1890. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



251 



rule. But when you once have a man that 

 knows how to do pood hoeiiifr, keep him if pos- 

 sible, for ten to one, he will do all his other work 

 thoroughly and intellif^eutl.v. 0{ course a good 

 man and a good hoe should go together. The 

 dull, worn-out, rickety alTaii-s so often put in the 



hands of hired men, or, worse than all, of the 



young boy who takes his tlrst lessons in the field, 



arc an abomination, and should be replaced by 

 new tools, light and sharp ami bright. Oood and 



effective work is more likely to be done with 



them than others. 

 Yet the old dis- 



cai'ded hoes need not 



be thrown away. We 



have used them to 



the best advantage 



for weeding hoes 



among Onions and 



other close-planted 



stuff. The change 



from a poor hoe to a 



good weed killer is / 



easily made, as shown 



in our engi-aving on 



page 2fi8. We simply 



took them to the neai'- 



est blacksmith, and 



had the blades cut 



down, in the way in- 

 dicated by the dotted 



lines, and so that the 



width of the cutting 



edge is narrowed 



down to about two 



and one half inches. 

 This gives us a narrow 



hoe with sharp edges, 



and admirabl.v fltted 



for killing the weeds 



among the rows of 

 vegetables. Care in 

 handling such tools 

 is necessary.of course, 

 else the sharp corners 

 clip off, or into, the 

 Onions, or Beets, or 

 whatever vegetables 

 they may be. On the 

 whole, these hoes 

 have saved us and 

 our men some back- 

 aching work. The 

 weeding in the rows 

 especially during the 

 later stages of the 

 development of gar- 

 den crops, was done 

 almost wholl,v with 

 these weeding hoes. 



EVEROBEENS In 



Summer. It is cus- 

 tomary to speak of 

 the l)eauty of ever- 

 greens in the winter, 

 as if the prominence 

 of this class at a season 

 when other kinds are 

 devoid of foliage, did 

 not entitle them to !» 

 called attractive in 

 the season of general 

 verdure. But the 

 summer beauty of 

 evergreens impresses 

 us more and more as 

 we behold the fine 

 appearence of the 

 borders of these 



set out here but a year ago last May. At | 

 this date, August 13, after six weeks of almost 

 unbroken drought, which has caused the lawn to 

 become browned and the foliage of various kinds 

 to flag, there is not a handsomer sight on our 

 place than the evergreens. Indeed we go fur- 

 ther and say that of all our hardy growths these 

 groups of young Conifers excel in beaut.v and 

 freshness all others, if we except only the line 

 of large trees near the waters' edge which draw 

 up an abundance of moisture from beneath. 

 Turn our eyes towards the borders of deciduous 

 shrubs ; there are now few flowers as compared 

 with a month ago and earlier, foliage of some 

 kinds which earlier was of a deep green has now, 

 partly as a result of the drought, turned to a 

 yellowish or brownish hue, and is comparatively 

 unattractive. Some of the kinds such as the 

 Mountain Ash-leaved Spiriea and the Yellow- 

 flowering Currant are showing a tinge of red 

 indicating ripening of the foliage here in mid 

 summer. It is true that many others such as the 



Weigelas, Elders, Roses, Spineas, Calycanthus, 

 .Sumachs, retain their color admirably, but they 

 arc detracted from in measure by others whose 

 lH>auty is on the decline. Here and there also a 

 branch shows the effect of some insect work, or 

 blight, and which while it does not greatly mar 

 the same is yet no help to appearences. 



With the evergreens it is otherwise. In our 

 large group comprising 25 distinct species and 

 varieties, the beauty is uniform throughout and 

 wholly imimpaired by the drought. There is no 



THE STRATAGEM PEA. As Sketched on the Papular Gardening Grounds. 



somewhat at the edges. 



signs of a lack of moisture in the soil, of insects 

 or of blight, nothing but the handsome, rich, 

 clean vigorous foliage delicate in form and of 

 substantial color. The prevailing hue is a rich 

 deep green with more or less of a blueish cast in 

 the Pines and some others, and of gold in various 

 Arbor Vitseas, and Junipers. Viewed as a whole 

 there is an indescribable richness in the mass that 

 is unequalled by any other hard-wooded growths. 

 Viewed closely the richness of most kinds is 

 equally apparent and leads one to think the 

 deciduous shrub comparatively coarse. One of 

 the conspicuous charms of the class is the deep 

 shadows present in the interior of the tree as 

 they contrast markedly with the outside gi'owth. 

 A list of the principle evergreens comprising the 

 group referred to was given in our June issue. 

 There is not an individual in the lot but is doing 

 itself credit during the present dry spell, no 

 water has been applied to these borders. The 

 other evergreens scattered about our grouncjs 

 are equally pleasing in appearence at this date. 



Trees and Humidity. That the presence of 

 trees near to or upon a lawn which is not kept 

 watered artificially is conducive to maintaining 

 good color to the grass in time of drought is 

 quite noticeable the present season. The trees 

 serve variously in preserving moisture to the 

 soil, flrst l)y l)reaking drying winds, which if un- 

 checked so rapidly take up the moisture from the 

 soil, second by the shade they cast and which 

 from each tree amounts to a large area, as 

 from morning till night, the shadow shifts, 

 third by the natural 

 humidity emitted 



from the foliage. 

 These combined influ ■ 

 ences when of rather a 

 marked nature, are 

 sufficient to render 

 a lawn of good color 

 in droughty times for 

 a number of weeks 

 beyond the time,wben 

 a similar lawn begins 

 to turn brown. In the 

 ease of the Beech and 

 some other trees the 

 roots of which lie 

 near the surface, the 

 grass may early in a 

 drought be robbed 

 of moisture to its in- 

 jury. But with the 

 majority of trees the 

 roots strike down 

 suflicently deep that 

 with the presence of 

 the favorable influ- 

 ences named it takes 

 a long drought to ef- 

 fect unfavorably the 

 jrrass under the trees. 

 The Massing or 

 Tulips. As an in- 

 stance of the favor- 

 able effects which fol- 

 low the arranging of 

 bulbs in irregular 

 masses instead of 

 straight lines, we re- 

 fer to a simple clump 

 of three varieties of 

 double Tulips that 

 was planted on the 

 lawn at Woodbanks 

 a year ago The form 

 of the mass is shown in 

 the engraving on the 

 opposite page. Part 

 a was planted with 

 Rex Ruborum, a rich 

 deep scarlet, b with 

 Gloria Solus crim- 

 son with deep yellow 

 margin about half and 

 half of each color, c 

 with Tournesal Yel- 

 low, a brilliant yellow 

 variety. These are 

 among the finest of 

 double sorts, and 

 grow about 10 inches 

 high. 



■ The outline of the 

 seperate varieties was 

 not as cleanly de- 

 fined as the engrav- 

 ing would indicate, 

 the masses instead 

 ran into each other 

 The bed was a I'emark- 



ably handsome sight when in bloom, and vastly 

 more effective than would have been possible, 

 had the bulbs been planted either in regular 

 lines or had the colors been mixed. 



It may be added that this bed was planted with 

 Geraniums and other summer fiowers the latter 

 end of May and without disturbing the bulbs. 

 The summer plants were set out between the 

 maturing Tulip plants so that for a few weeks 

 there were two distinct occupants of the bed- 

 But as the Gerainums increased the others 

 decreased and after a little were sufficiently ripe 

 to admit of cutting away, and this was done. 



Now that it is the right time to order and plant 

 hardy bulbs, let it be said that as a class the early 

 double Tulips are not sufliciently appreciated, 

 considering their sterling qualities, the low prices 

 at which the bulbs can be bought, and their per- 

 manency. In our own grounds we have with 

 great satisfaction grown the following varieties 

 additional to those named above: Imperator 



