ORCHARD AND GARDEN. 



55 



General Garden Hints. 



Mulching. — This signifies a dressing 

 of some kind usually manurial, which 

 is placed over the surface of the soil 

 surrounding tree, shrub, or plant of 

 some kind. Its object is to keep mois- 

 ture within the soil, to prevent the 

 direct action of the sun on the roots, 

 and when waterings are given, par- 

 ticularly in summer, to wash dow^n 

 the good qualities of the manurial 

 covering for the fibres to assimilate. 

 Mulchings should be given more fre- 

 quently, especially in the case of 

 plants transferred from one place to 

 another. 



Restoring Old and Sickly Trees. — 

 Branches or snags that have to be 

 removed should be sawn off quite 

 close to the trunk or limb from which 

 they spring. An application of liquid 

 tar to the wound and renewed once 

 or twice protects against moisture 

 and fungoid diseases. When the new 

 bark has grown over the wound, the 

 tree may be considered safe. The life 

 of a tree decayed in the centre may 

 be prolonged by filling up the holes 

 with cement, and thus keeping out 

 moisture, which is the point tb note 

 Itt the preservation of old or decay- 

 ing trees. 



Boom Plants. — Parlor palm (Aspi- 

 distra), true palms, india-rubber 

 plant, (ticus elastica), Arabia Sie- 

 boldi and Ptebis Tremula, Pteris Ar- 

 gyrea and Hepprolepsis ferns, with- 

 stand draughts better than most 

 plants. Always water room plants 

 with tepid water, that of the same 

 temperature as the room itself being 

 advisable. Bulbs, such as daffodils, 

 hyacinths and tulips should be grown 

 more often in bowls and pots. With 

 the special fibre now available, there 

 is little difficulty in doing so. Sponge 

 the leaves occasionally of smooth and 

 thick foliaged plants with tepid water 

 to remove dust which stops up the 

 pores — hence decay. 



Pots for Flowers. — These are ob- 

 tainable from the nurseryman in var- 

 ious sizes, the most frequently used 

 being the 48, as it is called, or "five- 

 Inch" in width, the next being the 

 "six-inch," and there are also the 

 small ones, called "thumbs," which 



are generally used for the small ferns 

 so much used for decorations. Never 

 use new pots until they have been 

 soaked in water for quite 4 8 hours, 

 as unless they are treated in this way 

 they absorb moisture from the soil. 

 Dirty pots must be well washed and 

 dried before plants are put in them, 

 and if covered with green substance, 

 scrubbed in strong soda water made 

 hot. Dry well. Crocks or drainage 

 to give free egress for water from the 

 soil should consist of broken pieces 

 of pot and over the hole in the bot- 

 tom of each pot place a large rather 

 concave bit, then smaller chips or 

 rubble, not overdoing it, to allow free 

 egress of the water. Unless this pre- 

 caution is taken the soil soon gets 

 waterlogged and sour. 



Transplanting Trees and Shrubs. — 

 in dealing with trees and shrubs 

 transplanting is an important detail. 

 There are two leading points, the 

 most suitable time and the method. 

 The best season to transplant ever- 

 greens is in late spring, failing this, 

 the fall. Transplant deciduous treos 

 and shrubs in the spring when frost is 

 out of the ground. In transplanting 

 keep the fibrous roots as far as pos- 

 sible intact, and remove with them a 

 large ball of soil, the larger the bet- 

 ter. When moving a large deciduous 

 tree or shrub first dig a trench all 

 round it with a tork far enough away 

 to preserve the roots. Lay a damp 

 mat over them while they are expos- 

 ed. Prepare the site for the tree by 

 digging out a hole large enough to al- 

 low the roots being spread out evenly 

 all round and to their full extent. 

 J^reak up the soil finely, especially 

 that which actually touches the fibres. 

 In planting follow the general rule of 

 not burying that part of the stem 

 from whence the uppermost roots 

 spring more than 2 inches or 3 inches. 



Syringing and Spraying. — These 

 are two distinct operations. The ob- 

 ject of syringing is to cleanse and re- 

 fresh the foliage, especially in the 

 evening of a hot day, a large squirt 

 being used which sends out the water 

 either in a i>tream or from a "rose," 

 the popular name for the nozzle, the 



