192 
THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA 
membership nunibt-rs 1,704. These are typical of the 
best g-ardeners of Britain. 
ij: ^ :{; :}: 
Lately I read a report of the Western New York 
Horticultural Society in which dwarf fruit trees were 
well spoken of even by the commercial growers. The 
Agricultural Experiment Station at Geneva, N. Y., 
after trial, found it could not recommend dwarf fruit 
trees as a commercial proposition. While these trees 
do not bear over so long a period nor can they yield 
the crops that big orchard trees yield, nevertheless 
they come into bearing a few years earlier and they 
bear heavily, too. They are used by the orchardists 
as "fill-in" trees between the big standards, which are 
planted from 30 ft. to 40 ft. apart. 
^ ^: ;;; ^ 
One of the best little plants of the Easter period for 
dwelling room decoration is Erica cupressina. It is one 
of the dwarf, bushy, nest-growing heaths, easy to handle 
and jjropagate. The flowers are little pink papery bells 
like Lily of the \'alley bells, and they hang in bunches 
of from three to twelve at the ends of the tiny lateral 
branchlets or even at the very tip of the main shoots. 
The leaves are like those of the Chinese Juniper, short 
and linear, set closely like so many wee tails. They 
are of the liveliest pea green. Such a plant does not 
easilv catch a chill when carried from the florist's 
store home, and on a dining room table it may be en- 
joyed as a centerpiece for several weeks or more. 
Darwin Tulips are among the most beautiful and 
stately flowers of the whole year. I am crazy over 
them. What so cheap to buy, what so easy to grow, 
what more stately or gorgeous or beautiful as to 
color? They can even be naturalized in the grass 
with a large measure of success and they will come up 
for several seasons. The better way is to plant a cer- 
tain number of good new bulbs every year and so in- 
sure a supply of bloom. By the way, this reminds me 
that we may have to whistle for our supply of Dutch 
bulbs the coming Fall, unless the Dutchmen pluck up 
courage and send their ships over. This is too risky 
at present, and undoubtedly discretion is the better 
part to play these days. In a year or two we may 
have a stock of American-grown bulbs to draw from, 
if the scheme of the Department of Agriculture de- 
velops. There are also commercial firms busily- at 
work trying to raise a supply, and with great hope of 
final success. Among the choicest of the May-flower- 
ing Tulips the following take place : Margaret, Farn- 
combe Sanders, Psyche, Suzon, Salmon King, Pride 
of Haarlem. Harry J. \^eitch, Rev. Ewbank, La Reve, 
Baron de la Tonnaye, Clara Butt, Europa, Bouton 
d'Or, Louis XIV, John Ruskin, The Fawn, Ingles- 
combe Pink, Inglescombe Yellow, La IMerveille, Mrs. 
Moon, and La Tulipe Noire. 
^ ¥ "P T" 
How beautiful are the Pansies of early Spring. 
Some that I jilanted out in two beds almost before the 
frost was out of the groimd after Easter. For five or 
six weeks now they have been a mass of flowers, for 
thev were well into bloom and were large plants when 
they were put out from the frames, where they had 
wintered. In white and yellow and blue they are 
making as fine a showing as any beds I have had. 
.\bove them at this time are the Tulips, so the 
brilliance and beauty of the two kinds of flowers can 
be imagined. 
* * * * 
Why does not some firm or firms in all the cities 
manufacture portable wooden trellis or trelliage? I 
have seen a cheap, yet useful, expanding trellis of the 
usual diagonal design, made from laths, and which was 
veryr useful as a temporary screen affixed to stout up- 
rights. This sort of trellis could be bought in lengths 
of six ft. or less, which would expand to twice or 
thrice that length. Boddington sells a fancy, rather 
expensive trellis of good substantial quality, but this 
is dift'erent from the kind I mean. 
^ ^ ^ ^ 
There was a good paragraph in a newspaper article 
recently describing the cultivation of our friend, the 
humble but indispensable Potato. The reference 
was to the soil, and to the sod that has been turned 
over by the plow so freely in recent weeks. It was 
pointed out that this sod, until it decays and becomes 
disintegrated, is a detrimental factor in the soil, cut- 
ting off tlie flow of moisture from the lower or sub- 
soil to the upper soil. Moreover, for Potatoes the 
fresh sod is no good. They want a free, cool, moist 
where the roots can run readily to find plenty of food 
without "grubbing" for it. 
^ -^ ■^ :i\i: 
This is undoubtedly the greatest gardening year 
any of us have ever seen. Yes, and the amount of 
disappointment, most likely, will be proportionate. 
How many bushels of good seeds, too, will be lost, 
buried too deeply, sown into poorly worked, infertile 
or badly drained soil, or sown far too thickly. Even 
the most experienced gardeners find it hard to re- 
strain the heavy hand at sowing time, hence an over- 
abundance of seedlings and the extra work of thin- 
ning them out. And what endless leaflets and pam- 
phlets have appeared on the subject of vegetable 
growing and cropping. Never before have there been 
so many cropping plans. All you have to do is sow 
according to schedule. So so. Regarding vegeta- 
bles, however, there are two or three things that 
everybody in almost all gardens, even the smallest, 
should try to have and can easily have, namely several 
clum])s of Rhubarb, a bed of Asparagus, early Beets. 
Sweet Corn, Tomatoes and Onions. Some red Cab- 
bages for pickling are valuable. Peas and Beans need 
not take up much space and are also grown b}- most 
gardeners. Swiss Chard is often overlooked, yet 10 
ft. of it in a line is sufficient for a small family for a 
whole Summer. ^ t- * * 
It is not really too late even now to form a reserve 
garden — a place where one can go to for cut flowers 
and take as much as one likes without the feeling that 
one has in cutting bloom from the borders that are 
primarily intended for display. A selection of hardy 
flowers including Moon Daisies, Asters, Sunflowers, 
Rudbeckias, Dahlias, and other vigorous things are 
among the best, while of annuals there are Salpiglos- 
sis. Cosmos, Nigella, Gypsophila, Mignonette, Corn- 
flowers, Hunnemannia and quite a variety of other 
excellent subjects. The latter plant is one of the gems 
among annuals. Sow it in well-prepared soil out of 
doors where it is to bloom. Thin the seedlings to 4 
in. apart. The sn\\-ing may be done this month or 
early in June. * * * * 
Speaking of annuals, brings to mind the fact that a 
number of perennials can be sown indoors early in 
gentle vvarmth and be got into flower the same year. 
Delphinium Belladonna is one ; Aquilegias is another ; 
some of the perennial Pinks, too, and Coreopsis gran- 
diflora, to mention but these. From outdoor sowings 
of almost any of the truely hardy flowers in Septem- 
ber one can raise a liberal stock of plants for setting 
out in the Spring. 
