344 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
trees in an orchard too close together; it may do fora while, but it 
will not continue long. Where we plant a hedge, we want it to make 
a hedge at once, just the same as we want to get fruit from a tree 
we plant at once. We want to get results atonce. WhatIcalla 
reasonable distance is nearer than four feet, and then keeping the 
plants cut down, and ina short time you will have a magnificent 
hedge. Somebody in speaking about evergreens spoke about firm- 
ing the soil thoroughly. Probably Mr. Underwood understands 
that when nurserymen plant stock in the spring the essential thing 
is to firm the soil thoroughly. I used to lose a good deal of stock 
because the men in planting were too careless. 
Mr. Harris: My observation in regard to arbor vit# is that if you 
give it room enough the lower branches are inclined to grow out 
horizontally,and the more you clip them the stronger those branches 
become. Even if planted eight feet apart, in a few years it will 
make aclose hedge. The trouble with a closely planted hedge is 
that each tree has got to havea certain amount of room for its roots, 
and if planted too close together those roots will not have a chance 
to spread and get nourishment, while if planted far enough apart 
each tree has plenty of space for its roots. 
Mr. McGinnis: It has been my fortune to bein countries where 
they have scarcely any rain fall during the year, and they have re- 
markable success with trees in those arid climates, and especially 
where there is not a large body of trees to water. They take a lard 
can and punch holes in the bottom and bury it in the ground and 
then turn water into the can. The water percolates from the can 
through those holes into the soil around the tree, and in that man- 
ner they make a great success of planting trees. 
OLD FASHIONED PERENNIAL FLOWERS. 
MRS. A. A. KENNEDY, HUTCHINSON. 
Among my earliest recollections is my mother’s flower garden. 
She was a busy woman and had no time for sowing flower seeds; 
but flowers she must have, consequently, they were nearly all peren- 
nials. 
O, how well I remember the large bunch of what we children 
called “pinys,” so large and red! How-eagerly we watched for their 
early advent in the spring, and how pleased we were when we 
caught sight of the tiny shoots as they awoke from their slumber 
and came forth with new life! And the old-fashioned Lily! Surely, 
“ Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these” to our 
childish fancy. And then there were the Sweet Williams, so bright 
and fair, and sweet-scented Bouncing Bett, the dainty Pinks, and 
blue Forget-me-nots. In a corner grew a bunch of Deluce; and 
every breeze that swept over this, our little eden, came laden with 
perfume from the little belt of Mignonette. And there was the 
Snowdrop, so pure and white,and the stately Hollyhock. Although 
there has been great improvement in this flower, does any of them 
look as pretty to you as those that grew in mother’s garden? And 
last but not least was the towering Sunflower who, from his dizzy 
height, kept a kindly oversight of his more modest neighbors. 
In memory of this, my mother’s garden, I have in my garden,among 
my trees, many of those old-fashioned flowers that my mother loved 
so well, and as I r:member them in connection with her they far ex- 
cel the flowers of today. They only need good, rich soil and a little 
care to keep the weeds out, and they will thrive. 
mA 
—So Se 
