52 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTDKAL SOCIETY. 



soil mixed with one-fourth its bulk of rotted stable manure, and 

 that they should be prepared in late summer or fall, and the 

 planting done the following spring. Fall planting of hardy plants 

 is often recommended, but my experience is that many plants are 

 winter -killed after fall planting that are quite hardy after having the 

 benefit of a growing season to establish themselves. Of course 

 special plants require special treatment ; for instance, the bulbs 

 of the Auratum lilies should not come in direct contact with 

 manure, and the fine double and single varieties of Pyretlirum 

 roseum should be planted in beds raised a few inches, to prevent 

 their rotting out in cold, wet weather. 



I would advise the same liberal preparation of the soil for 

 shrubs that I do for hardy plants, though iu many instances the 

 expense would be prohibitory or thought so, but in any event I 

 should insist on the ground being subsoiled or trenched and a 

 liberal application of stable manure being made. An annual 

 mulching of manure is beneficial to both shrubs and hardy 

 plants. 



I have had a somewhat extended experience with Rhododendrons, 

 and my opinion of the proper soil to grow them in may be worth 

 something. Their beauty is now pretty generally known and 

 appreciated, but they are popularly considered tender and difficult 

 to grow. This is largely owing to the selling of improperly 

 grown plants and tender varieties, and to late fall planting, which 

 is very apt to be fatal. I have found that when Catawbiense 

 seedlings, or the well-known hardy named varieties, grown on their 

 own roots from layers, were planted, there was no difficulty in 

 growing them in any ordinary soil or in any position except 

 immediately under old established trees. I have seen them grown 

 with peat and with leaf mould, but the best results I have ever 

 seen in this country were where an excavation two and one-half 

 feet deep had been made for them and filled in entirely with turfy, 

 fibrous sods, chopped up, and allowed to stand over winter before 

 planting. No manure was mixed with the sods, but after the 

 rhododendrons were planted a mulching of rotted cow manure was 

 applied to the surface of the soil. 



It seems to me I have said a great deal about the merit of hardy 

 plants and shrubs, and but very little about their culture, but it 

 must be remembered that my mind is more occupied with the 

 designing of gardens than with their care, and I think it is quite 



