8 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



Fertilizing' House Plants 



LACK of sufficient fertility in the 

 soil is the cause of many house 

 plants dying. In most cases the 

 potting soil was not well prepared. 

 With a soil of proper composition and 

 judiciously watered afterwards, most 

 growers claim that very little, if any, 

 fertilizer is required. In fact, it is 

 claimed by many that plants are lost 

 because too much plant food was 

 given. • Until the last few years liquid 

 manure was the chief fertiUzer used, 

 and perhaps fewer plants were dam- 

 aged as long as that was the case. 



The introduction of concentrated hor- 

 ticultural manures and plant foods 

 which are more easily applied and less 

 objectionable as far as appearance 

 and odor are concerned, has resulted 

 in many discarding the liquid manure. 

 Among the valuable fertilizers com- 

 monly used are Arnott's Concentrated 

 Horticultural Manures, Steele- Briggs' 

 Plant Food and Rennie's Plant Food. 



In discussing this subject with The 

 Horticulturist, Mr. F. F. CoUins, of 

 Toronto, said: "These concentrated 

 plant foods are much more easily ap- 

 plied, are cleaner to handle, and contain 



more of the fertilizing elements re- 

 quired by the plant than does the 

 liquid manure frequently used. I have 

 used Arnott's Horticultural Manure, 

 and know that it is good for strong 

 plants. There is, however, no use in 

 applying such foods to sickly plants. 

 Most amateurs make this mistake. 

 They imagine that if a plant is weak 

 it needs more fertilizer. Instead, the 

 plant needs nursing. It does not need 

 fertilizer any more than a sick man 

 needs a beefsteak. It would do the 

 plant more good to repot it, to wash 

 and cut the ends off the roots and then 

 to reset in clean, sweet soil. It should 

 be kept pretty dry for a month or six 

 weeks, and after that it should have 

 regained its former thriftiness. 



"In adding fertilizer it should be 

 given in small doses. I prefer a small 

 application twice a week to a larger 

 one only once a week. For palms, 

 ferns and healthy, well-rooted plants, 

 half a teaspoonful in a 12 quart can of 

 water once a week gives good results. 

 Fach plant should get a thorough 

 watering, care being taken that none 

 goes on the fohage." 



Magnolias in Queen Victoria ParK 



RodericK Cameron, Niagara Falls, Ontario 



THF Star-flowered Magnolia, Mag- 

 nolia stellata, should be planted 

 more extensively in this and similar 

 localities. It is an early bloomer. The 

 flowers are pure white and semi-double, 

 numerous and fragrant. The plants 

 often begin to bloom when but t\vo feet 

 high, and they never grow beyond the 

 size of a medium-sized shrub, very 

 bushy and short jointed, a feature much 

 desired in all shrubs. I am satisfied 

 that this variety is the hardiest of the 

 number grown here, but it should be 

 planted where the morning sun would 

 not strike it. It flowers during the first 

 week in May, and is, therefore, subject 

 to late frosts. The sun being kept from 

 it early in the morning will save the 

 flowers from injury, if they are not frozen 

 too hard. 



It is said that magnolias are hard to 

 transplant successfully, particularly if 

 of medium to large size. I have found 

 no trouble with them if they are well 

 trimmed back and planted in deep, 

 damp soil. I have one transplanted 

 after flowering for eight years. Some 

 of the leading branches died back be- 

 yond where they were cut ; but the plants 

 bloomed the same season freely. It is 

 Magnolia Soulangeana, one of the hardi- 

 est and best, and it blooms soon after 

 the aforementioned. The flowers are 

 white with some purple on the outside 

 of the petals. It grows to a large shrub 



or small tree in size, and is a prolific 

 bloomer during the first of June. 



Magnolia Lennei comes into bloom 

 next in succession. It is more shrubby, 

 with large flowers, reddish-purple out- 



Star-flowered Magnolia 



side, and more showy than the preced- 

 ing varieties. Perhaps it is not quite 

 so hardy. 



Immediately after this one, the Um- 

 brella Tree, Magnolia tripetala, comes 

 into bloom. It grows here to a height 

 of 35 feet, making a magnificent tree, 

 with leaves about 18 inches to two feet 

 long. This species produces flowers 

 about 10 inches across, pure white, with 



a pleasant odor at a distance, but rather 

 heavy close by. It blooms from the 

 middle to the end of June. The cone- 

 Uke fruit produced by this variety is 

 very beautiful towards fall, being of a 

 bright pinkish-red color, and about five 

 inches long by three in diameter. 



Following the Umbrella Tree in bloom 

 comes the sweetest of them all, the 

 Sweet Swamp White Bay, Magnolia 

 glauca, by some called the Beaver Tree. 

 This is a very attractive shrub or small 

 tree, evergreen in the south, but decidu- 

 ous here. The flowers are milk white, 

 globose, very fragrant and pleasant, 

 about three inches across. They are 

 not produced all at once like the fore- 

 going, this one blooming during the 

 first two weeks in July. The leaves are 

 Hght green above and purplish-white on 

 the under side — wherefore its name, 

 glauca. 



There are several other varieties of 

 magnoha grown in Victoria Park, but 

 these are the best and hardiest bloom- 

 ing in succession as named. The mag- 

 nolia and tulip trees should not be plant- 

 ed in the fall; better plant when the 

 ground works well in the spring. They 

 do best on deep, damp, peaty soil; but 

 will succeed well on a sandy loam. All 

 the magnolias are magnificent plants, 

 producing showy blooms in abundance. 

 But, independent of the blooms, they 

 should be grown if for nothing else than 

 their foliage. 



The Mortality of Trees 



There are trees living to-day that are 

 believed to be hundreds, and, perhaps, 

 thousands of years old, and they show 

 no signs of decay. From the theoretical 

 view-point, there is no reason why the 

 life of trees should cease; they should 

 taste of immortahty, as each successive 

 year sees the renewal of organs where- 

 by life is maintained and also the multi- 

 plication of roots and leaf shoots to 

 furnish nourishment. Practically, how- 

 ever, death is as sure to the tree as it is 

 to the animal kingdom. According to 

 its own internal organism, a tree could 

 go on living forever; but there are ex- 

 ternal conditions that bring life to a close. 



A tree is dependent for its food supply 

 mainly on the soil in which it stands. 

 If this soil is sterile, the tree will starve 

 to death. The ravages of insects also 

 bring it to an untimely end ; cater- 

 pillars destroy its leaves, beetles pene- 

 trate and kill the wood. Fungus dis- 

 eases comprise other mortal factors. 

 The air is laden with germs which enter 

 into the tree in every exposed crevice, 

 and perform their deadly work. The 

 elixir of life for the tree is in the destruc- 

 tion of insects, the annihilation of 

 disease and the maintenance of fertility 

 in the soil. With these conditions, 

 trees might live almost forever. 



