The Garden Magazine, September, 1921 



47 



order to hold them that length of time, as they not only ripen more 

 slowlv, but are thus protected from the ravages of birds. Robins in 

 particular seem to know a good thing when they see it, and go after 

 this variety in preference to all others. — A. A. Knoch, York, Pa. 



Native Plants for Landscape Use 



To the Editor oj The Garden Magazine: 



POSSIBLY the following extract from a recently received letter may 

 interest your readers, or at any rate those who care for our native 

 plant material and believe in its wider use: 



Looking over a copy of The Garden Magazine I was very much interested 

 by your article on the Crataegus. Though I am now engaged in the forestry 

 and lumber manufacturing industry in Florida, I was born in auld Scotia where 

 the Hawthorn blooms in May; and one never loses one's first love completely! 

 For more than twenty years 1 have pioneered in this lovely state as landscape 

 gardener and consulting horticulturist and have continually insisted on the use 

 of the native plants wherever possible. What a wealth of beauty and color we 

 have here; though to many people it is only " Pine trees and gray Moss" and they 

 are afraid of the little paths that lead to the wonder spots — afraid of the snakes 

 that do not live here and the alligators that are now seen only in park fountains. 

 There is a wonderful future for development along park and botanical garden 

 lines in this part of the state, as we can grow almost all the tropical stuff safely, 

 and much of the native flora is well worth preserving and developing for garden 

 use. 



Is not Mr. Allan's suggestion worth a serious thought or two? We 

 are so prone to over-rate the exotic and under-rate the familiar. — 

 John Dunbar, Ass. Supt. of Parks, Rochester, N. Y. 



Carbide Gas for Greenfly 



To the Editor of The Garden Magazine: 



WHEN Rose bushes are badly infected with aphides there is no 

 better way of getting rid of the trouble than by the employment 

 of carbide gas. Small bags of muslin or any thin material are made. 

 Into each of these a lump of the carbide used for cycle lamps is placed. 

 One or more of the bags are tied on to the bushes. It is best to put 

 these into place when a shower of rain is likely. As soon as the carbide 

 is made damp the gas is generated and the aphides fall from the bushes 

 in showers. Within the present writer's experience there is no better 

 way of getting rid of greenfly. In one night fifty Rose bushes under 

 observation were entirely cleared of the pest. If, at a later date, the 

 aphides re-appear it is only needful to repeat the process. — S. Leonard 

 Bastin, Bournemouth, Eng. 



Hedges Clipped by Machinery 



To the Editor of The Garden Magazine: 



AN INTERESTING application of a gasoline engine to save labor 

 on country estates and large suburban homes, was recently de- 

 monstrated by Waldemar Biker, of St. Louis County, Missouri. The 



BLUEBELL OR VIRGINIAN COWSLIP 



Familiar through a wide range of territory the Blue- 

 bell (Mertensia virginica) lends itself readily to natu- 

 ralistic planting wherever there is sufficient moisture 



AN ILLINOIS GRAPE ARBOR 



A pleasant vista from the living porch at Wisteria Lodge, 

 home of Mr. L. H. Webb at Lombard, 111. The yearly 

 yield of grapes sometimes reaches a full ten bushels 



machine to which the motor was applied is designed to trim Privet 

 hedges, of which there are a great number throughout the residential 

 section of the county. 



The device consists of a long frame, set upon adjustable legs, which 

 fit over the hedge. The frame is leveled upon uneven ground by hand- 

 wheels and cogs fitted to the legs. The motor is attached to a set of 

 knives, working in a cutter-bar, resembling a small mowing machine. 

 Considerable power is obtained through a series of reduction gears 

 and the motor, taken from a two-cylinder motor cycle, operating at a 

 speed of 1,500 r. p.m., drives the knives at 300 strokes a minute. 



The motor was started and power was applied to the cutting mech- 

 anism by a clutch. As the knives began to cut the hedge the motor 

 and trimming apparatus moved forward by a gear wheel meshing into 

 a geared track. When it had reached the end of the track it was auto- 

 matically thrown out of gear and the motor stopped. Then the ma- 

 chine was moved along and the operation was repeated until the top 

 of the hedge was trimmed. 



The machine was taken back to the starting point; the track was 

 turned to the side of the hedge and the process was repeated. Then 

 the further side of the hedge was trimmed, completing the task in 

 three operations. 



Mr. Bilter, with the aid of a boy 14 years old, trimmed the hedge 

 which is 650 feet long, on all three sides, in three and a quarter hours. 



The young inventor states that it requires two and a half days to 

 trim the hedge by hand, using a set of hedge shears. The operation 

 of the machine was declared to be a success by the few who witnessed 

 the demonstration. Mr. Bilter has already started to build a more 

 substantial machine for further demonstration and observation. — 

 Frank E. Goodwin, Kirkwood, Mo. 



Giant Himalaya Blackberry 



To the Editor of The Garden Magazine: 



WILL some one tell me just what to do with the Giant Himalaya 

 Blackberry to make it bear its best and restrain its too vigorous 

 growth? My plants are on their second season, — placed six feet apart 

 on a six foot trellis of three wires. I have cut out the canes that bore 

 a few inferior berries, sour and small, due no doubt to the drought. The 

 new wood was cut off when it reached the top of the trellis to induce 

 branching. It was a success; but now the branches, too, want to grow 

 forever, and the shade is too great already with two more months of 

 growing weather! Is it a desirable variety, and worth so much care? 



