft. 



Horse chestnut, 15 ft. 



Ailantus, 25 ft. 



Cut-leaved alder. 15 ft. 



Weeping birch. 15 ft. 



Cut-leaved birch. 15 It. 



\ oung's birch. 12 ft. 



( latalpa speciosn, 20 ft. 



Cerasus pennsylvanica, 15 ft. 



i vrasus serotina. 20 ft. 



Japan weeping rose flowered cherry. 12 ft. 



Cercidiphyllun] japonica, 15 ft. 



i lercis canadensis. 15 ft. 



Yellow wood, 15 ft. 



European beech, In ft. 



European weeping beech. 12 ft. 



River's purple beech. 15 ft. 



fSnglisb weeping b h, 15 ft. 



Kentucky coffee tree, 20 ft. 

 KoBlreuteria paniculata, 12 ft. 

 American larch. 15 ft. 

 Weeping larch, 10 ft. 

 Tulip tree. 15 ft. 



I'latanus identalis. 25 ft. 



Populns Bolleana, 10 ft. 

 Populus Van Geertii, 15 ft. 

 Golden hop, 8 ft. 

 Taxodiura distichum, 10 ft. 

 Taxodium sinensis pendula, 6 ft 

 American linden. 25 ft. 

 European linden. 15 ft. 

 American elm. 25 ft. 

 English elm. 20 ft. 

 Camperdown elm. 8 ft. 



In compliance with ourcorrespondent's 

 request we have given what would prob- 

 ably be the dimensions of the heads in 

 diameter in fifteen to twenty years, start- 

 ing with trees of the ordinary planting 

 sizes. A good deal depends on a tree be- 

 ing suited. A silver maple in a damp, 

 deep situation would exceed 35 feet, and 

 a sugar maple in a sandy moist place 

 would make more than 25, but we think 

 what has been given is about an average. 



PLANTING A SCREEN. 



I want to plant a line of small trees and 

 shrubs or shrubs alone, say 8 or 10 feet 

 in height at the back which shall serve as 

 a protection for the rose garden situated 

 on the south and as a screen for some 

 fruit trees to be planted in the same 

 quarter and at the same time present 

 from the north as highly ornamental an 

 appearance as possible. We are much 

 troubled with high northwest winds, 

 which it is needless to say, are mt good 

 for roses. The screen should be 19 feet 

 long from fence to the walk next to 

 the house, and may be not more than 12 

 feet thick in any part. What small trees 

 or shrubs are best suited for such a place 

 and purpose? 



Evergreens have been suggested as a 

 background, such as some of the retinos- 

 poras (squarrosa or filifera) or something 

 of that sort, with perhaps viburnums 

 (plicatum), and some of the spin-eas and 

 deutzias. I find it almost impossible to 



determine from any of the cataloguesjust 

 what conifers are most suitable for the 

 purpose. The catalogues, too, do not 

 agree as to size, and not knowing the 

 size it is not easy to determine what and 

 how many to plant. Will you kindly 

 suggest what it is best to use? Would 

 an3 r of the flowering crabs or almonds be 

 at all suitable in such an arrangement? 

 Washington, D. C. X. 



We have much pleasure in presenting 

 you with a list of evergreen and decidu- 

 ous trees and shrubs from which you can 

 select a suitable number for the purpose 

 named. Among evergreens for the back 

 ground arc these: English laurel, Retinos- 

 pora pisifera aurea, R. plumosa and K. 

 squarrosa, Taxus baccata, Thuja pyra- 

 midalis, T. filifolia, T. aurea, and English 

 holly. 



Those of a medium size would be Cepha- 

 luta.xus Fortunei, Cupressus siricta viri- 

 dis, Taxus hibernica and Euonymus 

 japonicus. For planting front, Mahonia 

 aquifolium, Podocarpus Japonicus, Reiin- 

 ospora compacta, Thuja pumila and 

 .4 ndromeda japonica . 



Dividing deciduous shrubs the same 

 way there is in the first division: Cornus 

 florida rubro, flowering peach, Carolina 

 buckthorn, Deutzia scabra and other tall 

 growers, silver thorn, mock orange, 

 Svringa rubra insignis. Viburnum cotini- 

 iolium and V. Sieboldianum. In the 

 medium sized list: Tapanese blood leaved 

 maple, Pyrus Parkmanii, golden bell, 

 hvdrangea, Lonicera Standishi, Spirxa 

 Van Houtteii. Abelia rupestris, Syringa 

 Bmodi, Viburnum plicatum and weigelas. 

 For the front, Cercis japonica, Magnolia 

 stehata, Berberis Thunbergii, Calhcarpa 

 purpurea, Caryopteris mastacanthus. 

 Pvrus arbutilolia, Rhus laciniata and 

 Spirsea Bumalda. 



A selection from the above list would 

 give you those to suit the clump you 

 desire to form. The precise size each 

 would attain it undisturbed is difficult to 

 give, but a good gardener can easily make 

 his plants suit their positions by using a 

 pruning knife judiciously. You say you 

 desi-e to plant them 8 to 10 feet in height 

 at the back. You would find 4 to 6 leet 

 a better size, allowing them to grow on 

 to the larger size desired. The medium 

 sized ones should be 3 to 4 feet and those 

 in the front 2 to 3 feet. 



It is always a difficult matter to advise 

 what distance apart to plant such a col- 

 lection as this It takes too long a time 

 to accomplish what is desired if the dis- 

 tance given is what will be required after 

 many years. It is better to set them close 

 enough to give results very soon, even if 

 necessary to dig some of them out in 

 alter years. 1 here should be three feet of 

 space between the larger ones and two 

 feet between those of lesser size, perhaps 

 considerably more if too dense a screen is 

 not desired. 



Flowering crabs or almonds could be 

 used. One has been included in the list, 

 Pvrus Parkmanii, also a flowering peach. 



NOTES FROM TflE UNITED STATBS BOTANIC 

 GARDEN, WASHINGTON. 



To the one living north of Washington. 

 D. C. interested in horticulture, a visit to 

 that citv is always attended with a good 

 deal of interest', because of the many 

 trees and shrubs found thriving there 

 which are not hardy at home. In some 

 things the visit disappoints. The parks 

 and public grounds are, many of them, 

 getting old The trees were all planted 

 when the grounds were laid out and con- 

 sequently, are, many of them, past their 



