THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA 
323 
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From Here, There and Everywhere \ 
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ART OF The cultivation of plants for the sake of 
FLORICULTURE f beir beautiful flowers, and other attractions, 
has from the earliest ages received attention 
wherever civilization has made some progress. Floriculture as an 
art. however, is so susceptible to influence of climate, soil, heat, 
cold, and other conditions, that notwithstanding it may claim 
antiquity, anything like general progress in all lands lias been im- 
peded by reason of this very fact. Whatever knowledge may have 
been gained in the art during one age in one country, when applied 
to another, is found to be practically useful only to the extent in 
which it finds a state of adaptability in the other. Hence it may 
be said that in each nation the practice of floriculture is peculiar 
and different from that of every other nation. 
The cultivation of plants and (lowers has only of late years le- 
eched any great degree of attention, and since a general mani- 
festation of interest in floriculture by the masses of people has been 
apparently, but from a perceptible awakening about that time has 
been a continual and rapid increase until now. when we End nearly 
everybody devoting more or less attention h the culture of flowers. 
The florists, like the new beginners, must expect to meet with 
some little difficulties anil drawbacks, by unpropitious weather, or 
other causes, always will attend florieultural operations. In those 
the young florists who have a love for the work and its fruits, 
should find no cause to he discouraged. The most skilful florist has 
always something to learn, and no mistake will be made, but you 
will be wiser for it and the better prepared for future emergen lies. 
Success, gained at the expense of slight failures and inconveniences. 
will be enjoyed the more for them afterwards. After each suc- 
ceeding season's experience you will see the safety of striking out 
more boldly in purchases and plans, and each year will place you 
higher up that scale to perfection which every cultivator of Bowers 
aspires to. — Exchange. 
OSWEGO TEA IN Among the wild Mowers that may be easily 
THE GARDEN. grown in gardens, perhaps none is more at- 
tractive than the Oswego Tea (Monarda 
didtfma), a showy member of the mint family that brightens our 
swamps and brooksides during the late summer with its graceful 
heads of bright, yet soft red flowers. It is beloved of landscape 
architects who are obsessed with a desire for solid blocks of color, 
because there are few flowers of that particular shade. But it 
loses all its poetic grace when too broadly massed and is much 
more effective scattered among shrubbery in a natural way. being 
massed very lightly if at all. It delights in rich, moist soil and 
partial shade but will grow after a fashion almost anywhere, 
though it is naturally much shorter when growing in dry soil, 
sometimes being scarcely a foot tall, while in low, damp wood- 
lands it may reach quite three times that height. 
But its greatest charm (for the writer at least) is its attrac- 
tion for humming birds, who seem to find the nectar in the long 
tubes flavored quite to their taste and come many times a day 
to lunch on the dainty food. If the flowers are near a porch or 
frequented garden seat, the tiny birds will become so tame that 
they will alight on a twig to rest between sips with no appearance 
of fear. The cardinal flower is also a favorite with humming 
birds and may be planted effectively in front of the mint thus 
giving variety that even to birds is the spice of life. Both of 
tie-,, plants may be raised front seed, but as the cardinal flowers 
insist on moisture yet "damps off" very readily, the problem of 
keeping it wet and dry at the same time, is sometimes a perplex- 
ing one and not easily solved. -American Botanist. 
CRAB GRASS One of the greatest trials experienced by those 
ON LAWNS. who have the care of lawns is keeping them free 
from (rab Crass. Panicum sanguinale. This is 
but an annual grass, but it delights in heat and moisture, so that 
in summer its growth is most luxuriant. It is then that its evil 
is the most evident as it crowds out all other grasses. To those 
unacquainted with it. its appearance gives much pleasure, present- 
ing a green, verdant, live growth, lint when it dies, in autumn, 
there is nothing living where it has been, every other grass having 
been smothered out. As aforesaid, it is but an annual, and if it 
disappeared in autumn for good it would not be so bad. but before 
disappearing it leaves behind a good crop of seeds for the next 
year's supply. 
Frequent mowings prevent its seeding to -ome extent, but there 
are always shoots close to the "round which sec to the providing 
of another crop of plants. The only way to permanently rid a 
lawn of this Crab Grass i< to cut it out root and all before' it 'joes 
to seed. This is not difficult, as it can soon be distinguished from 
all other sorts. The writer has worked at this task in his time 
and has directed others to do it. 
It must be done before the pest ripens its seeds. Going over 
the lawn twice in the season will do it. But to make a permanent 
job of it the lawn should be gone over once the summer following 
the first operation. The work is done by stretching two lines to 
form an alley, of a width allowing of the operator to reach from 
side to side without much moving of the body, rooting out the 
grass as he advances, by the aid of a small, still' bladed knife. A 
small, light basket is near the side to bold the weed, to he shifted 
along as the person advances. Children, boys or girls, if reliable 
can do the work as well as. or better than men. 
Starting at one side of a lawn, shifting the lines to form a new- 
alley as one is finished, placing the weeds in a heap to lie burned 
when all is over, the task results in a permanent riddance of the 
Crab Grass. It is the only sine way when a lawn is full of this 
pest. — Meehan in Florists' Exchange. 
That the largest shade tree in the United 
States should turn out to be the Eastern 
THE LARGEST 
SHADE TREE. 
sycamore is not surprising, say government 
foresters. The sycamore has long been regarded as the largest 
deciduous tree in North America, and its range of growth is 
hardly second to that of any other broad-leaf tree, for it can 
be found from Maine to Florida, and as far West as Kansas. 
The bestowal of the prize on a sycamore at Worthington, Ind., 
which is 42 feet 3 inches in circumference and 150 feet tall, draws 
attention to the fact that foresters are nowadays recommending 
the species especially for city planting. They say that long ex- 
perience with sycamores planted in city streets lias shown that 
the species is peculiarly able to withstand the smoke, dust and 
gases which are usually an unavoidable complement of urban 
life. In addition, the sycamore is as resistant to attacks of in- 
sects and fungi as almost any species, and is a quick grower; at 
ten years of age a healthy sycamore usually is already large 
enough for shade as well as for decorative purposes. As for thf 
latter, there is hardly any Eastern species which is generally held 
so picturesque as the sycamore. With its strikingly mottled bark 
and magnificent stature and conformation, the sycamore has a 
marked individuality and can not be mistaken for any other 
species, either in the summer when the foliage conceals its 
structural form, or in the winter when the leaves are absent. 
A common objection to the sycamore as a lawn tree is its 
habit of dropping its leaves before autumn. 
The contest brought forth photographs and authentic descrip- 
tions of 337 trees in all parts of the United States, making a dis- 
tinctly valuable contribution to existing knowledge of native 
trees. It was found that, in till probability, there is no living 
elm larger than "The Great Elm" at Wethersfield. Conn., which 
is 28 feet in circumference and about 100 feet tall, and is esti- 
mated to be 250 years old. Many remarkable specimens of species 
which ordinarily attain only small sizes were unearthed by the 
contest, furnishing new records of maximum growth. A sassa- 
fras was brought to light at Horsham. Pa., which is 15 feet 111 
inches in circumference at 4 feet from the ground, whereas, for 
example, not long before this a Georgia town claimed that it 
had the largest sassafras tree in the world, though this tree was 
only something over 7 feet in circumference. A white birch was 
found in Massachusetts with a giith of 12 feet 2 inches; a pecan 
was found in Louisiana with a circumference of 10 feet inches, 
and a catalpa in Arkansas with a sirth of 16 feet. The tallest 
tree found is a yellow ponlar in North Carolina, which is 198 
feet high and has a circumference of 34 feet inches. 
Of Interest to Estate Owners 
The National Association of Gardeners maintains a Service Bureau 
which is at the disposal of all who may require the services of efficient 
gardeners in their various capacities. 
The association seeks tue co-operation of estate owners in its efforts 
to secure opportunities for those engaged in the profession of garden- 
ing who are seeking to advance themselves. It makes no charge for 
services rendered. It endeavors to supply men qualified to assume the 
responsibilities the position may call for. 
Make your requirements known to 
M. C. EBEL, Sec'y, National Association of Gardeners, Madison, N. J. 
