454 



Garden and Forest. 



[September 17, 1890. 



Cultural Department. 



Notes on Shrubs. 



A Late-flowering Lilac— On page 165 of the present 

 volume of Garden and Forest there is given an illustration 

 from a photograph of a cluster of the blossoms of Syringa 

 Pekinensis. Although the production of a second or late crop 

 of Mowers is a circumstance not unusual among some kinds 

 of shrubs, it seems worthy of note that a plant of this species 

 is now (September 9th) blooming freely at the Arnold Arbore- 

 tum. The plant is upright in habit and about fourteen feet 

 in height. It bore no Mowers in June, which is the regular 

 blossoming season of other individuals of the species. There 

 are from twenty-five to thirty large panicles of Mowers on the 

 plant, the largest clusters being about a foot in length. Unlike 

 their usual habit, these panicles do not all open their Mowers 

 almost simultaneously, only a few panicles being in blossom 

 at any one time. The earliest of these were showy in the last 

 week of August, and with cool weather the latest will not fully 

 develop their bloom until the last week of September at least. 

 The panicles are borne at the tips of this season's shoots. 

 Some of them, as before stated, are a foot in length, and they 

 average quite as large and fine, and are as fragrant, as any 

 produced in the usual Mowering season. Usually the second 

 or late blooming of a plant is much inferior to the first. At a 

 distance the great panicles of Mowers of this Syringa might be 

 mistaken for those of Hydrangea paniculata grandiflora, which 

 is just now in its best condition. It seems too much to expect 

 that the late Mowering of this specimen of .ST. Pekinensis will 

 prove to be a constant habit ; but if it proved so it would be 

 worth perpetuating, and would be a valuable acquisition 

 among the late white-Mo wered shrubs which attain large size. 

 Other plants of 5. Pekinensis which Mowered at the regular 

 season, in the latter part of June, are producing an abundance 

 of fruit. 



Berchemia racemosa, a Chinese and Japanese plant, be- 

 longing to the Buckthorn family, opens its earliest Mowers here 

 during the last days of August. The rather large compound 

 panicles of small greenish white Mowers are borne on the ends 

 of the shoots or lateral branches, and, although noticeable 

 against the general mass of dark green foliage, they are not 

 very attractive or showy. In this climate the chief claim to 

 ornamental value of this plant is in its clean, smooth, dark 

 green foliage, which forms a good covering to the stems. The 

 leaves are ovate, usually somewhat pointed, and are from one 

 to two inches long. The blossoms are not even so large as 

 those of the common Buckthorn. The fruit has not been pro- 

 duced here. It is oblong, about the size of small peas, and is 

 said to be quite showy and ornamental. The late Mowering 

 habit would prevent the fruit from maturing here before the 

 early autumn frosts occurred. This species has not so far 

 proved as hardy as could be desired, although there are proba- 

 bly some situations in this latitude where it might attain a fine 

 size and development ; and where, when it became old and 

 well established, it would withstand the vicissitudes of our cli- 

 mate. It is a trailing or twining shrub or vine, having appa- 

 rently more of the habit of theB'ittevsweets (Ceiastriis scandens 

 and the Japanese C. punctatus) than any others of the familiar 

 shrubs or vines of our gardens. 



Under favorable conditions the stems would probably climb 

 high into trees or other supports, but here they only attain a 

 length of ten or twelve feet at the most, although they are very 

 free growing. 



The American representative of this species, the Supple 

 Jack (B. volubilis) of the southern states, is hardly so well able 

 to endure our winters as B. racemosa. 



Arnold Arboretum. J • G . J '. 



Mulching. 



'T^HERE is really no tree or plant which is not benefited by 

 -*- mulching. It is not improbable that we shall yet come to 

 a system of agriculture in which mulch will be used for Corn and 

 Potatoes and garden vegetables. Experiments in that line have 

 proved beneficial. The only question is, Will the expense, and 

 trouble be compensated by sufficiently larger crops ? Taking 

 into consideration the liability to droughts there is little doubt 

 but we can devise methods of mulching that will pay. What 

 we need now is statistics of losses and waste of our fairly esti- 

 mated crops. We must then consider how much of this is 

 preventable. I believe that the loss and waste of the fruit 

 crop is at least one-half, and of the Corn and root crop one- 

 fourth of the average. The Huctuation of prices is not the 

 chief difficulty with the farmer ; the point to aim at is securing 



full remuneration for work and expense by getting invariable 

 harvestings. 



But mulching has an application of very great importance 

 in the planting of trees. No tree, under any circumstances, 

 should be set without a foot covering at once. It is the one 

 most important point in planting, more so than large holes 

 and carefully set roots well pounded down. Pruning has less 

 to do with the life and growth of the tree. I reckon that a 

 Pear-tree well mulched gains three years over one that is not. 

 Chip refuse, coal ashes, wood ashes mixed with waste, long 

 manure, cut straw, old or waste hay, are all good material. 

 Whoever has evergreens or an evergreen-hedge to set will find 

 three-fourths of his success dependent on mulching, the other 

 fourth on not letting the roots see the sun or get dried for one 

 moment. I moved a hedge of twenty years' growth six years 

 ago and did not lose one plant. It was well done in all re- 

 spects, but I relied mainly on puddling and mulching. 



We have yet to learn the value of mulch in the handling 

 of Mowers. Setting out bedding plants involves a loss and a 

 set-back; but if mulched with a handful or two of coarse 

 compost the loss is reduced to a minimum. In the western 

 states gardening and orcharding require more attention to 

 root protection than in the Atlantic states ; but it is important 

 even in the most moist sections. The secret of success with 

 trees and shrubs is persistent mulching. 



Clinton, N. Y. P. P. Powell. 



Hollyhocks. 



IN British gardens of all sorts and sizes the Hollyhock is a 

 favorite plant, and its admirers and growers are by no 

 means few. Taking it for granted that the same may be said 

 of the Hollyhock in America, the following remarks, culled 

 chieHy from a lecture recently delivered before the Royal 

 Horticultural Society in London by Mr. James Douglas, may be 

 of interest, and even of value, to American growers. 



The Hollyhock, botanically known as Althcea rosea, is a very 

 old inhabitant of English gardens, single and double varieties 

 of it having been recorded as far back as the year 1597. Its 

 introduction, however, according to Dr. Masters, was proba- 

 bly much earlier than this, and it is possible that it first ap- 

 peared in the time of the Crusaders, who brought it from Asia 

 Minor and the Levant. Gerard, who was born in 1545, men- 

 tions single white, red and purple varieties, and also double 

 purple and scarlet forms, as growing in his garden; and Parkin- 

 son, who fiourished a quarter of a century later, enumerates a 

 much larger number of varieties, thus showing that the work 

 of raising seedlings had been carried on to a great extent in 

 the meantime. Since this period much progress had been 

 made, and numerous varieties created, and a most remarkable 

 thing was that many of the additions were owing to cottagers 

 who had to work at their particular businesses from six in the 

 morning till the same hour, and often even later, at night, but 

 who, nevertheless, found time to look after their Hollyhocks 

 and grow them to such perfection as to almost make a profes- 

 sional gardener envy their success. 



The propagation of the Hollyhock is most easily accom- 

 plished by sowing the seed in the open border about May. 

 When the plants are large enough to be easily handled they 

 may be pricked out in the place where it is intended to Mower 

 them, in rows, about three feet apart, and four feet between 

 each row. There are, however, other methods of propagating 

 the Hollyhock, and one is by cutting off' a leaf adhering to a 

 portion of the stem, and containing an "eye" in the axil, and 

 thus making cuttings, which will readily strike in a hot-bed. 

 Another means is taking the shoots from the base, while root- 

 grafting is also adopted to propagate the plants, a shoot being 

 cut so as to fit into a corresponding cut in the root, and then 

 securely tied round with matting. 



The soil for Hollyhocks should be prepared early in autumn 

 for the next year's crop, and should be made deep and rich. 

 When the plants are placed in positions in spring they should 

 be staked at onee, so as to avoid disturbing them at a later 

 period. When well established little attention is necessary, 

 but if the best results are desired the plants should be regu- 

 larly syringed with clean water. Directly any Mowers begin to 

 decay the petals should be at once removed, as, if allowed to 

 remain and become mildewed, the seed-pods are apt to become 

 affected and rot. The Mowering and seeding period having 

 come to a finish, the stems may be cut down to within six 

 inches of the ground, after which the stocks may be dug up 

 and plunged in a somewhat dry material, such as cocoanut 

 fibre, there to rest for the winter. In the spring, all the shoots, 

 except one, which spring from the old stock may be taken off 

 for cuttings, and will soon strike in a hot-bed or frame. 



