322 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 284. 



of the Willows and Hazels proclaim the approach of 

 another spring. 



None of these thoughts are unseasonable, for although it 

 is not the time to plant shrubs until next spring, preparation 

 for the planting should not be delayed. If a novice occupies 

 himself at odd moments henceforward in determining what 

 he is to plant, and where it is to be planted, much will be 

 gained if the ground is thoroughly prepared this fall, dug 

 deep, trenched, if possible, filled in with good loam and 

 properly drained where needed. When these preliminaries 

 are accomplished and the ground has been all winter 

 firmly settling, it can be worked much earlier in the spring 

 and the planting can be more thoroughly done in that hur- 

 ried season. This proper preparation will be seen in a 

 more vigorous growth, more luxuriant foliage, and more 

 abundant fiow^ers and fruit. In fact, there is no work in the 

 garden which pays better in the long run than thorough 

 preparation of the ground at this season for the trees and 

 shrubs which are to be placed in it the following year. 



In the August number oi Harper's Magazine, Mr. Charles 

 A. Piatt concludes his notes on Italian Gardens, which, by 

 the way, he asks the reader to consider as a mere supple- 

 ment to the illustrations. As we stated when the first part 

 of the article appeared, these pictures reproduce parts of 

 the gardens in their present condition, the selection having 

 been made with an attempt to show the strong original 

 features which have survived the neglect of years and the 

 reconstructions which have come with changing tastes and 

 fashions. We cannot help feeling that much of the interest 

 which invests these pictures and the originals is derived 

 from the fact that they are, in a measure, ruined, and there- 

 fore appeal to that reverential sentiment which thoughtful 

 minds always feel in the presence of works which have 

 come down to them from the past. It would be hard to 

 reconstruct a picture of these gardens in their palmiest 

 days. We can imagine their architectural details, the 

 statues and fountains, the walls and staircases ; but, apart 

 from the fact that there were Ilex walks and Cypress 

 avenues, the particulars of the planting must after all be 

 largely guessed at. What flowers were in the flower 

 gardens and how they were arranged we can hardly know. 

 There is little which is distinctive in the flowers or their 

 arrangements in the Roman gardens as we know them now. 



Mr. Piatt hopes that his pictures will lead to a better un- 

 derstanding and appreciation of the reasons for the formal 

 treatment of these gardens, and adds, that " as there is a 

 great similarity in the character of the landscape in many 

 parts of our country, the same reasons might lead to a 

 revival of this method as equally adapted to this country 

 and to Italy." No doubt formal gardens can be made very 

 beautiful in places where they are appropriate, but formal 

 gardening on so extensive a scale as it was known in Italy 

 at the time of the Renaissance will probably never be 

 practised in any part of the United States, and, indeed, 

 there is no reason why it should be. The architectural 

 details would only be admissible in those parts of the coun- 

 try which are never visited by heavy frost, and even when 

 the south can boast of groups of palaces in which wealthy 

 Americans congregate, this type of garden, which is really ' 

 a part of the house — an outdoor extension of apartments 

 within — would naturally be on a smaller scale than those 

 of the great Italian villas. Where grounds of park-like ex- 

 tent are to be treated, no true artist would attempt the 

 wearisome repetition of rigid lines in these old models. 



We have said that the ruins of these Italian gardens now 

 make an appeal to our sentiment of veneration, and per- 

 haps it is true that in this way they touch the profounder 

 part of our nature more deeply than they did in their prime. 

 A wall of green, with its sides and angles clipped to a 

 mathematical nicety ; straight lines of foliage which repeat 

 the architectural ideas of the splendid building with which 

 they are connected ; beds of flowers in set figures and ap- 

 propriate colors to harmonize with the well-balanced de- 

 sign ; all these may be conceived and realized when the 



true artist in formal gardening makes his appearance. But, 

 after all, works of this kind only appeal to the aesthetic 

 sense ; they delight the eye and satisfy the cultivated taste 

 as a beautiful piece of tapestry or pottery does. It is beauty 

 for its own sake. It expresses no sentiment and carries no 

 inner meaning ; it does not address itself to the nobler part 

 of our nature as simple natural scenery does. Such a creation 

 as the Arsenal Garden, in Tokyo, and even a Fern-crowned 

 rock by a mossy streamlet, we naturally speak of as restful 

 and soothing. No formal flower-bed or clipped tree was 

 ever restful. The fundamental difference between the two 

 styles of gardening is that they address different faculties 

 and sensibilities. The one can excite admiration ; the 

 other, through the imagination, may stir the profoundest 

 feeling's of the soul. 



How to Preserve Cut Flowers. 



T N the hot, dry days of summer one often finds the flowers 

 ■^ in vases, although freshly gathered, in a drooping condition, 

 the result, it may be, of plucking them at the wrong hour, or 

 of improper attention afterwards. They who would keep 

 their bouquets bright and vivid throughout the day, should 

 rise betimes, for there is no freshener like the dew of the 

 morning, whether for blossom or complexion. Poppio^s, fleet- 

 ing and frail, if plucked before the sun has dried the dewdrop 

 at their hearts, and quickly placed in water, will last sometimes 

 for two days without falling, and the same is true of other ten- 

 der garden-flowers. Should the basket of cut flowers show 

 signs of drooping, dip the bunch head downwards into water 

 and give it a gentle shake. This is very efflcacious in reviving 

 flowering shrubs brought from a distance, when they become 

 wilted before reaching home. 



The Japanese have made a special study of this branch of 

 the art ot flower arrangement, and have special rules for dif- 

 ferent plants. If the Wistaria is to be used in decoration, its 

 cut stem is burned and then immersed in spirits. The Hy- 

 drangea and the Lespedeza should also have the cut ends 

 burnt to charcoal before immersing in water. All flowers 

 which suck up water with difficulty are improved in vitality by 

 treating the end of their stems with fire or hot water. Land 

 plants derive benefit from burning, but water plants require 

 boiling water. 



When the Japanese use the Bamboo in decoration, which is 

 their frequent custom, they cut it at a very early hour, four in 

 the morning, and remove the bottom division or knot, leav- 

 ing the upper division untouched. They then fill the tube with 

 fifty-eight grains of cloves stewed in hot water and seal up the 

 bottom. It is then laid horizontally until the liquor enclosed is 

 cool, after which it is ready for use. When the colored Maple 

 is employed, the leaves are immersed in water for an hour be- 

 fore using. The very dark red ones are particularly hard to 

 preserve, but the lighter ones are more enduring. The Wfllow 

 has its cut stems spliced off and then bound up with a drug 

 they call senkin, the branch afterwards beingleftin water over 

 night. 



The Morning Glory, of which the Japanese make great use, 

 is carefully cut in the evening after the flowers are tightly closed. 

 The sleeping buds are then genfly wrapped in soft paper by 

 their dextrous fingers, and this is not removed unfll the fol- 

 lowing morning, when the arrangement is made. Begonia 

 Evansiana should be cut in the early morning, the buds re- 

 moved with a sharp knife, and the whole immersed in water 

 before arranging. Monochoria vaginalis, when cut, should 

 have about one inch of the end immersed in hot water until 

 the color changes, and it must then be dipped deeply in cold 

 water, after which it is ready. The same treatment is applied 

 to Senecio Kaempferi. 



The Prickly Poppy (Argemone Mexicana) is treated by hav- 

 ing its stem tightly tied around with soaked paper at a point 

 five or six inches above the cut end. This end should then be 

 burnt with a flame, after which the paper is removed, and the 

 flower is ready to use. The Yellow Water-lily (NupharJa- 

 ponicum) should be selected from a shallow spot, and cut 

 during the heat of the day. A liquid composed of cloves 

 bofled in tea should then be blown into the cut stem, and thus 

 the vitality of the flower is prolonged. Whether this treat- 

 ment is also desirable for the White Pond-lily, Mr. Conder, 

 who is my authority for Japanese practices, does not state, but 

 it would be worth while to experiment if thereby this lovely 

 flower could be longer retained in perfection. 



The great Japanese Irises, if cut while in bud, will open 

 freely in water, and last longer than if aflovi^fed to open out-of- 



