40 
which has semi-double pink flowers and blossoms in spring as 
autumn, or both seasons. It is a twiggy, often vase-shaped 
tree from 6 to 12 feet tall and about as free-blooming as its most 
charming parent, the lovely Spring Cherry, Prunus subhirtella. 
T HE low-growing Malus Sieboldii is less beautiful in flower 
andfruitthan otherJapaneseCrabapplesbut a close relative, 
P. Sargentii, is especially valuable. This species is native of the 
salt marshes round Muroran, Hokkaido, north Japan, where it 
was discovered in 1892 by Professor Sargent and introduced into 
the Arnold Arboretum. It has rigid, spreading branches, the 
lower ones flat on the ground, and is particularly well suited for 
covering slopes and banks. The flowers abundantly produced 
in umbel-like clusters, are saucer-shaped, round and of the 
purest white; they are followed by a wealth of wine-colored 
fruit, which is covered by a slight bloom and remains on the 
plants until the following spring. 
One article of this series has been devoted to the Common 
Horse-chestnut, so it is fitting in closing to say a few words about 
The Garden Magazine, September, 1920 
the Dwarf Buckeyes, of which three are thriving in the Arnold 
Arboretum. They have long been over-looked or confounded 
with other species; yet they rank among the handsomest flower- 
ing plants of the southern states. The Aesculus georgiana has 
short, compact clusters of red and yellow flowers while those of 
A. discolor are yellow flushed with rose and have a red calyx. 
The variety mollis of the latter — known in books as A. austrina 
— has scarlet flowers. 
This plant is widely distributed from Georgia to Texas and 
southeastern Missouri, and is the only red-flowered Buckeye 
found west of the Mississippi River. Another, A. Harbisonii, 
is probably of hybrid origin and is the latest of its class to 
blossom. The stem and branches of the flower-cluster and the 
calyx of the flowers are rose-colored; the petals are canary 
yellow, slightly streaked with red toward the margins. It is 
fortunate that these pigmy Buckeyes with their handsome 
flowers are so hardy, for they are among the most desirable 
plants that have been added to our gardens; and for them 
garden lovers have to thank the Arnold Arboretum. 
FACTS FOR READY REFERENCE 
— In a loam soil there is silt and a little clay, and about 30 
to 50 per cent, of sand. In what is known as a sandy loam will 
be found from 50 to 75 per cent, of sand. 
— Clay soils being too close and adhesive are unfavorable to 
vegetation for the reason that they will not permit the air to 
pass freely through them, and it is impossible for water to reach 
the roots of the plants. Besides, the expansion of the fibres of 
the roots is obstructed. 
— For clayey soil that is too dense, well-sifted coal ashes are 
excellent as loosening material. They also are highly obnoxious 
to earth-inhabiting grubs. 
— Black soils are highly esteemed. But a black soil is not 
necessarily a rich one, and may be devoid of nitrogen. 
— For a rather thin or close soil, there is nothing more valuable 
than barnyard manure, as it adds both plant food and humus. 
— Humus is decayed vegetable and animal matter, and is in 
itself a plant food consisting in part of nitrogen, phosphorus, and 
potash. Leaf mold is pure humus. 
— Being dark, humus makes the average soil darker and 
warmer, and by its decomposition it produces humic and other 
acids which assist in liberating the plant food that is held in 
insoluble form in the soil. 
— There must be sufficient humus in the garden soil to insure 
good mechanical condition, so that a large per cent, of moisture 
will be held and absorbed. 
— There are times when it is just as important to retain mois- 
ture in the soil as it is at other times to get rid of it. The soil 
should be kept constantly loose with the cultivator. The fine 
soil on the surface acts as a mulch preventing rapid evapora- 
tion. 
— All soils are made up of small atoms or soil particles. In a 
wet soil all space between these particles is filled with water, 
excluding the air. In a moist soil each particle is enveloped in 
a film of moisture, permitting the air to penetrate between the 
particles. A wet soil rots the seed; a moist one sprouts it and 
promotes growth. 
— In an acre of soil (nine inches in depth) there are about 2,000 
pounds of nitrogen, 3,000 pounds of phosphoric acid, and 6,000 
pounds of potash. 
— Posts will last longer in a constantly wet soil than they will 
in one that is alternately wet and dry. Seasoning has practi- 
cally no effect on durability. 
— Moles may be driven away by pouring tobacco tea in their 
runs. 
— Avoid too many “dead furrows” in plowing, and endeavor to 
make the back furrow come where the dead furrow was last year. 
— Deep plowing in fall is a great help in breaking up the 
compounds of the soil, in preparing plant food, in storing mois- 
ture, and in warming up the soil for early planting. 
— It has not yet been recorded that evergreen trees have ever 
been struck by lightning. 
— Lime is found in the ashes of all plants. It is most pro- 
nounced with Clover, Lucerne, Peas, Beans, and Vetches. It is 
least important with cereals. 
— The wound made by cutting off a limb close to the trunk 
will quickly heal over, but a wound made by cutting off the limb 
several inches from the trunk leads to decay and often the loss of 
the tree itself. 
— The main object in pruning a fruit tree is to cut out diseased 
or superfluous branches and make an open top to admit air 
and light to all fruit and foliage. 
— All dead and diseased branches of fruit trees and bushes 
should be removed as soon as they are noticed. The prompt 
removal of a diseased branch frequently saves the whole tree and 
prevents other trees from becoming infected. 
