TREE GUARDS 



TREE OR CANADA ONION 



GUARDS. The following are cheap and effec- 

 tual. Stakes about the thickness of the wrist, 7 feet in 

 length, and tolerably straight, chopped each a little flat 

 on one side, some iron hooping, a little thicker than 

 coopers are in the habit of using for barrels, with punched 

 holes through it 6 inches apart, with one hole near each 

 end. Nail this to the stakes on the chopped side, one foot 

 from the top of them, and one foot from the bottom ; 

 then raise it, and bend it circularly round the tree, 

 observing that the hoops are placed inside, nearest the 

 tree ; the holes left at each end of the hoop are then 

 clenched up with a nail, and the guard is complete. 



The following plan is somewhat similar. Procure 

 stakes of ash or larch, 6 feet in length, or more if requisite, 

 and about 2 inches in diameter, and bore holes through 

 the tops and bottoms about one foot from each end. 

 Get a similar hole drilled up the centre of a stake, and 

 saw it off in lengths of 2 inches, or rather less ; pass a 

 strong wire, or thick tarred string, through one stake, 

 by the holes at the top and at the bottom ; then pass it 

 through the hole made in one of the 2-inch pieces at each 

 end, and then through another stake, separating each 

 stake at top and bottom by a piece of wood, until you 

 leave enough to surround the tree loosely, leaving plenty 

 of space for growth. Place it round the tree, and fasten 

 the ends of the wire or string. This guard is much the 

 same as a cradle put round the neck of a blistered horse, 

 to prevent his gnawing the irritated part. The stakes 

 merely rest on the ground, and should be cut quite flat 

 at the bottom, to prevent their sticking into the ground. 

 At the upper end they should have a sharp slanting cut 

 with a bill-hook, and threaded with the slope towards 

 the tree. The motion of the tree will not in any degree 

 be impeded ; and the bark cannot be injured let the 

 wind blow as it may, for the guard moves freely with the 

 tree in every direction. 



TREES are a chief material in landscape gardening. 

 The varieties in their shapes, says Mr. Whately, may be 

 reduced to the following heads. Some, thick with 

 branches and foliage, have almost an appearance of 

 solidity, as the beech, the elm, the lilac, and syringa ; 

 others, thin of boughs and of leaves, seem light and airy, 

 as the ash and the abele, the common arbor vitae and the 

 tamarisk. 



There is a mean betwixt the two extremes, very dis- 

 tinguishable from both, as in the bladder-nut and the 

 ashen-leaved maple. They may again be divided into 

 those whose branches begin from the ground, and those 

 which shoot up in a stem before their branches begin. 

 Trees which have some and not much clear stem, as 

 several of the firs, belong to the former class ; but a 

 very short stem will rank as a shrub, such as the althaea, 

 in the latter. 



Of those, the branches of which begin from the ground, 

 some rise in a conical figure, as the larch, the cedar of 

 Lebanon, and the holly. Some swell out in the middle 

 of their growth and diminish at both ends, as the Wey- 

 mouth pine, the mountain ash, and the lilac ; and some 

 are irregular and bushy from the top to the bottom, as 

 the evergreen oak, the Virginian cedar, and Guelder 

 rose. There is a great difference between one whose 

 base is very large, and another whose base is very small, 

 in proportion to its height. The cedar of Lebanon and 

 the cypress are instances of such a difference ; yet in 

 both the branches begin from the ground. 



The heads of those which shoot up into a stem before 

 their branches begin sometimes are slender cones, as of 

 many firs ; sometimes are broad cones, as of the horse- 

 chestnut ; sometimes they are round, as of the stone 

 pine, and most sorts of fruit-trees ; and sometimes irre- 

 gular, as of the elm. Of this kind there are many con- 

 siderable varieties. 



The branches of some grow horizontally, as of the oak ; 

 in others they fall, as in the lime and the acacia ; and 

 in some of these last they incline obliquely, as in many 

 of the firs ; in some they hang directly down, as in the 

 weeping willow. 



Some are of a dark green, as the horse-chestnut and 



the yew ; some of a light green, as the lime and the 



laurel ; some of a green tinged with brown, as the 



2' v jrginian cedar ; some of a green tinged with white, 



*he abele and the sage-tree ; and some of a green 



c ,a'i with yellow, as the ashen-leaved maple and the 



' Cra'si arbor vitae - Tne variegated plants, also, are 



y entitled to be classed with the white or the 



yellow, by the strong tincture of the one or the other ol 

 those colours on their leaves. 



The f all of the leaf is the time to learn the species, the 

 order, and the proportion of tints, which blended will 

 form beautiful masses ; and, on the other hand, to dis- 

 tinguish those which are incompatible near together. 

 The peculiar beauty of the tints of red cannot then 

 escape observation, and the want of them throughout 

 the summer months must be regretted ; but the want, 

 though it cannot perfectly, may partially be supplied, 

 for plants have a permanent and an accidental colour. 

 The permanent is always some shade of green, but any 

 other may be the accidental colour ; and there is none 

 which so many circumstances concur to produce as a 

 red. It is assumed in succession by the bud, the 

 blossom, the berry, the bark, and the leaf. Sometimes 

 it profusely overspreads, at other times it dimly tinges 

 the plant, and a reddish-green is generally the hue of 

 those plants on which it lasts long or frequently returns. 



Admitting this, at least for many months in the year, 

 among the characteristic distinctions, a large piece of 

 red-green, with a narrow edging of dark green along the 

 further side of it, and beyond that a piece of light green 

 still larger than the first, will be found to compose a 

 beautiful mass. Another, not less beautiful, is a yellow- 

 green nearest the eye, beyond that a light green, then 

 a brown-green, and lastly a dark green. The dark green 

 must be the largest, the light green the next in extent, 

 and the yellow-green the least of all. 



From these combinations the agreements between par- 

 ticular tints may be known. A light green may be next 

 either to a yellow or a brown-green, and a brown to a 

 dark green, all in considerable quantities ; and a little 

 rim of dark green may border on a red or a light green. 

 Further observations will show that the yellow and the 

 white-greens connect easily ; but that large quantities 

 of the light, the yellow, or the white-greens do not mix 

 well with a large quantity also of the dark green ; and 

 that to form a pleasing mass, either the dark green must 

 be reduced to a mere edging, or a brown or an inter- 

 mediate green must be interposed ; that the red, the 

 brown, and the intermediate greens agree among them- 

 selves, and that either of them may be joined to any other 

 tint ; but that the red-green will' bear a larger quantity 

 of the light than of the dark green near it ; nor does it 

 seem so proper a mixture with the white-green as with 

 the rest. In massing these tints attention must be 

 constantly given to their forms, so that they do not lie 

 in large stripes one beyond another ; but that either 

 they be quite intermingled, or, which is generally more 

 pleasing, that considerable pieces of different tints, each 

 a beautiful figure, be in different proportions placed near 

 together. See CLUMP, AVENUE, and GROVE. 



TREE MALLOW. Lava'tera arbo'rea. 



TREE OF HEAVEN. Aila'nthus glandulo'sa. 



TREE OF LIFE. Thu'ya. 



TREE OF SADNESS. Nycta'nthes A'rbor-tri'stis. 



TREE OR CANADA ONION. (A'Uium proli'ferum.) 

 This is without a bulbous root, but throws out numerous 

 offsets. Its top bulbs are greatly prized for pickling, 

 being considered of superior flavour to the common 

 onion. 



It is propagated both by the root offsets, which may be 

 planted during March and April, or in September and 

 October, and from the top bulbs, which are best planted 

 at the end of April. The old roots are best to plant again 

 for a crop of bulbs, as they are most certain to run to 

 stems. Plant in rows 12 inches asunder, in holes 6 inches 

 apart and 2 deep, a single offset or bulb being put in 

 each. Those planted in autumn will shoot up leaves 

 early in the spring, and have their bulbs fit for gathering 

 in J une or the beginning of J uly. Those inserted in the 

 spring will make their appearance later, and will be in 

 production at the close of July or early in August. They 

 must not, however, be gathered for keeping or planting 

 until the stalks decay, at which time, or in the spring 

 also, if only of one year's growth, the roots may be taken 

 up and parted if required for planting ; but when of 

 two or three years' continuance, they must, at all events, 

 be reduced in size, otherwise they grow in too large and 

 spindling bunches ; but the best plan is to make a 

 fresh plantation annually with single offsets. 



The bulbs, when gathered, must be gradually and 



