Beautifying the Farmstead. 



61 



woodlands, draws, arroyos, or canyons will reveal the attractive 

 things that are close at hand. Europeans recognize the value of 

 many of these plants, collect them and grow them a few years, and 

 tl,ieii introduce them to us. The common wild plants of any neigh- 

 borhood should be largely used for home planting. Although many 

 may be so common they have gotten in the way of cultivation, still 

 they may be beautiful and have value for ornamental planting, as 

 shown in figure 6-i. Nearly all improve with culture. Where possible 

 to collect them from their native habitat there is a satisfaction in 

 the final results that is not obtained from purchased material. 

 Those collected in the vicinity are usually more difficult to trans- 

 plant successfully than the same sort of plants purchased from a 



FIG. 65. Shrubs with temporary plants set between. 



nursery. This is because in the wild the roots have never been 

 pruned and so have run to long distances, with the result that when 

 the plant is dug a much larger proportion of the roots is cut off 

 than when taken from a nursery where they have been root pruned 

 frequently. To correspond to this more severe root pruning the 

 tops must be more than correspondingly cut away. This will seem 

 like destroying the plant, but the important part of such work is to 

 secure a vigorous root system that will put out new growth rather 

 than to obtain a ready-made top. The more trying the climate for 

 plant growth the more severe the top pruning should be. Besides 

 the loss of a large proportion of the roots, failure in moving native 

 plants comes from lack of sufficient care in keeping the roots moist 



