AN INTERESTING FRON 1' GARDEN. 



R. EDWARD OWEN 

 GREENING, of London, 

 England, edits a rather 

 attractive Annual for ama- 

 teurs, entitled " One and All " Garden- 

 ing. Last year a competition of photo- 

 graphs of gardens of taste was instituted, 

 and in this way Mr. Greening received 

 a large number of photographs of beauti- 

 ful gardens, which are full of sugges- 

 tions. These were used as illustrations 

 in the Annual for 1897 and one of them 

 we reproduce for our readers. In this 

 one the flowers and shrubs are disposed 

 in a very tasteful manner, and the front 

 of the old fashioned house is made pic- 

 turesque with beautiful creepers. The 



editor sees nothing in this to criticise 

 unfavorably except the '' somewhat pro- 

 miscuous statuary and vases that catch 

 the eye directly you look at it. If these 

 were removed, the picture would be 

 without a blemish. The picture teaches 

 us the great value of creepers for cover- 

 ing the bare walls and softening the 

 harsh outlines of the building, also how 

 much more effective hardy flowers look 

 when they have a back ground of shrubs. 

 The plant seen in the right of the 

 immediate foreground is evidently the 

 Gardeners' Garter Grass (Phalaris arun- 

 divacea variegata), an old fashioned but 

 very beautiful plantwhen growing byitself 

 or in company with other hardy plants." 



THE FAILURE TO FRUIT. 



fruiting of an orchard is 

 the endof its culture, and 

 everything should tend 

 to this end. A failure 

 to fruit at proper age, 

 and in the right season, is a sure indi- 

 cation that something is wrong, and that 

 something ought to be done There 

 are a number of cases for a full-grown 

 tree not fruiting, and it will be a good 

 plan to investigate, ascertain the cause, 

 if possible, and apply the remedy. 



In some cases trees may have too 

 much head and will exhaust themselves, 

 nourishmg their foliage at the expense 

 of their first buds, but this is the excep- 

 tion. Generally a tree lacks plant food 

 rather than an over-supply, and the ap- 

 plication of well-rotted manure will re- 

 medy this. Sometimes there is a lack 

 of lime or potash in the soil. Bone-dust 

 or wood ashes make a good fertilizer 

 when mineral elements are lacking, as 

 there may be an excess of moisture in 



the soil and drainage may be the neces- 

 sary remedy. Pruning and thinning out 

 may be necessary when there is an ex- 

 cessive growth of top. The soil may 

 have become packed and hard, so that 

 the tree cannot make as thrifty a growth 

 as it should, and cultivating or digging 

 about the roots may be necessary. With 

 proper care the tree can be made to bear 

 good fruit, quality being of more im- 

 portance than quantity, and if, after pro- 

 per remedies have been tried, the trees 

 fail to yield good fruit, the quicker it is 

 cut down and another one is planted in 

 its place the better. Allowing a tree to 

 overbear one year will be the cause of 

 its not bearing the next. The tree so 

 exhausts itself in maturing the excessive 

 yield that a rest is required in which to 

 recuperate. Thinning in good season 

 is the remedy for this, while a better 

 grade of fruit is secured. — N. J. Shep- 

 pard, in Farmers' Voice. 



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