HARDY SHRUBS 307 



much, there being nearly a dozen well defined varieties. In the 

 New England States it is not thoroughly at home as a tree, and this 

 condition is not to be met with until we get as far South as Mary- 

 land. As a pot grown plant C. japonica is very little inferior to 

 the costly Norfolk Island Pine (Araucaria excelsa) and it can be 

 gotten up in quantity at less than one-tenth the cost of the latter. 



Propagation. Cuttings root well if put in by the end of Oc- 

 tober, in a cool sand bed. They can be inserted large enough so that 

 by the middle of May following they will be ready to be shifted into 

 5-inch pots. Although plants raised from cuttings make the best 

 furnished plants for using in pots, seedlings, if grown on without a 

 check, furnish plants within a year from sowing, which will not look 

 too small in 5-inch pots. The seed should be gathered as soon as 

 ripe, which is usually about October 15, else there is danger of it 

 being lost through the cones bursting open, the seed falling out 

 through a little disturbance of the branches. For sowing, prepare 

 shallow boxes of firmly pressed soil — loam, leafmold and sand in 

 equal proportions will suit. Sow the seed, not too thickly, and 

 cover with half an inch of screened leaf soil and sand; put near the 

 glass in a temperate house. They wiU germinate the first half of 

 January, and can remain in the boxes, if not sown too thickly, 

 until the end of May. Pot off singly or three in a 3-inch pot at first, 

 using sandy soil. Keep in a growing temperature until they are 

 too large for small pots. The plants will stand in coldframes during 

 the Winter in most places without harm, other than a slightly yellow- 

 ish tinge to the leaves, but where they are wanted to make market- 

 able plants in as short a time as possible from the seedling stage, 

 they should be kept in a cool house where, if suitable rooting condi- 

 tions are provided, they will make rapid progress during the Win- 

 ter months. 



CYDONIA (Japanese Quince). These plants are among our 

 most desirable hardy shrubs, coming into bloom along with For- 

 sythia and Jasminum nudiflorum. This plant is now frequently 

 classed as a Chaenomeles. There is a form with variegated leaves 

 and pale flowers, also a pure white and double red. All varieties 

 are very susceptible to scale. 



Propagation. The common form will give good flowering 

 specimens from seed. The finer varieties may be grafted on seed- 

 lings of the type. Cuttings of the ripe wood taken in the Fall and 

 stored till Spring are rooted successfully. It is also raised from cut- 

 tings of the roots, from suckers and by layering. 



