24 The Canadian Horticulturist. 



will be a circular thicket of young locusts that have sprung up from the 

 seed. If the seeds are sown in the spring, boiling water should be poured 

 upon them, leaving them to soak a few hours until they swell. I, however, 

 prefer sowing them in the fall and leaving them to the natural action of 

 frost.— .S. S. N. in N. Y. World. 



Fruit Trees for Road Side. — In many parts of Europe the public high- 

 ways through the country are nothing more nor less than avenues of cherry 

 trees, which often extend in straight unbroken lines, as far as the eye can reach. 

 There we find the early and the late, the sweet and the sour cherries, and they 

 seldom fail to yield full crops. It has always seemed to us that trees along the 

 roadside were much healthier, generally, freer from insects, and give larger and 

 better yields than the trees planted out in orchards as we came across them oc- 

 casionally. We see no reason why we should not follow the good example, and 

 line our roads with cherry trees also. All we have to do is to plant them, give 

 them a good start, protect them while young in some simple way against injury 

 by domestic animals, and then leave them to themselves, to reward us with 

 bountiful crops year after year. Thus we might have fine cherries in abundance 

 for young and old, and what a blessing it would be, especially for young America ! 

 Why not ? Why should we continue to plant maple and elm avenues, when 

 cherries give us as much shade, as much beauty, and the choicest fruit besides ? 

 Occasionally the pearj^'more rarely the plum and the apple are used for roadside 

 trees in continental Europe. The reason is obvious. The apple is of too 

 spreading growth for this purpose, while neither pear nor plum have the beauty 

 of form, nor the utility as a shade tree possessed by the cherry. Some of our 

 nut trees would also make admirable roadside trees. From New Jersey and 

 Pennsylvania southward, in the coast states, the English walnut might be tried, 

 and the Pecan, wherever it succeeds. The chestnut is perhaps objectionable on 

 account of its low spreading growth when planted singly. The black walnut and 

 hickory are fine for the roadside, and in some sections the persimmon might be 

 tried. — G R. in Popular Gardening. 



For a hedge in a wind-exposed location a mixture of Myrobolan Plum and 

 Privet, two of the former to one of the latter is recommended. It is said to make 

 a hedge sufficiently strong to resist cattle in a short time. If something of a 

 more ornamental character is required, use the American Arbor-vitae, selecting 

 only single-stemmed varieties. 



