^m&mx'% Jjlattthlj. , 231 



Sjt/mpJiora racemosa^ pink florets in Spring, white 

 berries in Autumn. 



It is unnecessary, here, to expatiate upon the 

 beauties and fragrance of flowering shrubbery, and 

 the elegance they impart to pleasure grounds, as 

 every body admires them, and every body who has 

 land can grow them. Upon almost every kind of 

 soil, situation and exposure, some of them will 

 flourish. Some are in bloom from March till Sep- 

 tember, and from September till December. Some 

 are adorned with ornamental fruits. The above list 

 will afi"ord a pleasure for nine months in the year ; 

 some of them make beautiful hedges, and can be 

 pr:.ned into almost every form. 



The following are flowering trees of great beauty: 

 Double-flowering Peaches, red, white and scarlet ; 

 MagnoUa, all species; Double-blooming Cherry; 

 Cercis Canadensis and siliquastrum ; Dogwood, 

 English Hawthorn, Scotch Laburnum, Kolreuteria 

 paniculata, Catalpa syringifolia, Halesia or Snow- 

 drop tree, Robinia, several species ; Paulownia 

 tree, Buddlea globosa, our comm:n Wild Cherry, 

 &c. &c. 



In rural life, shade in summer is necessary ; and 

 no kind of shade is so refreshing as that of Decidu- 

 ous trees. They not only screen us from the sun's 

 rays, but they also cool the atmosphere under their 

 branches ; and it is pleasant to sit or stand beneath 

 them on hot days. The trees also embellish the 

 grounds, and give them that noble appearance 

 which is universally admired upon new and bare 

 grounds. Many rapid growing trees should be set 

 out, to give an earlier shade, to last until the more 

 fancy species grow large enough. What an awful 

 calamity it would be if we had no trees ! 



The majority of hardy herbaceous plants are 

 hid under ground during winter, or wrapped up 

 in bulbs or tubers, evidently laying up a store of 

 goods which they will display in due time. When 

 spring arrives and summer comes, they issue forth 

 from their places of concealment and, spring messen- 

 gers of joy, they soon adorn the grounds with the 

 beauty of their blooms, and perfume the air with 

 their sweet odors. 



From the time that Snowdrops and Violets ap- 

 pear, in February, the various species and varieties 

 follow each other in regular order, and keep up a 

 constant succession of bloom till Tuberoses and 

 Chr3^santhemums are cut down with the frosts of 

 December. 



How pretty the pendulous blooms of Dicentra ! 

 how gorgeous those of Pseonia; how splendid those 

 of Iris, Larkspur, Monk's Hood and Campanula, of 

 all shades of shining blue ; how elegant all the 



Phloxes; how beautiful and fragrant the blooms of 

 Hyacinth, Narcissus, White Lily, Gilliflowers, Wall- 

 flowers, &c. See the endless varieties of Aster, 

 Chrysanthemums, Dahlias, Dianthus, &c.^ and also 

 those of Lil'ium, Tulip, Grladiolus, &c. Antirrhi- 

 num, Aquilegia and tuberous Iris have many im- 

 proved varieties, and so have many other genera, 

 too numerous to name here. 



STHAWBERRY GROWING. 



BY MR. J, THOMPSON, CLEVELAND, TENN. 



In the June No. of the MontMy you recommend 

 nurserymen to get 2-inch pots for the runners of 

 Strawberries to root in, which induces me to give 

 you my experience in that line. We commenced to 

 force Strawberries at Sudbrooke Hall, Lincolnshire, 

 about 1848, and it was my work to pot the plants. 

 We used about 2000 pots of different sizes, from 

 "32s" to "60s," large pots we used three plants to 

 a pot, and small pots one plant. We tried several 

 different plans ; among others the one you recom- 

 mend, — but we left it off on account of the labor of 

 watering. 



The plan that gave us m st satisfaction was: — 

 mix three parts rotten manure with one part loam : 

 take out the soil with a garden trowel large enough 

 to hold a 2-inch pot; fill the hole with the compost, 

 and peg the runner down on it ; and in a short time 

 it was a mass of roots, and could be taken up with 

 a trowel, and be as sure to grow as if in a pot, and, 

 I think, they could be sent to any part of the 

 country with as much certainty as if they had been 

 in pots. 



In former numbers you recommend the new Straw- 

 berry house for forcing strawberries. I think th-^re 

 will not be very many to adopt them, now that the 

 South is open to Northern enterprise. We are 

 planting largely out here, with the intention of sup- 

 plying the Northern markets ; and as wo get them 

 from 3 to 6 weeks earlier than you do, there will be 

 no necessity for forcing. 



[The plan of Mr. Thompson is an excellent one 

 where pots are not to hand. We omitted to say in 

 our article, however, that the small pots are to be 

 plunged in the ground level with the rim, and they 

 will need no watering, 



We should like to see the experiment fairly tried 

 between strawberries from the house and fruit ripen- 

 ed a long way off. We have expense from trans- 

 portation, and injuries from decay, against growth 

 on the spot and prime quality. It is not always the 

 mere sfraioherry which pa^s. When we were in 

 New York, last month, poor strawberries found no 



