OcToBER, 1906 
A yew cutting with the lower leaves nearly removed. 
Use a Knife with a razor-like edge 
of leaves is put below the surface of the 
sand. 
MUST HAVE A GREENHOUSE 
A low-roofed greenhouse, where an even, 
cool temperature, from forty to forty-five de- 
grees can be maintained, is important. We 
board up the front of the benches, and the fire 
heat, when there is any, is confined beneath 
the benches, so that a cool temperature is 
easily maintained overhead. The cuttings 
seldom require heavy watering, but frequent 
syringings are necessary. For six weeks or 
two months the cuttings are partly shaded 
from direct sunshine. Some growers place 
lath sun shades—the laths about one and a 
half inches apart—on the roof. We use mus- 
lin covered frames, which are held in place on 
the roof inside by cleats. On dull days the 
screens are removed. 
In twenty to twenty-five days most of the 
cuttings will show signs of callusing, that is, 
_ the inner bark at the base of the cutting will 
granulate and swell and cover the whole base 
with a new tissue, the process being complete 
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
in from two to three months. When that 
takes place the temperature can be raised, 
and the screens gradually removed to en- 
courage the spreading of roots. 
HOT SAND FOR ‘‘DAMPING OFF”’ 
If too much dampness is allowed in the 
house, from a lack of proper circulation of 
air, the dreaded “damping off’? fungus will 
make its appearance. I find the best remedy 
is sand baked over a fire until it is almost 
hot, and spread over the areas where the 
mould is appearing. It will almost invari- 
ably check the disease. 
TIME FOR ROOTING 
By the month of April a large number of the 
cuttings will have rooted, particularly the 
arborvites and the common juniper. It is 
surprising though, how long a time some 
evergreens will remain with a healthy callus 
and no roots. I have seen the cuttings of 
Nootka Sound and Lawson’s cypresses re- 
main in this condition for one year without 
rooting, and sometimes a number of them 
do not root at all! When an evergreen forms 
a callus, it is not evidence that it will root. 
About the end of April the boxes can be re- 
moved from the greenhouse and placed in 
coldframes, with sashes over them, and for a 
The whole length of the cleaned stem is pushed in- 
to the sand, and the cuttings are pacKed as closely as 
possible to callus and root 
131 
Note the heel of old wood 
at the base 
A cutting ready for the flat. 
short time a little shade; gradually harden 
them off. 
Some evergreens that root easily, like many 
varieties of the arborvites, can be taken out 
of the boxes and placed in beds six feet wide, 
the rows ten inches apart, and five or six 
inches between the plants. Some growers 
however put them thickly in the nursery rows 
at once, using a horse-cultivator between the 
rows, and transplanting the second year. 
The Canadian and most of the other yews, 
a number of junipers, and the Japanese retin- 
isporas root slowly, so it is best to keep them 
in the boxes in a shaded position throughout 
thesummer. We keep them in a sunny posi- 
tion with lath shades over them. Close atten- 
tion must be given to watering. Late in the 
fall or early winter I put the boxes in sunken 
coldframes, and give a light cover of leaves; 
the following spring they are planted out in 
the. nursery. The frames require to be 
closely watched during the winter for mice. 
If they gain entrance to the frames, and are 
left undisturbed, they will seriously mutilate 
the evergreens. 
Bulbs that Bloom Outdoors in March—By Thomas McAdam, *% 
A DOZEN FAVORITES THAT WILL FLOWER IN THE NORTH OUTDOORS IN MARCH WITHOUT ANY PROTEC- 
TION OTHER THAN A WINTER COVERING OF LEAVES OR LITTER—THE DAINTIEST MESSENGERS OF SPRING 
HERE is no denying that for people who 
want their money’s worth, the best 
spring blooming bulbs are tulips, daffodils, 
and hyacinths, simply because they have the 
largest flowers. One admires and even loves 
these showy flowers of April and May, but 
do they ever take hold of one’s heart, like the 
baby fingers of the snowdrop—that sweet 
emblem of purity which is the first frail 
flower to escape the clutch of winter? Or the 
azure scilla springing up amid the first grass, 
to remind us of the new life and blueness in 
the sky? Or the gay, childlike crocuses play- 
ing in the lawn—the first unmistakable smile 
of awakening spring? 
There are about a dozen of these mes- 
sengers of spring that can ordinarily be 
counted on for March flowers in the North. 
The first of them, in the language of Maeter- 
linck, are “frail and chilly, but bright-faced 
as a bold idea.”’ They have sacrificed much 
for earliness—size, fragrance and variety in 
color, but their delicate grace and uncon- 
querable hardiness strikes us all with fresh 
admiration every year. Who taught these 
fragile blossoms to brave the snow? How 
have they managed to survive the long, grim 
process of evolution? One fancies that they 
must be as dear to Nature’s heart as to our 
own. Is not this peculiar combination of 
child-like helplessness and immortal courage 
the secret of their universal appeal ? 
The loveliest snowdrops I ever knew still 
grow in a deserted village in Michigan that 
bears the high-sounding name of Gibraltar. 
The blessed memory of the old ship-builder 
who once supported there a flourishing com- 
munity is kept green by the trees that arch 
protectingly over the staunch old house, and 
by the countless thousands of snowdrops 
that carpet the ground beneath them. Every 
five years the gracious housewife used to dig 
up and divide her snowdrops (as everyone 
should), but for twenty years now they have 
multiplied until the bulbs touch one another. 
Every member of that household who has 
gone forth to found a new family has rever- 
ently transported, with his Lares and Penates, 
some of the bulbs, so rich in home asso- 
ciation. It is just such a sacred, intimate 
spot in which everyone should plant snow- 
