266 



THE CANADIAN H ORTIC U LTTI R 1ST 



November, 1913 



should be laid down and covered with 

 soil for the winter. 



Do not mulch the strawberries until 

 the ground freezes. If you do the field 

 mice will make winter quarters under 

 the mulch and will feast on; the buds, 

 destroying next year's crop. 



Likewise mulch the bed of tulips, hya- 

 cinths, and other bulbs that have been 

 set out this fall. Do it when the sur- 

 face of the beds is nicely frozen. Leaves 

 are useful for this purpose and can be 

 kept in place by old pine boughs. 



Speaking of leaves, have you gather- 

 ed any for making leaf mould for potting 



purposes i 



Do it now ; you couldn't 



have a better time. There's lots of 

 them blowing about just now. Collect 

 all those that lie about the house and on 

 the lawn, pile them up in a quiet cor- 

 ner where they are not likely to be dis- 

 turbed by the wind. They will make 

 fine material for using with your pot- 

 ting soil next year. 



Then there's soil for potting purposes 

 which you will no doubt require before 

 the snowflakes have ceased to fly, es- 

 pecially if you grow plants in the house, 

 or you happen to have a small greeni- 

 house. Quite a few bushels may be 

 stored under the greenhouse bench, or 

 if you have no such structure, it can 

 easily be kept in the cellar, and will 

 always be handy. 



The lawn, too, requires some atten- 

 tion in the way of protection. Last 

 year you covered it with stable manure. 

 This not only looked unsightly until 

 Dame Nature came to your assistance 

 and hid it under her mantle of white, 

 but it left unsightly patches of yellow, 

 where the manure happened to be rather 

 thick, which took some time before it dis- 

 appeared in the spring. 



This year try some pulverized sheep 

 manure. It is dry and pleasant to 

 handle, and can be spread on very 

 evenly. It does not look offensive. In 

 the spring rake it in instead of off as 

 you did the stable manure. Sheep man- 

 ure is a valuable fertilizer, and will 

 greatly benefit the lawn. 



As long as the weather keeps open so 

 that outdoor operations are possible, just 

 look round the grounds and see if there 

 are not some improvements that could be 

 made. Is there not some track across 

 the lawn leading to a flower bed or some 

 shady spot where a neat path would 

 look better than an uneven track? You 

 can do the work yourself or supervise 

 some unskilled laborer. There's no need 

 to call in a professional landscape gar- 

 dener. If a straight path, mark it out 

 with a string, or if a graceful bend then 

 use some small stakes, which can be 

 moved in or out at will until your curves 

 are just right. 



Cut the hedges evenly with a sod 

 edger or sod cutter, and remove the sod 



and soil. This can be u.sed for the com- 

 post heap or for some bed that needs 

 raising a little. The width of the path 

 will, of course, depend on what it is 

 used for, and on its harmonizing with 

 other features of the place. 



Dig the soil out to the depth of fifteen 



Angels Trumpet 



This magnificent plant, owned by Mr. Bernard 

 Baker, Whitby, Ont., has born as many aa fifty 

 perfect flowers at one time. The average size 

 waa twelve inches in length and five to six 

 inches across, 



inches, place into this excavated path 

 clinkers, coarse gravel, coal ashes, or 

 other coarse material, filling it to within 

 two inches of the top. Pound down 

 thoroughly and then fill in wjth fine 

 gravel a little above the surface of the 

 lawn, taking care to have it well rounded 

 up in the middle. If possible, let the 

 lower layer stay a while before putting 

 on the top one, but the other should be 

 in place and pounded down before the 

 ground freezes. The advantage of mak- 

 ing paths in the fall is that they have a 

 chance to work down into a permanent 

 position before the spring. 



Wintering Roses 



By an Amateur 



The only winter protection necessary 

 for hybrid perpetuals or hybrid teas is 

 to hill them up after the ground has 

 been frozen once or twice in the fall. 

 Too heavy an application of manure at 

 this season is apt to hold too much 

 moisture. It is well to stop cultivation 

 about the middle of August in order to 

 give the plants time to ripen up their 

 new wood. 



The matter of pruning is something 

 which must be learned by experience, 

 as all roses do not require the same 

 treatment. In the fall after the first 

 frosts, all long canes should be cut back 

 to about three feet. This prevents the 

 plants being whipped about by the wind 

 and loosened. In spring, before growth 

 begins, the regular pruning should be 

 given, always bearing in mind the gen- 

 eral rule that weak shoots should be cut 

 back more severely than strong, vigor- 

 ous ones. The longc; the wood is left, 

 the more blooms, but at the expense of 

 quality. All dead wood should, of 

 course, be removed, and it is well to 

 treat all very weak stems the same way. 



Climbing roses being grown chiefly to 

 ornament the garden and not for their 

 value as cut flowers should only have 

 the dead canes removed and probably 

 one cane cut back each season in order 

 to have some foliage near the base of 

 the plant. Nurserymen's catalogues con- 

 tain long lists of varieties in the several 

 classes, and while it is no doubt inter- 

 esting to test a number of varieties, the 

 finest rose beds are not composed of 

 great mixtures of color. Beds of one 

 color make the finest display. The 

 question as to what are the best varie- 

 ties is a hard one to answer, as tastes 

 differ, but the following list will prove 

 satisfactory to most people : 



Frau Karl Druschki, the finest white 

 rose grown. It only lacks perfume to 

 be perfect. 



Clio, flesh colored, somewhat deeper 

 in color at centre. 



Mrs. John Laing, soft pink, one of the 

 free flowerers. 



Mrs. Crawford, similar to Mrs. J. 

 Laing. 



Paul Neyron, deep rose of the largest 

 size. 



Captain Hayward, scarlet crimson, 

 large and very sweet-scented. 



Hugh Dickson, crimson, very free 

 bloomer. 



Ulrich Brunner, cherry red, large size 

 and flne form. 



Mrs. P. Wilder, cherry red, free 

 bloomer, and very fragrant. 



Killarney, a hybrid tea, very free 

 blomer, having long pointed buds of a 

 beautiful pink and white color. 



A bed of ten each of these varieties 

 will be a very handsome addition to any 

 garden . 



Peachblow Hibiscus does not flower 

 well in the window in winter. They re- 

 quire rather high temperature for flower- 

 ing. All of this class of Japanese Hibis- 

 cus are best partially rested during the 

 winter in a very cool window or in a 

 cellar, temperature forty to forty-five de- 

 grees, and should be re-potted in the 

 spring to flower during the summer. — 

 Wm. Hunt. O.A.C.. Guelph, Ont. 



