CA NA DIA N UOHTICUL TURIS T. 



256 



Birch and Aider seeds are kej)t dry 

 and sown dry early in sprinjj;. Locust 

 seeds and all those of that family arc 

 kept dry through tiie winter and soaked 

 in hot water immediately before sow- 

 ing. All seeds with a Heshy covering, 

 such as Apple, Cherry, Mountain Ash, 

 Cucund^er Tree, Bullalo Berry, Red 

 Cedar and Holly, are wasiied free from 

 the pulp, mixed with sand, and sown 

 in sj)ring. We make an exception 

 generally with the Red Cedar and the 

 Kolly, as they never germinate evenly 

 in the spring ; therefore, we bury them 

 in a rot heap during two winters and 

 one summer and sow the following 

 spring. Poplar and Willow seeds are 

 very fine and delicate and require skill. 

 close attention and continual moisture 

 during the early part of the season. 

 Therefore it is cheaper and surer to 

 raise them from clippings than from 

 seeds. All seeds mixed with sand 

 must be placed so that water will not 

 stand around them. Frost will not 

 injure them unless in a position where 

 they will freeze dry. A cool shed 

 where they are protected from sun and 

 wind will be a proper place. — R.Dorr; 

 LAS, in Garden and Forest. 



Care of Shrubs 



Persoxs who neglect the shrubs, 

 thinking tkey will care for themselves, 

 know little what the same species will 

 be if regularly invigorated with stimu 

 lating fertilizers in autumn or early 

 spring, says an agricultural writer. T 

 prefer the former season, as the manure 

 becomes assimilated by the soil when 

 the roots are beginning to grow and 



extract nouiishment. Not only will 

 application of manure and frequent 

 stirring of the soil produce an increase 

 of bloom, but the color will be intensified 

 and the size of the individual flowers 

 increased in every instance. Although 

 I think midsummer about the best time 

 to trim siirubs into shape, still it is an 

 operation tijat should ncsver be neglect- 

 ed at any time. Sti-aggling, tangled 

 nuisses of limbs "do'' in a wdd bit of 

 landscape, apart from the cultivated 

 grounds, but there is no excuse for them 

 where beauty of form and careful 

 training should be the rule. In regard 

 to the objection that pruned shrubs 

 present a formal a|)pearance, it may be 

 .said that there is a point at which to 

 .stop the work, contenting one's self 

 with merely cutting off a too vigorous 

 shoot, or even perliaps trimming one 

 side of a shrub to preserve a regular 

 outline. Training shrubs to a single 

 stem, in what is known as the tree form, 

 rarely proves satisfactory in our usually 

 hot, dry climate ; they seem to need a 

 little shade about the roots and steuiS. 

 and foliage furnishes it. Very pretty 

 effects are pi-oduced abroad, however, 

 by this tree-form, in a variety of the 

 stronger growing shrubs, and especially 

 when grafted high, but I doubt if they 

 will ever prove popular here. There is 

 a class of tender shrubs annually killed 

 to the ground that should receive more 

 attention. I allude to such species as 

 Callocarpa purpurea with its mass of 

 autumnal, purplish-violet berries, and 

 Desmodium pendulafiorum bearing 

 beautiful garlands of lovely drooping 

 flowers late in summer. Tiie i,oots of 

 these are rarely injured, and they irrow 

 vigorously. — Ex. 



