i8 



Garden and Forest. 



[March 7, 18S8. 



tematic plantations in whicli are to be grouped specimens of 

 every species, and well-marlied variety of tlie trees that can be 

 made to flourisli here from all the cooler reg-ions of the globe. 



Shrub Propagation. 



THE old adage, " What is one man's meat is another man's 

 poison," seems especially applicable to the reproduction 

 of hardy shrubbery. Not only'each genus, but often each spe- 

 cies, and in a few cases each variety, requires a separate 

 method of propagation. For instance, the ordinary Snowball, 

 Viburnum opulus sterilis, is of the very easiest manipulation, 

 and strikes like a weed, and yet its Japanese relative, \'. plica- 

 turn, is ciuite difficult to handle. Most Spirasas are easily 

 propagated by cuttings, and yet the nearly allied Exochorda is 

 exactly the reverse. All tlie Hydrangeas root readily excepting 

 H. quercj/olia, which is stubborn in this respect. The ordi- 

 nary Ouince emits roots with almost any degree of moisture, 

 but cuttings of tlie Japan Ouince refuse to do so under the 

 most advantageous circumstances. 



Most common shrubs, as Weigelas, Spiraeas, Hydrangeas, 

 Lilacs, Deutzias, Tamarisks, Viljurnums, etc., are best 

 propagated by soft-wood cuttings in midsummer, care being 

 taken to secure the wood as soon as it begins to liarden. This 

 is the critical period, and on its observance depends success 

 or failure. Cuttings 3 to 4 inches long, with two or tln^ee cur- 

 tailed leaves at the summit and without any regard to a bud 

 at the base, should be placed in shallow boxes filled with 

 firmly pounded sand. A perfectly close, warm atmosphere, 

 with an abundance of moisture and shade, will cause roots to 

 form in a short time, when they may be gradually inured to the 

 outside air. They will keep in the boxes until the succeeding 

 spring if protecteil in cold frames. 



The Japanese Snowball, ]'iburnuiii pUcatuin. from the pecu- 

 liar nature of its wood, requires a long time to root, and 

 sliould never be hurried nor deluged with water. The newly 

 rooted plants must be potted singly as soon as possible, and 

 permitted to remain in the house until autumn, when they, too, 

 may be wintered in cold frames. Soft-wood cuttings taken 

 from forced plants in winter root more quickly than those 

 grown in the open air, but the young plants must remain in 

 pots for a year. The weaker short-jointed side shoots always 

 make the best cuttings, and will grow just as rapidly after root- 

 ing as those struck from vigorous leading branches. 



Any shrub having underground stoloniferous branches, 

 which are, of course, supjilied with buds, should be increased 

 by root cuttings, especially where other cuttings are ditticult to 

 strike. The Japan Ouince, Oak-leaved Hydrangea, Spirtca 

 opulifolia, Philadclpiius, Kubiis and Rlius m\: examples ot 

 this class. 



Our stock of most hardv shrubs is most cheaply increased 

 by hardwood cuttings, where an abundance of wood is obtain- 

 able, when the weather is not too dry. These may be cut 

 into lengths of eight or nine inches from last year's growth, 

 tied into bundles, and either Ijuried at once in the open groiuid, 

 or preserved in boxes of sand or moss during freezing weather. 

 At the earliest possible moment in spring, they should be i)ut 

 into rows, in a well prepared piece of ground, and be well 

 tramped aljout the base. Exochorda grandi flora, Caly- 

 cantliiis floridus, ^Esculus parinflora (Dwarf Horse-chestnut , 

 Euonyinus Europcus, Spircca callosa, Berberis, Mahonia, 

 Hypericum, and some others, seed freely, and thus afford an 

 easy and rapid mode r)f propagation. Seeds sown thinly in 

 the spring in shallow triimes, and covered lightly with Inrush, 

 will as a rule germinate quickly, and form nice little plants in 

 two or three years. 



Divisions of large clumps is mainly practiced on plants 

 difficult to propagate by cutfings, as Clethra, Itea, etc., or 

 where an old specimen has to be removed, and two or three 

 smaller plants are deemed preferable. Nothing is gaineil by 

 planting so-called extra-sized shrubs. In tlie time usually re- 

 quired for such to recover from the removal, young thrittv 

 plants equal them in size, and surpass them in vigor. The 

 long tough stems of most old plants are averse to forming 

 new branches, even when cut severely back, which is not the 

 case with robust young stock. 



Layering is generally a tedious process, and mav not always 

 be recommended when a large supply of shrubs is needed. 

 Time is money to the nurseryman, and a few young plants 

 gained by bending down the branches of some old specimen, 

 are really of little moment. .Still there are exceptions to tlie 

 rule. By setting out several old clumps of Magnolia, obovata, 

 Purple-leaved Berberry, or Purple-leaved Hazel, the number 

 of shoots increase with the age of the parent, and readily form 

 roots after being nicked and covered firmly with suitable 

 earth at the base. 



Grafting shrulis is restricted to the skilled gardener, and is 

 worse than useless in the hands of a novice. Although easily 

 performed in Europe, owing to certain climatic influences, 

 with us it requires great care and attention. Rliododendrons 

 and Azaleas are necessarily increased in this wav. To obtain 

 a supply of the newer and attractive varieties of Altha'a, some 

 of our cultivators resort to ordinary whip-grafting. In two 

 years' time, if not injured by the winter, the plants will be of 

 fine size, and suitalile for the market. 



Foreign gardeners ol.)tain a supply of the newer and rarer 

 varieties of Lilacs, and some other shrubs, bv grafting o\\ 

 small seedlings and covering them with a bell-glass, but in 

 this country it is seldom practiced, owing to the amount of 

 care necessary to malce it a success. J. Iloopes. 



Note on our Native Irises. 



TV/r ANY old world Irises have long been andstill are favorites 

 ^^^ in cultivation, but our own native species have received 

 little attention from horticulturists, and most of them are im- 

 perfectly known even to professed liotanists. As they are 

 among the handsomest of our wild Howers they deserve the 

 attention and study of cultivators and botanists alike. Of the 

 genus Iris there are over a hundred known species, of which 

 we have at least eighteen. These are equallv dix'ided between 

 the region east of the great plains and that west of the Rocky 

 Moiuitains. They may be groiqjed as follows : — 

 A. — Eastern and arctic species. 



(7. Dwarf ; the only American species, excepting /. hcxagona, 

 which have either crest or beartl. 



I. L.ACUSTRIS ; shores of Lakes Huron ami Michigan. 



I. CRisi'ATA ; of the Alleghany Mountains. 



I. VERN.\ ; wooded hills and pine liarreiis, from Kenti.icky 

 and \'irginia to Alabama and North Carolina. 



/'. The 1. tripctala group, having the inner petals very 

 short. 



I. 'IRII^ET.^I.A ; piiU'-liarreii swamps of the southern Atlantic 

 coast. 



I. HooKERI ; on the lower Saint Lawrence River. 



I. SETOSA ; a Siberian species found in Alaska. 

 c. The /. versicolor grouji. 



I. PRISMATICA (I. VirginicaJ: the slender narrow-leaved 

 species found maiiiK- near the Atlantic coast. 



I. HEXAGuNA ; a tall crested species of the swamps along 

 tlie southern Atlantic coast. 



I. CUPREA ; with dull yellow or lirownish flowers, in swamps 

 of the inner districts from Southern Illinois southward. 



1. VERSICOLOR ; the common broader-leaved northern spe- 

 cies, from Minnesota to the Atlantic and southward. This 

 species is at present made to include all the forms that cannot 

 be placed in the preceding. Among those forms (often tall 

 and large-fiowered) which occur in the Southern States, from 

 \'irginia westward and southward, there are some which are 

 ct.'rtainly distinct from the common Northern form, and per- 

 lia|is from each other. A comparison cif li\ing specimens is 

 necessary, however, to a determination of their ilistinctive dif- 

 te'rences. 



B. Western species (not readily grouped l)y characters). 



I. MlssouRlE.\Sls ; the onlv species of the interior, rang'ing' 

 from tfie Rocky Mountains to the Sierra Newada, and from 

 the British boundary to Arizona and Colorado. 



I. TENAX and I. TENL'lS; a sleiuler species of Oregon and 

 Washington Territorv. 



1. JIACROSU'HOX, I.' DOUGLASIAKA, and I. r;RACTE.A.TA ; of the 

 Coast Ranges ot Northern California and Southern Oregon; 

 often low and slender, the tlowers in the first twc) having ;i 

 long narrow tube. 



1. Hartweci; a Iciw narro\\-leaved species of the Northern 

 Sierra Nevada. 



I. LoxGlPF.rAl.A; a stout several-flowered species of the coast 

 from San Francisco to Monterey. 



Few of these Western species have been studied from the 

 li\-ing'plants and they cannot yet be said to be well known, for 

 in drieil and pressed' specimens not only the delicate colors 

 but many of the other characteristics of the flowers are lost 

 beyond recovery. But Irises are generally of easy cultivation, 

 adapting themselves readily to a diversity of treatment, and it 

 is much to be hoped tliat our enter|>rising florists and lovers 

 of Howers will try their skill vqion these our native beauties. 

 They can thus have the satisfaction not only of working a new 

 field which promises rich floral rewards, but also of giving- 

 essential aid to the botanist in determining more accurately 

 the characters and limits of the different species. It may be 

 added that Prof. Michel Foster, c)f Oxford, England, is making 



