TASTE AND TACT IN ARRANGING HOME AND OTHER GROUNDS. 327 



varieties have different habits which it is well to know. 

 I have found the light-colored sorts to be nearly all tall 

 growers. R. album c/cffaiis is an exceptionally tall- 

 growing sort, yet it does not become lanky unless badly 

 treated. A', roseum eleffa)is is of rather dwarf habit 



Some plants that may be used with good effect among 

 masses of rhododendrons are Acer folymorpluim xitn- 

 guincum, Spircca Van Houttei, S. lanccolata . Thuja 

 occidcntalis atirea, Retinospora sgtiarrosa , R. plu- 

 mosa aiirca, R. fiUffra, R. obtusa nana and R. 

 ericoidcs. These plants may be used as a background 

 for large masses of rhododendrons, the tallest sizes of 

 the latter being planted next to them. Each variety and 

 species should be planted so as to retain its own indi- 

 viduality, and yet all should so mingle and blend as to 

 form a harmonious group. 



Most writers advise planting rhododendrons in partial 

 shade, but my experience has led me to believe that if the 

 rhododendron is properly planted at first, well cared for 

 during the growing season and protected from cold north 

 winds during winter, it is better to. give it the full benefit 

 of sunlight. In May, 1888, I planted three hundred 

 plants of rhododendrons for P. I.orillard, sr., at his resi- 

 dence. Tuxedo Park, N. Y. They included the follow- 

 ing varieties : Rhododendron album < li\i;(tns, A\ Rvcr- 

 estianum, Charles Dickens, R. Blanch ia n 11 m , A', album 

 grandiflorum, R. purpurcuin clcg<uis, R. purpurcum 

 crispum, R. roscum clcgans and R. roscum supcrbnm. 



I prepared the soil for the plants by forking-in about 

 four inches of equal parts of leaf-mold and well-rotted 

 stable manure. Where I planted them a considerable 

 distance apart, I simply dug a fair-sized hole for each 

 plant and mixed the compost with the soil that was filled 

 into the hole again. They were well watered at the 



time of planting, and the roots have since been kept well 

 worked, a mulching of manure or leaf-mold being ap- 

 plied in the spring and worked into the soil during the 

 season. In dry weather they have been given an abund- 

 ance of water each season. 



These rhododendrons were planted on a slope facing 

 the south, and have no shade of any kind. During the 

 month of June, 1888 (about one month after the plants 

 were set) the weather was excessively hot, the ther- 

 mometer registering 96°-g8° in the shade for several days 

 in succession. From the time they were planted until 

 the present time they have remained without shade or 

 shelter of any kind, with the exception of a barrier of 

 brush and leaves, built on the north and west sides 

 to protect from cold winds during winter. When set, 

 these plants ranged from one to two feet in height. To- 

 day they range from 18 inches to 5'/2 feet and are very 

 healthy and shapely. Many of them have at this time 

 from 30 to 60 flower-buds. During the past two bloom- 

 ing seasons they were one great mass of color and a 

 source of the greatest delight, both to my employer and 

 myself. As soon as the flowers were gone each year the 

 seed-vessels were taken off at once. 



The fact that these plants have borne the strongest 

 rays of summer and winter suns for nearly four years, 

 and the fact that I have seen large plants in fine condi- 

 tion when grown for years in full exposure to the sun, 

 leads me to conclude that the rhododendron is not 

 greatly benefited by shade ; that if given fair treatment 

 it will succeed better if planted in full exposure to the 

 sun's rays. Rhododendron maxiinum is the only ex- 

 ception to this rule ; it grows best when planted in con- 

 siderable shade. 



Dutchess Co., iV. I. L. Powell. 



TASTE AND TACT IN ARRANGING HOME AND OTHER 

 GROUNDS— XX. 



RFFECTS OF OUTSIDE APPKOPRI ATIO> 



'LANTING SMALL FARMS. 



I HE subject of our present 

 article is a reader's farm 

 of 21 acres, situated in 

 one of the hilly counties 

 of southwestern N e w 

 York. It occupies a pos- 

 ition near the top of a 

 large hill, at an altitude 

 of 400 feet above Lake 

 Erie, w h i c h body of 

 water is in sight from 

 one part of the grounds. 

 The farm is an excellent one for treatment in this 

 serial for several reasons It is considerably larger in 

 area than most of our subjects have been, and affords an 

 opportunity for showing how a small farm — and many of 

 our readers are interested in small farms — may be given 

 fine landscape effects, without impairing its utility or 



spending a great amount of money. "Outside appro- 

 priation" may be made a prime factor in the treatment 

 of this farm, and it is one too often overlooked by orna- 

 mental planters. 



By outside appropriation is meant the adaptation of 

 the planting within one's own domain to outside sur- 

 roundings and distant views, so that they shall contribute 

 to its beauty and seem to form a part of it. This makes 

 the home seem the center of the vicinity in which it is 

 located, and well-directed planting may seemingly am- 

 plify the grounds, include all beautiful views and shut 

 out al! unpleasant ones. 



The plans and sketches given for treatment of the 

 farm which forms our present subject are based upon a 

 careful study of the place, and were made in part upon 

 the grounds while the writer was visiting there. The 

 main features of the place, as considered from a land- 

 scape-gardening point of view, may be understood by a 



