The Garden Magazine, May, 1922 



203 



cylindrical and no trace can be seen on the surface of the two separate 

 branches that united to make one. This particular graft must have 

 occurred at a time when the tips of the two branches came into con- 

 tinued and close contact, and after the union the subsequent growth ap- 

 pears to have continued quite as for a single terminal bud. 



It is very probable that man first obtained the idea of the possibility 

 of making grafts and using them in horticulture from observing natural 

 grafts similar to the one here illustrated. At any rate such grafts are 

 occasionally to be found; and graftage along much the same methods as 

 are now employed is an old art practised possibly before the time of 

 written history. 



It is to be noted that, in one particular at least, nature's method 

 is somewhat more complete than ■ man's. The method of artificial 

 grafting most closely resembling the natural graft is that of inarch- 

 ing; but in this the graft is made below the growing tips. Two stems, 

 each attached to its own root system, are bound together with cut 

 surfaces of each in close contact, during which the two are in the position 

 of the two sides of the letter K or the letter X. After the graft is ac- 

 complished the branch of one is cut below and that of the other above 

 the union and thus the top of one plant is transferred to the root sys- 

 tem of the other. But in the natural graft, the rule is that the two 

 branches which are first separate become merged into one. While man 



WHEN NATURE DOES HER OWN GRAFTING 



Two Oaks in a natural grove on the estate of Mr. Henry 

 Hunter near Pleasantville, Westchester County, N. Y., 

 that have grown together in this extraordinary fashion 

 which surpasses man's most ingenious methods of grafting 



has developed many ingenious methods of grafting and budding which 

 it is not possible for nature unaided to accomplish, he has not success- 

 fully duplicated nature's art of uniting two growing buds into one. — 

 A. B. Stout, New York Botanical Garden. 



The Heart of My Garden 



To the Editors of The Garden Magazine: 



IF THE heart of the home is the fireplace surely that of the garden is 

 to be found in the fountain, pool, bird-bath, or wherever water trick- 

 les, falls, or lies in basins. It is to this magnet we are drawn when we 

 run out for a breathless moment on fine spring mornings to see whether 

 the Jonquils are up. 



As may be seen in the photograph, a formal garden twenty feet deep 

 and ninety feet long was laid out at the very boundary line of the 

 grounds. This was enclosed with a brick wall back of which, on the 

 alley side, Lombardy Poplars had been planted some years ago to shut 

 out an offending "offscape." A long curving walk runs the length of 

 the garden, broadening in the centre to a tiny "plaza" where the stone 

 benches, harmonizing in tone and design with the fountain-head, are 



ANNUALS FOR AN EMERGENCY 



Though walls and walks were not finished until late spring yet borders and 

 beds were soon a riot of Snapdragons, Zinnias, White Tobacco, Calendulas, 

 Mignonette, Sweet Alyssum, etc., which bloomed steadfastly until time 

 to make way for more permanent planting in the fall. Garden of Mrs. 

 Walter King Sharpe, Chambersburg, Pa. (See accompanying text) 



placed. Narrow walks bisect the beds on either side and make a 

 balanced planting possible. 



For an emergency planting last summer (the walks were not laid nor 

 the beds staked out until May) special dependence was placed upon 

 annuals, although shrubs and vines were planted against the wall, Box 

 trees were disposed at strategic points for emphasis, and such perman- 

 ent material as Hardy Phlox and Tea Roses went into their appointed 

 nooks. Calendulas and Mignonette were used around the pool, and 

 in the beds White Zinnias, White Tobacco, Snapdragons in pink and 

 maroon, Larkspur, and on the edges Sweet Alyssum and Swan River 

 Daisy. 



A carefully planned placing of permanent stock was carried out 

 last fall. This included planting among the shrubbery in the curved 

 border along the walls single varieties of Peonies as Albiflora, the Moor, 

 and Apple Blossom; Mullein raised from seed obtained from Newry, 

 Ireland; Erigeron, Foxglove, Hemerocallis kwanso flore pleno and 

 Veronica spicata; and on the margin Aubretias in lavender and purple 

 to accompany the Daffodils which lie thickly below. 



The two central beds on either side of the little "plaza", which must 

 be tidy and presentable at all times, are to be filled with pink Baby 

 Rambler Roses and edged with Nepeta Mussini. The two farthest 

 beds are a well balanced composition (I almost said harmony) of 

 Perry's Delphinium and Yellow Foxglove, white and claret-colored 

 Columbine, rose and pink Phlox, Shasta Daisies, Michaelmas Daisies 

 with Dianthus, Iberis, Alyssum saxatile, and Aubretias along the 

 edges. — Helen M. Sharpe, Chambersburg, Pa. 



Origin of Red Cross Dahlia 



To the Editors of The Garden Magazine: 



THROUGH an oversight, the Dahlia Red Cross was listed in our 

 March announcement as a Holland introduction. We very much 

 regret this error and would like to state that it was originated in New 

 Jersey by Mr. John Anderson. — Van Bourgondien Bros. L. I. 



