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Caryopteris Mastacanthus 
This is unmistakably one of the finest 
shrubs introduced in recent years. It was, 
and is, sometimes called the blue spiraea; 
but it has no relation to that genus as it is a 
near relative of the chaste tree (Vitex) 
which is among those plants comprising 
the verbena family. The caryopteris has 
been tried for several years, and while in 
northern sections, owing to its being 
killed to the ground in winter, it will 
there be treated more as an herbaceous 
plant than as a shrub, in the latitude of 
Philadelphia and favorable positions 
further north it has come out all right 
through recent winters. In Washington, 
bushes of it are now six feet high. It is 
one of the last shrubs to come into flower, 
opening out about the first half of Sep- 
tember and lasting several weeks. The 
flowers are produced in fair-sized heads in 
the axils of the leaves on the shoots made 
during Summer; the flowers are bluish 
purple. Propagation can be carried on 
at any time during the Summer or Fall, 
preferably during the latter season, for 
which preparations should be made some 
time in advance by cutting back some of 
the stronger shoots to induce them to send 
out side shoots. The blind wood can be 
used during the flowering period. As 
soon as the cuttings are ready for re- 
moval from the sand they can either be 
potted or boxed and stored in frames for 
the Winter. — G. W. Oliver , in Florist's 
Exchange. 
Shrubbery Beneath Trees. 
Frequent inquiries are made for a list 
of flowering shrubs that will thrive be- 
neath old trees. The chief difficulty is 
in the matter of feeding material in the 
soil and not so much a question of shade, 
which is not expected to be really dense. 
Near the surface of the ground beneath 
old trees, there is a great net-work of 
roots, which must extract a very large 
.amount of moisture and food. These 
roots, being more numerous andstionger, 
do not permit a newly planted shrub to 
get much of the necessaries of life, and 
the new comer is slowly starved to death. 
There are a number of plants that de- 
light in shade, and if the soil be kept in 
condition, there should be no difficulty in 
growing them in such locations. The 
main attention should be in heavily 
mulching the ground above the roots with 
well-rotted manure, which will furnish 
both food and moisture. The following 
selection would prove very desirable and 
well adapted for such locations: Ceanothus 
Americanus , azaleas, rhododendrons, Py~ 
rus Japonica, Clethra alnifolia, Cornus 
Mas , Itea Virginica, Ligustrum vulgare , 
Pavia parviflora, Berbcris Thunbergii 
Spircea Bumalda. Laurns Benzoin , 
Hamamelis Virginica, mahonias, kal- 
mias, hypericums, Diervilla trijida. 
Many additions could be well made to 
this list. — Meehan's Monthly for Sep- 
tember. 
* * * 
A Good Dry Weather Plant. 
This summer has been an exceptionally 
hot and dry one so far, and its effects on 
most kinds of low-growing plants which 
have not been watered have been disas- 
trous. A plant which has withstood the 
drought, with little attention, in the way 
of artificial watering, is the Madagascar 
periwinkle, Vinca rosea. It seems to 
flourish in almost any kind of soil, and 
if planted moderately close together, it 
forms a sheet of foliage and flowers, 
through which the sun has little effect on 
the surface of the soil. It is raised from 
seed sown beginning of March; the plants 
begin to bloom when quite small, keeping 
up a gorgeous showing all summer. There 
are three kinds — rose, white, and white 
with a pink center. The plants are 
abundant seeders. 
* * * 
At the meeting of the American Phar- 
maceutical Association, recently held at 
Baltimore, Md., there were exhibited 
numbers of growing medicinal plants 
gathered from the vicinity of that city. 
The U. S. Agricultural Department in 
its bulletin gives the number of the most 
important medicinal plants as 223. A 
florist of Catonsville has been putting in 
his spare time since Spring making a col- 
lection of such plants, and it is stated 
that about 100, more or less, of this class 
of useful plant life, are found in the 
neighborhood of Baltimore. 
* * * 
Pruning Shrubs. 
About the middle of June I make a 
point of going through my shrubbery and 
putting the bushes into shape for next 
year’s flowering. This will seem an odd 
time of the year to many to prune bushes, 
but it is the only proper time for it in the 
case of very nearly every shrub. It is 
much better understood than it used to 
be that to prune shrubs in the winter 
season means the loss of the spring crop 
of flowers. I have in mind many a hand- 
some country residence where for years 
hardly a flower was produced on the 
various bushes because of improper 
pruning. Mid-June is the time in this 
State, but the exact time in any place is 
just after the flowering is over. Then the 
sooner it is done the better it is. The ob- 
ject of the pruning is to cut out the shoots 
that have just flowered, leaving those that 
are just forming. Taking a Weigela as 
an illustration, when its flowering is over 
there will nearly always be noticed a 
number of young shoots springing from 
near the base of the plant. When the 
most of those that have just flowered are 
cut out extra vigor is given to the new 
ones, and they and other new ones which 
will form will become strong shoots, 
which will bloom splendidly the next 
season. The Japanese Snowball behaves 
in the same way, but its new shoots do not 
always spring from near the base, but 
come from any part of the old shoots. 
Deutzias and spirceas require the same 
treatment. I do not mean that all the 
old shoots should be cut away. Such a 
robbing of foliage as this would be likely 
to greatly weaken a shrub. What is 
meant is that a somewhat severe cutting 
back should be done, that the energies of 
the plant may be exerted towards building 
up the new shoots. The old shoots are 
of no use any more, excepting for what 
they may do in sustaining new ones which 
may spring from them. It is from lack 
of this knowledge that the shrubbery in 
many a country garden is made useless 
for the production of flowers year after 
year. The Winter or early Spring is 
made the season for pruning, and a 
shaping up of the shrubs at that season 
usually takes with it much of the past 
season’s growth, which, as has been ex- 
plained, is the flowering wood. If pruning 
cannot be done at the time recommended, 
better not do it at all. as there is always a 
certain amount of new shoots made, 
whether there has been pruning or not. 
There are some exceptions to the rule 
which should be mentioned. The now 
well-known hydrangea paniculata grandi- 
flora, the clethia, caryopteris, vitex and 
some of the late flowering spiraeas, notably 
Bumalda and Anthony Waterer, may be 
cut down closely in Spring with beneficial 
results instead of harmful ones. — Joseph 
Meehan, in The Practical Farmer. 
* * * 
The elm leaf beetle last year put in an 
appearance about July 10, but one spray- 
ing, however, with London purple was 
effective. The formula has been given 
before but is worth repeating: One pound 
London purple, six pounds lime and four 
quarts of flour in a hundred gallons of 
water. Apply with a force pump, using 
a fine spray nozzle. Small trees can be 
treated quite effectively with slug shot 
applied dry by a pair of bellows— after 
rain, or in the morning while the foliage 
is moist with dew —Alexander Mac Lel- 
lan, in American Gardening. 
