A HEDGE OF RAMBLER ROSES. 



^TT^HE Rambler roses, beautiful in 

 any situation, are especially 

 so when grown in hedge form. 

 In place of the stiff looking 

 hedges of evergreen so common a few 

 years ago, those of airy, graceful appear- 

 ing plants seem more in favor, and no 

 plant yields itself more readily to train- 

 ing than the Rambler rose. The frame 

 for the hedge is the first consider- 

 ation, and it can be almost any material 

 and made* in any form. Perhaps as 

 good a screen as any for the purpose is 

 one like an ordinary grape trellis, made 

 of fence posts and wire. Set the posts 

 eight feet apart. The end posts can be 

 squared and made more ornamental if 

 desired, but after the first year they do 

 not show, so it matters little. The wires 

 should be put on so that they can be 

 stretched when necessary ; often they 

 seem quite slack after a season or two, 

 and then we make them taut in this 

 way : Fasten the wires securely to one 

 end post and pass them through all the 

 others ; after they are through the last 

 end post wind each wire around a piece 

 of stick which can then be turned 

 around until the wires are perfectly firm 

 and straight. No other fastening is re- 

 quired. The sticks are made from 

 stuff two inches square and are eight 

 inches long About three inches near 

 the middle of the stick is rounded so 



that the wires will wind round it easily, 

 and each spring the sticks can be turned 

 once or twice to keep the wires in good 

 order. Ordinary chicken netting can 

 be used with less trouble at the start, 

 but it is inclined to stretch badly after 

 a few years, and is not durable. 



The plants can be set eight feet apart, 

 or midway between each two posts. 

 Fasten the new shoots in place as fast 

 as they get of sufficient length ; little 

 pruning will be required, as it is long 

 growth one wants until the hedge is 

 established, but all old rough wood 

 should be removed in the spring, and 

 occasionally the ends of rank growing 

 branches be pinched to cause branching. 



The plants are so perfectly hardy 

 that it makes them more valuable for 

 hedges, as often not even the extreme 

 tips of the branches will be killed by 

 freezing. All the varieties are also re- 

 markably free from mildew, which is an 

 added advantage. The flowers have no 

 fragrance, yet bees gather on them in 

 great numbers, probably on account of 

 the bountiful supply of pollen found on 

 the roses. Rose bugs do not molest 

 them, though other roses in the same 

 garden are badly infested. The plants 

 blossom later than the June roses, be 

 ginning just as they are almost gone, 

 thus prolonging the rose season three or 

 four weeks. — Vicks Magazine. 



THE CALLA LILY. 



When the Calla Lily begins to bloom, 

 if the pots are placed into shallow pans 

 of water and left there, the bloom will 

 be found to last much longer, and re- 



main more plump and fresh, than where 

 water is simply applied to the surface of 

 the soil. 



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