CURREN7 GARDEN LORE. 



375 



become common there. The tenacity of life in these 

 plants is something remarkable. Plants that are ten to 

 twelve feet high, and many years old, are as easily trans- 

 planted as seedlings. Indeed, in my practice with them 

 I do not even trouble to dig them up by the roots, but 

 simply chop them close to the ground, dig a hole as yiu 



The Spanish Dagger (Yucca aloifolia). 



would smk a post, stick the yucca mto it, and it grows 

 without dropping a leaf or even withering. Now that 

 IS what I call a very accommodating kind of a plant. 

 If you are arranging a landscape or garden scene, and 

 your yucca is too tall to give the desired effect, why, 

 all you have to do is to lay it on the ground, chop as 

 much as you desire off the end, and then plant it as 

 you want it. What a prize one of these yuccas, so 

 despised in the south, would be in a northern garden ; 

 and what excellent signs they would make if planted 

 in tubs and placed in front of a retail florist's store ! 

 They would be very convenient at times in large dec- 

 orations. Plants of any length, from six inches to 

 20 feet, could be shipped to any point safely. They 

 are not hardy even at St. Louis, Mo., but they could 

 be dug up in autumn, placed in a cellar or any place 

 above freezing-point, and brought out again in the 

 spring. As the plant grows in height the old leaves 

 turn brown, die and hang down the trunk, as shown 

 in the illustration. This old foliage can be easily 

 stripped off if you will wear strong gloves to protect 

 your hands against the strong, hard, sharp points of 

 the leaves. This operation exposes the bark of the plant, 

 which is a reddish brown, and when freshly stripped it 

 presents a beautiful mottled appearance. This, however, 

 soon fades to one color when exposed to the weather. 



In the month of June this yucca be<irs a beautiful spike 

 of white, bell-shaped, pendulous flowers, one foot to 

 eighteen inches high, exceedingly pretty, but having a 

 somewhat sickly odor. This flower retains its beauty 

 for fully two weeks. — The U'oodsimui. 



Fruit-Trecs in Pots. — Apple and pear trees in pots 

 cannot fail to be widely popular, the apple under glass 

 being very remarkable for quality, size and appearance. 

 The cultivation of pear trees in pots is singularly simple. 

 The trees should be on the quince stock, grown as the 

 engraving indicates. They can be placed m a glass shed 

 at very close quarters until all danger from frost is past, 

 when they should be plunged in an outdoor border pre- 

 pared for them, over the rim of the pot, so that the roots 

 may ultimately pass into the border. Pots perforated 

 under the rim are preferable. The change which has 

 takan place in the opinions held formerly about the cul- 

 tivation of fruit trees i.t pots is curiously indicated by the 

 fact that at one of the metropolitan shows, fruit grown m 

 orchard-houses is not allowed to enter mto competition 

 with the ordmary classes. — / /u- (,itrrf( k. 



Apple and Pear Trees in yui> 



The Principles of Fruit-Evaporation. — Absolute 

 esfentials for rapid and uniform evaporation of fruit 

 are ; first, the greatest degree of heat possible without 

 scorching and baking ; second, a free, rapid and un- 

 obstructed current of dry air passing constantly and uni- 



