566 



CURREN7 GARDEN LORE. 



sons who think that the presence of moss has a pleasing 

 effect on a lawn, but however soft it may be to walk 

 upon, grass is preferable, and harmonizes better with the 



Fig. I. — NEGLECTtO 



Nursery Tree. 



Fig. 2.— Neglected Tree at 

 Bearing Age. 



well-kept walks and shrubbery borders. A dressing of 

 manure upon the surface of lawns is sometimes neces- 

 S3". but it should be applied according to quality — spar- 

 ingly if rich, plentifully if poor. It should be fine when 

 applied, so as not to impart a rough appearance to the 

 lawn. Apply this dressing in the autumn, as soon as 

 mowing is discontinued. A birch broom or a good rake, 

 used with caution, will soon pulverize the dressing, and 

 this accomplished, the roller can be applied with advan- 

 tage. Care should be taken that the surface dressing is 

 tree from weed-seeds. Soot may be applied with cau- 

 tion ; it does not contain weed-seeds, and assists in the 

 production of rich soft green verdure. — Gardeners'' 

 Magazijie. 



Feeding the Birds. — The wild raspberry-plants and 

 seedling cherry, apple and mulberry trees that grow 

 along the fences, at the edge of the forest, and on waste 

 land, have usually been planted by birds. If enough of 

 these trees were allowed to grow to supply the demands 

 ; , ^ of the feathered horticulturists, 



their levies on cultivated crops 

 would be much lighter. American 

 landowners would do well to let 

 these fruit-trees grow, or even to 

 plant them by the roadsides, as 

 they do in France and Germany, 

 The trees would not only regale the 

 weary traveler with shade and fruit, 

 but also add largely to the value 

 and beauty of the homesteads. 

 They would afford nesting places 

 for many of our valuable insectiv- 

 erous birds that are becoming rare 

 as our fields are growing treeless. 

 They would more fully supply the 

 F.G. 3.-YOUNG TREE ^^nts of fruit-eating birds, and 

 Well Pruned. save a corresponding amount of 

 better varieties of fruit in the or- 

 chard. After feeding the birds and the traveling public, 

 the farmer would get fruit enough for himself to pay for 



the labor of planting. Sweet cherry trees make excel- 

 lent shade-trees for pastures, and their value to the ani- 

 mals, aside from the above considerations, amply rewards 

 the farmer for the trouble of setting and protecting them 

 until grown. — Ohio Farmei-. 



Pruning Young Orchards. — A symmetrical form 

 can be preserved in fruit-trees by rubbing off needless 

 shoots when they are only an inch or two long, much 

 easier than by cutting them off with the ax or saw when 

 they have grown into large boughs. Fig. i represents a 

 nursery-tree which has had little attention as to form, 

 the new head being a mass of shoots which were allowed 

 to grow at random, and which, if still neglected, will 

 grow into a bearing tree with straggling and spreading 

 limbs, as shown in fig. 2. A skillful hand will bring the 

 heads of such young trees, by timely pruning, into a 

 much improved shape, but this pruning should never be 

 undertaken after the trees have commenced growing in 

 spring. A well-shaped and well-trained young tree is 

 represented by fig. 3. This good shape must be main- 

 tained and even , , /< 

 improved by rub- v/S' 

 bing off, early in ' 

 the season, all de- 

 forming and 

 needless shoots. 

 If this is done at 

 the right time 

 every year verj- 

 little work will be 

 required. Trees 

 thus properly 

 trained and man- 

 aged, instead of 

 presenting t h e 

 appearance 

 shown in fig. 2, 

 will more nearly 

 resemble fig. 4. 

 In thinning the shoots which constitute the head of the 

 tree, the course must vary with the variety and its pecu- 

 liar growth. For example, in the Rhode Island Green- 

 ing, the general tendency of the uppermost branches 

 should be more upward than in the head of a Baldwin, 

 and for the Northern Spy less upward than in the more 

 spreading varieties. Heavily loaded limbs, which are 

 borne down continuously for several weeks in summer, 

 become more or less permanently spreading or drooping, 

 and some of them irregular or straggling. The eye of 

 the owner will quickly perceive which shoots can be best 

 spared, and he will rub or cut them away. When trees 

 are quite young, the general tendency of the upward 

 shoots may be controlled in a great degree by leaving the 

 last bud or shoot on the outside of the tree for an erect 

 grower, and on the inside for one of spreading growth. — 

 Coii7itry Gentleman. 



Be Not Afraid to Thin. — The fruits especially bene- 

 fited by thinning are the plum, apple, pear, grape and 

 peach. The amount of thinning required is a matter of 



Flu. , 



-Well-Pruned Tree at 

 Bearing Age. 



