THE WONDER TREE 79 



A somewhat broad and radical statement which must not be construed 

 to mean that bleeding, bloom, and fruitage should not be considered, 

 as shown in cutting back grape, rose, hydrangea, and such plants 

 as bloom profusely on new growth (a point to be carefully guarded), 

 but, broadly speaking, we found time of year a secondary consid- 

 eration. 



Tree and Shrub Planting and Watering. 



4. We never watered except during the act of planting, or in 

 some killing drought. Why coddle the roots, teaching them to seek 

 the surface for a daily drink which is sure to be withheld in a moment 

 of forgetfulness. Let them work their passage, dig downward in the 

 soil, assist by cultivation and mulching, but do not pauperize. Learn 

 the stern lesson taught by the fairly thrifty, asphalt-covered roots of the 

 city-grown tree. Rough treatment, but it proves the statement. In the 

 case of plants treated as annuals, and in succulent growths which 

 require cascades of water to attain their prodigious size, like the 

 canna, the ricinus, the elephant's ear, and many perennial grasses, 

 submit to the slavery if you crave the result, but let the hard wooded 

 trees and shrubs grub for their living. If watering is an actual neces- 

 sity to save the life of the plant, let it be a thorough drenching, then 

 mulch, and only repeat under dire need. 



As a rule, herbaceous plants were separated by cutting or 

 dividing in two offshoot, clump, and rhizome, and replanting every 

 three or four years, soil being renewed and enriched. New stock was 

 thus gained with which to enlarge the floral kingdom. 



Petal, stamen, stigma, anther, pollen, ovule, calyx, sepal, and 

 corolla became household words in that first winter of study after 

 buying the farm. Evening after evening we dissected plant and 

 flower, first the green sepalled calyx, then the petals of the corolla, 

 so thoroughly protecting the pollen bags or anthers which nestle 

 within, and lastly the long pistil with its three essential parts, the 

 viscid ended stigma, ever ready to grasp pollen from the legs or bodies 

 of visiting insects and carry it through the style to the waiting 

 ovules. When hyla and catkin heralded the arrival of spring with 

 feverish haste we haunted bog, wood, meadow, and hillside to test 

 book knowledge in field practice. 



The Wonder Trees of the Pinetum. 



Early in Farmarcadian days we developed a love for trees, 

 and planted over one hundred thousand trees, shrubs, vines, and herba- 

 ceous plants in Hillcrest Manor, prominence being given to that 

 wonder tree, the evergreen, which even when weighted with glittering 

 ice or fleecy snow, sways gracefully, unscathed by biting blast and 

 unscorched by arid heat, symbolizing everlasting life, while fast 

 growing maple and sturdy oak are absolutely dead for half the year. 



