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THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



October, 19 15 



is his watch word and he found out long ago that 

 the painting of wounds, even those made by the re- 

 moval of large branches, involved a wholly useless 

 expenditure of time and money. He takes off no 

 more large limbs than is necessary, but when they 

 are removed he simply makes a clean, smooth cut 

 close to the trunk and lets Nature do the rest. 



Mr. John Boddy, the city forester of Cleveland, 

 Ohio, is the man who originated the plan of using 

 a less rigid filling for tree cavities than cement as 

 commonly used, both in fruit and in shade trees. 

 Many difficulties were found to result from the use 

 of large cement fillings, even in the trunk, and these 

 difficulties increased when the cavities were in 

 swaying branches. When treating trees with 

 decaying openings in the trunk five or six parts 

 of sawdust are mixed with one part of asphaltum, 

 the latter being melted and the sawdust stirred in 

 until the proper consistency is obtained. The 

 cavities are filled while the liquid is still hot and no 

 separating material is needed as when cement is 

 used. When cavities in swaying branches are to 

 be filled, one part of asphaltum is used to three or 

 four of sawdust. 



The experiments of the Ohio station with this 

 method have been very satisfactory, it is reported. 

 It is recommended, though, that the decayed wood 

 in all cavities be removed before the filling is applied, 

 the cutting being deeper in shade than in fruit trees. 

 After that the interior surfaces may well be ren- 

 dered sterile by the use of kerosene, corrosive sub- 

 limate of something of that sort, although creosote 

 is not advised, because too penetrating. The 

 asphaltum used in this work is the same as is used 

 for filling crevices in street pavements and is shipped 

 in iron drums. It is not expensive and is easily 

 handled. 



Mass. E. I. Farrington. 



Using Autumn Leaves 



THE autumn air is hazy with the smoke of 

 burning leaves. Tons of fertilizer are 

 going up in smoke and ashes. Shall the 

 wise gardener burn the leaves at his disposal? If 

 not, to what practical uses can they be put? 



Leaves are drawn by trees from the richness of 

 the ground; in autumn, they fall to earth, to be 

 eventually returned as some form of plant fife. 

 This is one of Nature's great cycles. Nothing is 

 lost, unless it is wasted by man. Nothing is use- 

 less. It is always producing or being produced. 

 Burn leaves? Not if the gardener understands 

 the economy of Nature! 



(i) Leaves form good scratching litter for 

 chickens. They are clean and light. Collected 

 and packed in sacks, they should be kept under 

 shelter until they are needed. Everyone knows 

 how necessary it is for egg-producers to exercise 

 during the winter; and no litter for this purpose is 

 better or cheaper than leaves. It is an excellent 

 plan to underbed the roosts with leaves. These 

 may be turned several times during the winter; 

 and the resulting composite fertilizer will be found 

 highly effective on corn, squashes, 

 peppers, and the like. 



(2) Leaves make a clean, effective 

 covering for strawberry beds. In 

 fact, leaves are one of Nature's 

 winter blankets. Leaves may be 

 put over the bed to a depth of three 

 or four inches. In the early spring, 

 the leaf mulch above the rows should 

 be opened to permit the plants free 

 growth. The mulch should be left 

 on the bed, as it will keep the berries 

 clean, will suppress weeds, and will 

 conserve moisture. 



(3) Leaves make good bedding 

 for stock. They decompose readily, 

 and form the basis of a valuable 

 manure; it will not, like that which 

 is strawy, lift a fight soil and dry it 

 out. In the South, where wheat- 

 straw is not available, leaves and 

 pine-straw are used extensively for 

 bedding. A stable-lot is bedded to 

 a depth of several feet with leaves 

 and pine-trash. The resulting man- 

 ure when put on the land, brings 

 corn through a drought, makes cot- The China umbrella tree is a characteristic shade tree of the South and is not known elsewhere 



ton lusty and tall, and makes the potato crop a 

 pleasure to raise. 



(4) Leaves can be composted and used as a fine 

 potting soil, or as a mild fertilizer on crops which 

 require potash. Leaves will quickly resolve them- 

 selves into leaf -mold if buried; packing them tight 

 will accelerate their decay. An old hotbed makes 

 a convenient underground packing-place for leaves. 



(5) Leaves can be used as a mulch about growing 

 plants. It is safe to water plants in a dry time if 

 the watering is done through a mulch. Gathered 

 one autumn, by the following spring leaves are in 

 the proper condition of decay to render them ad- 

 mirable as a mulch. A forkful of such leaves, 

 placed about the roots of tomatoes, peppers, lima 

 beans, eggplants, melons, and the like will assist 

 in conserving the moisture essential to vigorous 

 plant growth. 



[Oak leaves must be excepted, of course.' — Ed.] 

 Pennsylvania. Archibald Rutlegde. 



Storing Dahlia Roots 



IN CARING for dahlia roots, or tubers, during 

 the winter I have always been remarkably 

 successful. The plants, being very tender, are 

 killed by the first frost, sometimes as early as 

 October 28. The same day I cut down the stalks 

 just below the surface of the ground and throw 

 a little dirt over the stump. As soon as the ground 

 begins to freeze, I cover the tubers to the depth of 

 about three inches with leaves or grass. Of course, 

 this would not be deep enough to protect them far- 

 ther north. The next spring I find the tubers as 

 fresh and plump as they were in the fall. 



I do not uncover them until I think that they are 

 beginning to sprout; then I take them up, separate 

 them and put them where they are to grow, one 

 and one only in a hill. Sometimes I let them alone 

 until the sprouts are large enough to transplant, 

 ■ then take them up and set them where they are to 

 grow. This I find much easier and safer than to 

 take up the tubers in the fall and pack them away 

 in dry sand. 



Nashville, Tenn. J. G. Cisco. 



A New Pine Insect, the Bud Moth 



THERE is a new bug in the country! It is the 

 European pine shoot moth. It works prin- 

 cipally in the buds, mining them out. In Europe 

 it has been found very destructive in nurseries and 

 young plantations of forest trees. Much work has 

 been done over there to hold it in check without 

 any real gain. So far it has been found in this 

 country in ten localities in six states (Pennsylvania, 

 New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, 

 and Massachusetts), but upon further investiga- 

 tion it will probably be found in other localities 

 in eastern and central states. So far, with one ex- 

 ception, it has been found on the European species 

 of pines. 



The adults are strikingly colored — orange-red — 

 and are three-quarters of an inch or more across. 

 The young are so effectively protected within the 



buds that there is no means of destroying them 

 except to cut out and destroy buds and shoots that 

 show injury. This should be done during the fall 

 and winter, while the larvae are yet in the dormant 

 buds. 



At the present time it seems to be more of a nur- 

 sery problem, and perhaps if each nurseryman will 

 eradicate it from his nursery promptly, the pest 

 can be controlled before it gets a foothold. 



Penna. Harold Clarke. 



Nasturtiums Indoors 



I EXPECT to have nasturtiums after frost this 

 year as I did last fall. When a killing frost 

 threatens I pull up by the roots whole plants of the 

 trailing kind (the longer the runners the better), 

 and put each plant in a jardiniere of water in the 

 fireplace. The first few days the leaves droop and 

 some of the biggest turn yellow, but the younger 

 leaves keep green. Even the tiniest flower buds 

 continue to grow and open the natural size. All 

 the flowers stand right up like so many soldiers. 



Through the summer I pick long branches of the 

 nasturtiums for the house and often they will grow 

 several inches before it is necessary to throw them 

 away. 



Miss Anna B. Moore. 



The Umbrella China Tree 



THE China tree (Melia azedarach), a common 

 shade tree in the Southern states, is the type 

 of a small family of plants to which the true 

 mahogany tree (Swietenia mahagoni) belongs. It has 

 been cultivated for more than two hundred years in 

 the Southern states and is now very abundant, espe- 

 cially in towns and cities. It is also widely grown in 

 the West Indies and in southern Europe. The con- 

 ditions in this country, from North Carolina south- 

 ward and westward, seem to be very well suited 

 to the China tree, because in all these regions it is 

 beyond the influence of severe frosts. As its name 

 implies, it is a native of China, but the variety, 

 Melia azedarach umbraculifera, which is said to 

 have originated in Texas about forty years ago, 

 has a habit and peculiar mode of growth not 

 possessed by the China tree proper. The ac- 

 companying illustration, made from a photo- 

 graph of a tree growing near Southern Pines, N. 

 C., exhibits in a striking manner the distinctive 

 features of this valuable shade tree. The common 

 China tree or pride of India as it is sometimes called 

 has an open crown, but the umbrella China tree 

 here illustrated has an exceedingly dense head; not 

 only is it one of the most beautiful, but also the 

 best of shade trees in the South. 



While it is not a tree of great proportions, seldom 

 attaining a height of more than forty feet, it grows 

 very fast even in poor soil and can easily be raised 

 from seed. This tree produces flowers in great 

 abundance every year. The large panicles of 

 fragrant, bluish-hlac colored blossoms, which appear 

 early in spring, together with the dark lustrous 

 green leaves, which are twice pin- 

 nate, make it an object of great 

 beauty. The wood is reddish brown 

 and often handsomely figured, so 

 that it can be made to resemble 

 mahogany and in some countries is 

 used for making furniture. 

 Washington, D. C. C. D. M. 



The Jack Pine 



THAT jack pine is admirably 

 suited for reforesting many of 

 the dry, sandy regions of the North 

 Central States is the conclusion of a 

 new publication of the Department 

 of Agriculture, Bulletin No. 212. 

 This tree, suffers only occasionally 

 from winter injury, stands drought 

 well, and is comparatively free from 

 a number of diseases which are com- 

 monly found on other coniferous 

 trees; it is however, sensitive to heat. 

 A fungous disease from which the 

 jack pine suffers in many localities 

 presents a somewhat serious pro- 

 blem. It attacks trees of all ages 



