XXVIII 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
March, 1912 
Some Sound Tree Advice 
a sapling to grow into a fine shapely 
tree like the one above. The owner 
of the house below believes in saplings 
and put his money into numerous small 
trees. The one above doesn’t. He 
bought one fine sturdy, well developed 
tree from Hicks’ nursery and at once 
that “just built” look was gone from the 
place and the residence was “tied to the 
grounds,” as the landscape architects 
say. It’s for you to decide which method 
of planting you will adopt; but in either 
case we have superior trees for you. 
Trees from 6 inches to 25 feet. And 
choice shrubs up to 6 feet high. Our 
I: takes twenty to twenty-five years for 
advice would be to buy both large and 
small trees and shrubs. Then you will 
get certain immediate results and also 
have the pleasure of seeing the smaller 
things develop from year to year. 
Whatever you do decide to do—send 
for our catalogs now and order your 
trees early—so we can ship them early, 
so they can be planted early, and so 
avoid the inevitable spring rush. 
Isaac Hicks & Son 
Westbury, Long Island 
with space in our catalog. 
only the best find place in our lists. 
BASSETT & WELLER 
20 Doe @er Oe @ oe ee Oee Ser Gor Gor er Gor Gr Gr Qe Gr Or Pr SOO GrOrg 
Eee er ee Tet Dee tet De eet Se Set De See ee Set ee Dee Sete Dee ee eee ee Pee 
ALL 
P UMPS kinps 
CYLINDERS, ETC. 
Hay Unloading Tools 
Barn Door Hangers 
‘Tale off gour Hat to The es 
BEST PUMP OW EARTH. ~~ 
Write for Circulars and Prices 
F. E. MYERS & BRO., Ashland, O. 
Ashland Pump and Hay Tool Works 
Catalpa, 
Orchard. 
' DAHLIAS that will grow ated blsniid 
From the most exclusive collection in America 
A new Dahlia must have decided merit—some quality above others in its class—to be honored 
The varieties listed have been thoroughly tested by comparison, and 
To get acquainted with you, we will send by express (charges to be paid by purchaser) 10 
large undivided field clumps for $1.00, with directions for dividing and planting. These clumps 
are equal to two or three of the small divided roots that are usually sent by mail. 
f Flowering Trees 
Require Little Space 
in the yard or on the lawn and are always the admira- 
tion of passers-by. 
Japan Cherry, Cornus, Crabs, Horse Chestnut, 
Judas, Koelreutaria, Magnolias Thorns, Tulip Trees, etc. 
These in connection w ith groups of Shrubbery, Roses, 
Grasses and Hardy Herbaceous Plants make a beautiful 
lawn and attractive, homelike surroundings. 
be had at a nominal cost within the reach of everyone. 
We carry everything for the Garden, Lawn, Park and 
58 years of fair dealing has putus to the front. 
1,200 acres, 47 greenhouses. 
Write now for General Catalog No, 2, 
and Ornamental Tree Catalog No. 1, 112 pages. 
guarantee satisfaction. 
The Storrs & Harrison Company 
Catalog free. 
Hammonton, N. J. 
Serene cecomee recone cacorenbueceoeresenees 
The highest attain- 
Handel Lamp S ment in artistic and 
practical illumination, 
Sold by leading jewelers and lighting- Ps dealers, 
Write for our Booklet, ‘Suggestions for Good Lighting.” 
The Handel Company 
393 East Main Street Meriden, Conn. 
New York Showrooms: 64 Murray Street 
Among the best are the Aralias, Ash, 
They can 
Two Big Books Sent FREE 
168 pages; or for Fruit 
Both free. We 
Box 791, Painesville, Ohio 
clear space on one side or the other allows 
the planter to do better and quicker work, 
particularly as to the proper depth of setting 
the plants. 
The distance from the lower branches to 
the bottom of the roots in heavy plants is 
twelve inches and if the plants are set with 
the roots resting on the bottom of a six- 
teen-inch trench the branches will be coy- 
ered with four inches of soil when the 
trench is refilled. It is a mistake to set the 
plants so high that the bases of all the 
branches are ‘above ground. Plant them so 
that the point of juncture between the root 
stem and the branches is from four to six 
inches below the surface of the ground. 
This insures a thick hedge at the bottom 
where denseness is most needed. 
One often sees a hedge planted on the top 
of a terrace and so close to the line of slope 
that it appears on the point of toppling over. 
If you think it necessary to plant a hedge on 
the top of an embankment, dig the trench 
four or five feet back from the edge so as 
to give to the hedge an appearance of se- 
curity. Not only will it look better planted 
so, but the plants will thrive better, as all 
fertilizer which may be supplied from time 
to time will reach the roots and not be lost 
by washing down the embankment. 
Whether in double or single row, plant 
from six to nine inches apart for a dense 
hedge. Two men, planter and assistant, 
should set 500 plants in a day, the planter 
holding the plants and pressing the soil into 
place about the roots. If planting is done 
in the Spring, cut the tops to within four 
to six inches of the ground, immediately 
after planting. If work is done in the Fall, 
defer the trimming to the following Spring. 
Trim three or four times in a season, each 
trimming being carried a little higher than 
the preceding one. After Fall planting, cover 
the ground about the hedge with stable bed- 
ding or with rich manure. The plants will 
get on without this mulch, but in the Spring 
when it is spaded in, the growth will be the 
better for the added nourishment. 
Most people, I find, are not impressed by 
the theory upon which is based the pyra- 
midal method of hedge trimming. They 
want square hedges, flat on top and with 
vertical sides. In some nurseries you may 
find demonstration hedges showing the ad- 
vantages of the pyramidal form. On the 
other hand, I have seen, as doubtless has the 
reader, perfect hedges trimmed on square 
lines, thus rather discrediting the theory, so 
far at least as privets are concerned. 
Although the privet stands the hardest 
sort of treatment one must not expect much 
of it when planted in line with street trees. 
The reason is obvious, too much shade and 
too many tree roots to steal away the nour- 
ishment which might otherwise go to the 
roots of the hedge plants. Do not therefore 
waste money on a hedge in such a position, 
for it will always look scraggy in spots. 
What size of plants is it best to purchase? 
This depends in part upon the amount one 
is willing to spend and also upon the quick- 
ness of results looked for. The cost of 
cutting is nominal and the time before you 
have a hedge is correspondingly long. You 
may buy two to three-foot plants and pay 
$3.50 a hundred for them, or three to four- 
foot extra heavy at $5.50 a hundred. The 
additional cost, however, for the larger 
plants will not add appreciably to the cost 
of the hedge, for where one will use one 
hundred smaller plants there will be needed 
but sixty-six of the larger size and the re- 
sults obtainable with the plants on account 
of heavy roots and bushy tops are so supe- 
rior that one would not hesitate about a 
choice could the two hedges be compared 
side by side. 
