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JOURNAL OS EHZ ?.: yal hoetk itltueal society. 



Junipers winter well after hot dry summers, but a few, including 

 the beautiful J. drupacea, must have shelter from the north. 

 They like a deep loamy soil which does not readily dry out, 

 otherwise red spider mars their beauty. Such gems as the 

 Libocedri of Chili, Arthrotaxis, and Callitris may be planted in 

 warm nooks and comers in exceptional localities. A group of 

 the hardy North American or European Conifers forms the most 

 complete shelter, but these should not be used to the extent of 

 coddling, otherwise early spring growth will lead to fatal results. 

 Deciduous trees in some cases are preferable to Conifers, espe- 

 cially the Hornbeam and Beech, which hold their leaves late in 

 the autumn, and do not force early spring growth. In open park 

 planting, how often do we see miserable wind-whipped trees strug- 

 gling for life, the planter having overlooked the fact that union is 

 strength — that a choice specimen surrounded by a dozen hardy 

 Firs will make good progress ; whilst left without shelter it will 

 become thinner and smaller, and eventually die. The preceding 

 remarks apply to single specimens, where a few large nurses, not 

 too near, may make all the difference between success and failure. 

 But there is yet another mode cf producing shelter from biting 

 wind, and one which I have practised with great success. 

 Imagine a wind-swept piece of upland, upon which a selection of 

 choice Conifers is to be planted. Independently of the painful 

 impression which the dotting system produces, trees intended 

 to grow into specimens must be planted too far apart to be of the 

 slightest use to each other — at least for a few years. Shelter 

 of some kind, then, suitable for covering the whole of the 

 ground and adapted for removal piecemeal, must be found. 

 What low-growing shrub more suitable or beautiful than the 

 common gorse ? If planted thinly, and allowed a two years' 

 start , the choicest trees may be dropped in at pleasure, when the 

 gorse, without making large gaps, may be cut away bit by bit as 

 they require room . For absorbing superfluous moisture from the 

 soil or the atmosphere upon rather flat tracts near large sheets 

 of water, the gorse forms the cheapest, and to my mind, the most 

 beautiful shelter yet introduced. 



Top Dressi . — Next to thorough trenching or loosening of 

 the sub- soil and good planting stands top-dressing, an operation 

 sadly neglected in the management of Conifers, especially in 

 dressed grounds. When first planted they make rapid progress, 



