inK CANADIAN nORTICULTURIST. 



281 



tually be occupied when the other trees 

 are developed. Such places may be 

 filled temporarily with some cheap 

 shrubs, that can be thinned out or re- 

 moved in a few years as the trees en- 

 croach upon them. I name a few of 

 the more recent introductions in this 

 class of plants, all of which are hardy, 

 free bloomers, and desii-able for general 

 cultivation, although not yet generally 

 known because of their scarcity. They 

 should be planted more extensively : 

 Cercis japonica, or Japan Judas tree ; 

 Gonitis sanguinea, or crimson dogwood ; 

 ExochorJa yrandijlora ; j)urple leafed 

 filbert; StandLsh upright honeysuckle, 

 the earliest and most fragrant variety; 

 dwarf horse-chestnut ; Viburnum pli- 

 catum, or Japan snowball ; Weigela 

 hortensis nivea, or pure white monthly 

 weigela. The purple beech is one of 

 the most effective trees that can be 

 planted in a lawn, particularly where 

 it can be seen against a background of 

 dark green foliage. — S. C. Moon, in 

 Country Gentleman. 



THE ROOTS OF SOME VEGETABLES ; 

 HOW FAR THEY EXTEND. 



K.Y. AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 



It becomes quite interesting and im- 

 portant, in agriculture, to know the 

 areas of the soil within wliich roots feed, 

 as it seems to be quite evident that 

 where we know a plant is shallow root- 

 ing, that the fertilizer or manure should 

 be kept near the surface witliin the 

 region occupied by the roots ; where we 

 know that a plant is a deep feeder, or 

 that the roots occupy principally the 

 lower layers of the soil, it would seem 

 reasonaVjle to expect turning the mauui'e 

 deeply under, in this case, would be the 

 preferable way. These considerations 

 are not simply theoretical, for in agri- 

 cultural experiment it seems desirable 

 to reason out causes and effects from 

 the best data in our possession, and 

 then to brins our conclusions to the 



test of verification in field practice. 

 In pursuance of this plan, we have 

 washed out the roots of nearly all of 

 our species of garden plants, and we 

 offer in this bulletin the results noted 

 for several of our important crops. 



The system adopted was to dig a deep 

 trench alongside the plants to be in- 

 vestigated, and then, by means of a 

 hose, to bring a spray of water to bear 

 upon the soil, and thus gradually and 

 guardedly wash the earth away in order 

 to discover the I'oots in situ. 



In the Eclipse beet, the tap-root was 

 traced downward a depth of nearly two 

 feet. Branches started out from this 

 at intervals during its entire length ; no 

 roots appeared to start out above the 

 tap-root. The branches were traced a 

 distance of two feet horizontally from 

 the tap-root. The fibrous roots were 

 very slender and delicate, and though 

 not very numerous, extended over an 

 area of about twelve square feet. They 

 often extend upwards from the bran- 

 ches, and in some cases appeared to 

 reach the surface of the soil. 



The Eclipse beet is of the turnip- 

 rooted class, and grows largely above 

 ground. 



In the Long Dark Blood variety, 

 the root system, though not diffei-ent in 

 kind from the above, was slightly 

 more extensive. The main root in the 

 sample examined was smooth and sym- 

 metrical for a distance of eight in- 

 ches, below which it divided into 

 several branches, which rather thick at 

 first, rapidly tapered to the size of a 

 stalk of timothy grass, and gradually 

 thereafter until they became fibrous 

 roots. One of the main roots was 

 traced to a depth of two feet, and one 

 of the horizontal branches a distance of 

 two and a half feet. The small fibrous 

 roots so often .seen on the surface of beet 

 roots seem to have very little office, as 

 they extend into the soil scarcely moi'e 



