THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA 
395 
thick shellac. That will keep the skins from shrinking 
Fill the skins with fine, rich soil and plant therein a seed 
of whatever tree you wish to raise — or rather two or 
three seeds, to insure at least one good specimen. 
Make a stand of some kind so that the "rowing tree 
can he kept in an upright position, and set the plants 
where they will get plenty of sun. but do not keep them 
in a room that is likely to become overheated. Water 
them regularly, hut not too profusely. After a time' the 
roots will begin to come through the orange peel. When 
that happens, cut the roots off flush with the outer sur- 
f'a. :e of the orange peel, but he careful not to injure the 
film of the shellac. 
It is the cutting of the roots that stunts the tree. When 
the tree has reached maturity, you can transfer it to a 
nunc attractive holder. Conifers, such as cedars, pines 
am! cryptomerias, can be readily stunted; so also can 
other evergreen, as Ilex and Citrus trifoliata. Some mini- 
ature cedars have been known to last more than 500 years. 
Fruit trees, such as the orange and the plum, blossom and 
hear perfect fruit. — Australasian International Nursery- 
man. 
GROWING IVY. 
HpIIK ivy as a genus is both useful and ornamental. 
The pruning or clipping of the ivy is an essential 
thing to its well-being as well as to its beauty. There is 
a sort that will do without much of this, viz., the small 
leaved Helix, or common English ivy, a beautiful, close 
growing, cut-leaved variety, but the Irish ivy, a kind com- 
monly met with, requires an annual clipping if grown on 
houses or walls. Knife pruning is necessary in cases 
where the ivy is grown as an ornament on arbors, old 
trees, fences, vases, etc., but where on walls or buildings 
it should be clipped annually, the month of June being 
(lie proper time to do it, when there will be time for it 
to make new foliage before winter. If not pruned an- 
nually, the}- are apt to run into growth at the extremities, 
and get barren below if not clipped. 
During October or November take good sized cuttings, 
at least six inches in length, regardless of the number of 
joints, and insert five or six cuttings into each pot, using 
a mixture of soil and sand in equal proportions. The best 
method of performing the above operation is to fill the 
pots half full of soil, then insert the cuttings to the depth 
of one inch, just deep enough to make them stand up- 
right, and when root action has taken place, more soil 
may be added until the pot is filled with soil. It is best 
to have the soil of a rather dry texture, so that it will 
settle firmly between the cuttings by tapping the pot on 
the. bench two or three times. As fast as the pots art- 
filled with cuttings, they should lie put into the propagat- 
ing house and receive a good watering. The cuttings 
must not be allowed to wilt during any part of their 
propagation, as this is an important item in their well- 
being. While in the propagation house they must be kept 
sprayed and not subjected to strong draughts until root 
action has taken place. As soon as the cuttings have 
rooted they will begin to grow very freely, and if they 
are not neglected and are supplied with water when they 
require it, they will make fine, bushy plants by the fol- 
lowing spring and in proper condition for using in boxes, 
etc. When large plants are wanted, such as pyramids, 
baskets, etc., it is only necessary to take these same plants 
in the spring, cut them back pretty well and plant them 
out in the open ground where by the following autumn 
they will have grown into extra long clumps with six or 
more runners to each clump. They should then be taken 
up and crowded into six or seven-inch pots and tied up 
to strong stakes and as soon as the plants have established 
themselvees in this size pot. they are ready to be worked 
into any shape desired. Should the plants not grow large 
enough the first year for any particular purpose, they 
should be given another season's growth in the open 
ground, which will result in extra heavy growth. Par- 
ticular stress should be paid to watering the plants with 
liquid manure so as to encourage quick growth. Ivy will 
stand any amount of frost, provided it is not given a 
southern exposure. Too much praise cannot be given 
this beautiful creeper as an object of beauty and utility. 
It can be used in every conceivable manner in any land- 
scape, proving itself perfectly hardy. — Exchange. 
MUSHROOM CULTURE. 
p Xl'ERIENCED cultivators know well enough the 
great value of mushrooms and how to produce them, 
even in adverse circumstances, hut others may be glad of 
a few helpful hints. There is no time more favorable to 
success than the present and following few months, so it 
is the time to make up beds. 
Many years ago it was considered only right and proper 
that a specially constructed mushroom house should be 
erected in every large garden. Such houses simplified the 
raising of fine crops of mushrooms. In these days any- 
one who possesses a shed or cellar-like place may grow- 
good crops. The material used is always valuable in the 
garden, so that it can be made to serve a purpose. 
Heat and moisture are necessary; stable manure, from 
which most of the straw has been removed, forms the 
bulk, but I always like to add good leaves of the oak and 
beech, if they are procurable. Only the leaves of last 
autumn are available now, but some of them will do if 
they have been in a shallow heap, and not overheated. 1 I 
prefer, however, the freshly fallen leaves, one part of 
these to three of the manure, as their effect is to steady 
and prolong the heat in the bed. 
Firmness is advisable, but not absolutely necessary.' I 
once tried the experiment of growing mushrooms in tree- 
leaves, with a thin crust of soil on them. It was not 
possible to get those leaves very firm. However, I did 
my best in this direction, put in the lumps of spawn, as 
soon as the heat had reached its maximum — about 85 deg 
— and at once put on the lining of soil two inches thick. 
Then dry litter was added one foot thick, and, finally, a 
straw thatch. The resultant mushrooms grew in very 
large clusters, and there were scarcely any single speci- 
mens. The bed became exhausted about three weeks 
sooner than beds of stable manure and leaves. 
The great point is to well prepare the manure by keep- 
ing it in a shallow heap, and turning it daily, until all 
the rank gas has been got rid of. When sufficient manure 
has been collected, make up flat-topped or ridge-shaped 
beds ; the former should he four feet wide, eight feet long 
and fifteen inches deep ; the latter should be three feet 
wide at the base, tapering to a ridge two feet six inches 
high. In both cases the length may be eight feet, more or 
less. Insert lumps of spawn (about two inches square I 
nine inches apart and one foot deep all over the surface 
of the bed, then cover with maiden loam one inch deep, 
and beat all firm with the back of a clean spade. Do not 
give water, but put on a layer of litter, but this should 
be removed when the bed is in full bearing, and sheets of 
brown paper substituted, as the mushrooms grow very- 
clean under the paper. 
Do not make up a bed while there is a frost, as, usualh 
afterwards, the material heats violently and burns. In- 
sert the spawn when the temperature of the bed stands at 
85 deg., and is on the decline. Syringe the walls and 
floor occasionally, darken the shed, and exclude cold 
draughts. — The Gardeners' Magazine (English). 
