345 



How to Repair Hollow 

 Trees. 



This is a subjecl worth more 

 iittciilion from the owiitrs or those' 

 who ha\e the care ol trees. It is 

 a matter for the small jrarden with 

 a lew trees as well as for where 

 the trees may be counted by hun- 

 dreds. Tli's causes or origin of 

 wounds or decay in trees is varied. 

 Branches brokeii oil by wind usual- 

 ly leave a stump, or it may splin- 

 ter oil a pitice of the larger limb 

 to which It was attached. In both 

 casi^s decay wiU most inevitably 

 follow, unless means are adopted 

 to check it. Snags or stumps 

 should be sawn oil close to the 

 remaining branch or to the trunk. 

 After sawing, the rough su'rface 

 caused by the teeth of the saw 

 should be gone over and pared with 

 a sharp kmie, to providei a better 

 surface for the tar. All wounds 

 made on trees, whether through acn 

 ciJent or the removal of branches 

 in the trainmg, pruning, or bal- 

 ancing of a tree, should be coated 

 with ordinary coal tar. 



The life of grand specimens is 

 sometimes considerably shortened 

 by disease, which, if checKed or 

 even cured, would have consider- 

 ably prolonged their existence. 

 Before filling up a hole or cavity 

 in a tree, the hollow must be tho- 

 roughly cleaned out. Damp, rotten 

 wood attacked by fungus, or soft, 

 crumbling wood must be first 

 cleaned out, removing if with a 

 chisel or small axe till only dry, 

 hard wood remains. One or two 

 dressings of carbolic acid solution 

 (a quarter of a pound of carbolic 

 acid and one gallon of methylated 

 spirits) should then be applied to 

 destroy, if possible, all traces of 

 disease. In a day or two a coat- 

 ing of tar should be applied and 

 allowed to dry. The nature and 

 extent of the hollow will decide the 

 method of filling it. Small holes 

 may be filled with a mixture of 

 cement and sand, or, if round and 

 a fair depth, a hard wood peg 

 coated with tar may be driven in 

 and cut off flush with the trunk. 

 Bricks and mortar, together with 

 concrete, are the best materials for 

 filling up large hollows. It is 

 sometimes necessary to build up a 

 face with bricks, and fiiU in behind 

 with concrete as the work pro- 

 ceeds. One tree with which we 

 had to deal was hollow on one 

 side, from the ground to a height 

 of 2a feet. In this tree eighty-four 

 courses of bricks were built up — 

 some three hundred bricks in all — 



with concrete behind and a facing 

 of cement o\cr the bricks. Another 

 tree took nearly a ton of cement, 

 but in this case the shell of the 

 tree hekl it together without the 

 aifl of many bricks. ' Before at- 

 tempting the work of idling up 

 large holes, make sure that the 

 tree is not dangerously weakened 

 through decay. With a little 

 practice the varying colours of the 

 wood can be obtained by lamp- 

 black, soot, or a little dry cement 

 being sprinkled on when wet. The 

 markings of the trunk can also 

 be imitated by a skilled workman. 

 It is necessary to watch the 

 wounds and " stopping'" occasion- 

 ally, tarring over the former every 

 two or three years till quite heal- 

 ed over. — Horticulture. 



♦ ■ 



Gathering and Picking 

 tor JLxhibition. 



It is best, if possible, to gather 

 the flowers quite early on the 

 mornmg of the exhibition — the ear- 

 lier the better, in fact ; but where 

 the exhibitor resides at a consiaer- 

 aiJe distance, they snould ue ga- 

 tUered the previous, so that they 

 can be clespatchad in good time. 

 Cut the blooms with long stems 

 and place in water at once, Keep- 

 ing them in a cool, darK room 

 till tney are pac^^-ed. It requires 

 some experience to select the most 

 suitable iiowers ; good form and 

 and colour are the primary points, 

 size coming next ; any blooms with 

 the slightest blemish should be re- 

 jected. Flowers which open quick- 

 ly, such as many of the " thin " 

 Roses, should be cut in the bud 

 stage, fuller-petalled ,Roses when 

 half open ; Sweet Peas are best 

 gathered when the two lower flow- 

 ers on the stem a're open ; Carna- 

 tions when the iiowers are almost 

 fully extended. It is advisaDle in 

 all cases to cut a few extra flow- 

 ers, to be held in rreserve for re- 

 placing any which are not in pro- 

 per condition for staging. 



For packing, shallow boxes, 

 should be employed, as the flowers 

 will travel much better if packed 

 in single lay era ; the boxes should 

 be just long enough, to ^comfortaibly 

 accommodate the flowers and 

 should be lined with some soft 

 non-absorbent material ; wood-wool 

 is the best material to use, but 

 fresh moss will also answer the 

 purpose ; over this place a layer 

 of white tissue paper and then lay 



the flowers in position, packing 

 them as closclv as |)()Ssible ; cover 

 with another layer of tissue paper 

 and fill in if necessary with a little 

 more parking material till, when 

 the lid is placed in positicm, the 

 contents of the box are quite firm 

 and unable to shift. \\ here the ex- 

 hibitor docs not atcompany his 

 blooms, as far as possible, iiowers 

 should be packed as they are to be 

 exbibitid, either singly or in Ijunch- 

 es, and the name of the variety 

 should be securely attached to 

 each. A card showing the section 

 and class for which thei exhibit is 

 intended should also be enclosed. 

 When an exhibitor is competing in 

 several classes, each exhibit should 

 be separately packed in light 

 wooden boxes, these being after- 

 wards placed in a sout case. — Ex- 

 change. 



♦ 



Asparagus Sprengeri. 



Though not as well known as 

 the beautiful A. plumosus, the above 

 IS both a handsome and useful 

 plant, in its early stages it often 

 forms a bushy low-growing plant, 

 and may be usefully em^^loyed in 

 the aoove ways, ^-^fter a time, 

 however, it commences to throw) 

 up very long stems of a slender 

 character and may then be staked 

 or tied to pillars or wires in tne 

 mannei of a chm'oer. Un the otner 

 hand the plant may be grown ip. a 

 basket or deep Seed pan, and sus- 

 pended as a basket plant. It looks 

 Sjjlenaiuly so treated, especially 

 when the stems are 5 or faft. long. 

 The so-called leaves are broader 

 and more feathery than those of 

 the better known A. plumosus. 



It is not fastidious in the matter 

 of soil, and when it requires a 

 lar^^er pot or basket a compost 

 should be made up, consisting of 

 two parts of go,:d fibrous loam 

 and one part of leaf mould and 

 sand. 



Large plants flower freely and 

 are then very p'retty when laden 

 with numerous clusters of small 

 white flowers, and again look hand- 

 som.e when covered with ripe 

 berries. 



. ^ . 



Mr. Henpeck: " Is vour beef ten- 

 der to-day?" Butcher: "Yes, 

 sir; it's as tender as a woman's 

 heart." Mr. Henpeck : " Then I'll 

 take a pound of sausages." 



