SHRUBS 



Never starve a shrub while it is small and 

 young, under the impression that, because it is 

 small, it doesn't make much difference how you 

 use it. It makes all the difference in the world. 

 Much of its future usefulness depends on the 

 treatment it receives at this period. What you 

 w^ant to do is to give it a good start. And after 

 it gets well started, keep it going steadily ahead. 

 Allow no grass or weeds to grow close to it and 

 force it to dispute with them for its share of 

 nutriment in the soil about its roots. 



It is a good plan to spread a bushel or more 

 of coarse litter about each shrub in fall. Not 

 because it needs protection in the sense that a 

 tender plant needs it, but because a mulch keeps 

 the frost from working harm at its roots, and 

 saves to the plant that amount of vital force 

 which it would be obliged to expend upon itself 

 if it w^ere left to take care of itself. For it is 

 true that even our hardiest plants suffer a good 

 deal in the fight with cold, though they may not 

 seem to be much injured by it. Mulch some of 

 them, and leave some of them without a mulch, 

 and notice the difference between the two when 

 spring comes. If you do this, I feel sure you 

 will give all of them the mulch-treatment every 

 season thereafter. 



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