Daffolifl* beflfn to peer. 83 



upon him some evening, and see if cold water 

 possesses the virtue that the prohibitionists would 

 have us believe. 



Notwithstanding the caution I gave to spare 

 the shears, the gardener ruined the beautiful 

 Forsythias on the slope. If one needs an illus- 

 tration of the cruelty of spring-pruning certain 

 shrubs whose habit it is to flower on the old 

 wood, he has but to trim a Forsythia into a 

 rigid outline and compare it with one left un- 

 touched. All the airy grace of the golden sprays 

 is fled. Fortuneii and viridi$sima % the for- 

 mer especially, are the best of the Forsythias, 

 or golden-bells ; suspensa looks ragged, even 

 with close pruning. 



If you commence early to plant magnolias, 

 you may possibly succeed in obtaining one to 

 solace your declining years. The money the 

 nursery- men must make layering, budding, and 

 grafting the acres of things they do, and then 

 levying two or three dollars apiece on the w r ares 

 they puff up in their trade-lists ! All they do is 

 to stick their things into the soil, and they take 

 care of themselves. They must make thou- 

 sands annually on magnolias alone ; for there 

 is no case on record of any one establishing a 

 magnolia until at least three or four attempts. 

 I find growers invariably recommend transplant- 



