1889. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



75 



and prepares it to take in food elements 

 from the air. Nitrates are formed most 

 rapidly out from under the sun's glare in 

 shaded and sheltered spots. So by mulch- 

 ing you not only equalize the temperature 

 and prevent drying up, but you actually 

 eurich and teed your tree. 



In winter, as in summer, there are special 

 advantages from mulching. We are always 

 robbing our lands by feeding too close in 

 the fall. I am satisfied that the loss is 

 many times over the gain. There is also 

 only mischief from raking up leaves in the 

 autumn. They should be allowed to lie on 

 the lawns until spring and then be removed 

 only where they are too thiclc. 



Those who were crowded for time in No- 

 vember may still in midwinter find it desir- 

 able to go on with plant protection. The 

 larger part of the damage done by winter is 

 not by direct freezing, but by thawing after 

 freezing and then a sudden freezing again. 

 So it happens to be best to plant the less 

 hardy shrubs on the north side of hedges or 

 houses, where they cannot be touched by 

 midwinter suns. Most of the injury occurs 

 as late as March or April. In addition to 

 other protection it is well to go about in late 

 winter and pack snow about Grapes and 

 Quinces and whatever may be affected by 

 getting started too eiirly. If you can keep 

 the ground frozen about them and so pre- 

 vent the flow of sap for ten or even tlve days 

 you may have saved your flowers and fruit. 



Snow is a splendid mulch and a snow 

 mulch is as good as a straw covering. I 

 have a friend who tramps half the winter 

 about his yard of trees and gets a solid ice 

 mat over the ground. His trees are always 

 well loaded. It is equally useful in the way 

 of delaying the appearance of some insect 

 pests, and when these are delayed they are 

 as good as killed. 



I used to be content with hilling up rows 

 but it is so little trouble to bend down the 

 long canes and cover them and one gets 

 such magnificent pay for it, that now I in- 



but if kept damp they will surely mildew, 

 therefore after they are thoroughly dried 

 cover them up with very dry sand. The 

 same of Cannas, Gladiolus also must first be 

 thoroughly dried and then stored away from 

 frost, but not so dry 

 as to shrivel away. 



It is quite neces- 

 sary to protect young 

 shrubs of all sorts. 

 They grow hardy as 

 they get age. It is 

 but little trouble to 

 hill them up and 

 then invert kegs or ^' 

 barrels over them 

 with leaves worked 

 under. 



Lilies are better if 

 well mulched for the 

 winter, and I should 

 prefer leaves, as most 

 of the Lilies rot 

 promptly if manure 

 is applied to the 

 roots, and there is 

 also danger in plac- 

 ing it on the surface ^ ^" 

 unless thoroughly rotted before it is applied 



contains a collection of scores of hardy 

 Evergreens, this one stands out conspic- 

 iously for its beautiful, dark green vendure 

 the year around, and for its regular and 

 graceful form. It ranks with the hardiest 



Specimen nf the Norclmaiin's Silver Fir. 



variably do it. Use sod, but if the stalks 

 are strong lay a sod or more under to pre- 

 vent breaking by bending. 



The safety of winter bulbs and tubers de- 

 pends on several things. Dahlias must be 

 well dried, but not kept drying all winter. 

 If they are they will be spoiled before spring. 



Two Valuable Evergreen Trees. 



One is quite naturally drawn to consider 

 the Evergreens in winter, because their at- 

 tractions are now so marked. We take 

 pleasure therefore in inviting attention to 

 two of the most hardy and satisfactory trees 

 of this class, for general planting, we know 

 of, namely, the Dwarf Mugho Pine and 

 Nordmann's Silver Fir. 



The chief merits of these trees' apart from 

 their marked beauty is their adaptability to 

 culture in most parts of the country, and 

 especially in the northern belt, and on a 

 large variety of soils. Unlike the ma,iority 

 of Evergreens offered in the catalogues of 

 nurserymen, these kinds require no special 

 petting in order to develop into 

 handsome specimens; in this respect 

 bearing well to be classed with such 

 old reliables as the Norway Spruce, 

 Austrian Pine, Red Cedar and the 

 like. Both of these trees may be 

 had of the leading nurserymen of 

 the country. 



The Dwarf Mugho Pine is a hand- 

 some compact growing tree or shrub 

 with stiff, dark green foliage, a na- 

 tive of the Alps and Pyrenees of 

 Central Europe. Ordinarily it 

 would be classed with shrubs, but 

 it is known, under the most favora- 

 ble conditions, to reach a height of 

 25 feet or more. Of a number of 

 trees under culture as lawn trees, 

 with which the writer is famUar, 

 not one has reached a height of 

 eight feet, although the oldest have 

 been growing for fourteen years or 

 more in their present places. There 

 are, however, several forms of the 

 Mugho Pine recognized, such as the 

 Compact variety and the Round- 

 headed variety, and it is not unlikely 

 that the tree varies also in the direc- 

 tion of stronger growing forms. 



This Pine is used with excellent 



effect as a single specimen or for 



forming a clump on the lawn, while 



the fact of its small size indicates 



its use in grounds too small for 



other Pines. It also serves well for 



massing irregularly in front of the 



Black or Austrian, the White and other 



large gi'owing Pine trees. 



Of the Nordmann's Silver Fir, it may, we 

 think, be safely said, that it has never been 

 known to disappoint the planter who has 

 given it anything like commonly decent 

 treatment. In the Biiflalo Park, which 



art .iJuiiltii finti on ine Lawn. 



of trees here grown, and is of remarkably 

 free growth. 



This tree was first discovered by . Prof. 

 Nordmann, on the Adshar mountains, at an 

 elevation of 6000 feet, and growing 80 or 

 more feet high, with a straight stem. It is 

 quite common on the Crimean mountains, 

 and those east of the Black Sea. 



For the use of the engravings on this page 

 we are indebted to the firm of Ellwanger & 

 Barry, Rochester, N. Y. 



The Manure Question Solved by the 

 Fattening of Live Stock. 



D. N. LONG, FORMER ASSOCIATE EDITOR OF RURAL LIFE. 



In my early experience in market garden- 

 ing and fruit growing I was obliged to 

 haul a considerable portion of the manure 

 used for a distance of ten miles or more, 

 and this with the bad roads often prevailing 

 was found to be so large an item of expense 

 as to eat up a large share of the profits, 

 hence ways and means of securing a good 

 supply at low cost were studied up. As my 

 business was what might be termed farm 

 gardening, and in which the keeping of live 

 stock figured somewhat, I was naturally 

 led to look to enlarging our stock of cattle as 

 a source of manure. A thorough trial of the 

 plan resulted most satisfactorily, keeping 

 the live stock on hand during the fall and 

 winter mainly, then selling it to the butch- 

 ers. The number of head of cattle with 

 sheep sometimes has increased fiom year to 

 year, till during the past winter over 70 

 head of cattle were fattened, besides keep- 

 ing some milch cows and horses. 



I am now satisfied that manure can 

 often be made on a place at a much less cost 

 than it can be bought for, and especially 

 where farm or wholesale gardening is car- 

 ried on. In my experience I have usually 

 made a clear profit on the advance in price 

 on cattle, above all the expense of feed, 

 labor, interest, etc., let alone the great 

 object of securing large quantities of the 

 best of manure absolutely for nothing right 

 on the place where it could be hauled to 

 the fields at any time of leisure. 



The hauling to the fields was usually done 

 during the leisure of winter when the 

 snow was not too deep or the ground not 

 covered with a thick coat of ice so as to 

 cause the manure being carried off by rains, 

 spreading from the vehicle, by which means 

 it was only handled twice, once in loading 

 and again in spreading. 



A peculiar advantage in farm gardening 

 in thus making manure is that with grow- 

 ing large quantities of Cabbage, Cauliflower 

 and roots for late marketing the tops and 



