PARK AND CEMETERY, 
i59 
g' i 
« Selected Notes and Extracts, i 
$ -55 
Ground Bones. 
Estimating the value of whole bones at 
$10 per ton and cost of grinding them at 
$10 more, will make a cost of one ton of 
ground bones $20. 
Suppose an average ton of bones to con- 
tain 60 lbs. of organic nitrogen and 400 
lbs. of phosphoric acid, 375 lbs. of nitrate 
of soda will furnish 60 lbs. of nitrogen and 
135 lbs. of soda. 
1350 lbs. of powdered phosphate of lime 
30 per cent, will furnish 405 lbs. of 
phosphoric acid, and this mixture will 
cost, with nitrate of soda at accents a lb. 
and powdered phosphate of lime at 
cents a pound, $17 25 for only 1725 lbs. 
equal in nitrogen and phosphoric acid to 
1 ton ground bones. The nitrogen in 
nitrate of soda is in its most available 
form; there is also 135 lbs. of soda which 
is not to be had in using bones alone. 
The phosphoric acid in the powdered 
phosphate of lime is more available than 
the phosphoric acid in ground bones, be- 
cause the powdered phosphate of lime is 
in a much finer state of division than 
ground bones and fineness of division is 
the measure of its availability. The 135 
lbs. of soda are equivalent in alkaline ac- 
tion to 202 lbs. of potash. 
Prof. Wagner says in regard to the ef- 
fect of soda: “There is a direct effect of 
it, and in this direct effect of soda, that is 
to say, of soda entered into the plant has 
proved during my investigations of such 
importance that further researches in that 
direction are of very great moment.” In 
his opinion “the decided preference ex- 
pressed by Schultz-Lupitz for Kainit as a 
potash (Kali) salt is, like the better yield 
produced by the use of nitrate of soda as 
against sulphate of ammonia, attributable 
to the effect of the soda which Kainit, as 
well as nitrate of soda contains, and which 
heretofore has not been properly valued.” 
Andrew H. Ward. 
Transplanting Beech Trees. — An Ever- 
green Screen. 
The writer met with many beech trees, 
during the past summer, showing bad ef- 
fects of transplanting. They were all 
moved in the spring in good time and un- 
der favorable circumstances, and ranged 
from small plants, four or five feet in 
height, to immense, fine specimens, the 
branches covering a diameter of perhaps 
fifteen feet. It w-as clearly evident that 
the pruning-knives had been insufficiently 
used. With great care and attention, 
many plants may be moved without much 
pruning, but not so with the beech. Ex- 
perience with this plant leads many to cut 
the branches into almost a pole. As a 
rule, beeches have an abundance of 
branches, and it would doubtless be better 
to prune out all of the weaker ones, and 
shorten in the others about one-half. The 
same end will thus be gained, while leav- 
ing the trees with better appearance and 
without the necessity of sending out buds 
from old wood — a difficult thing for almost 
any tree. 
A correspondent asks what would be a 
good screen to place before a neighbor’s 
barn and subject to a northwest exposure. 
To obtain the desired result most quickly, 
nothing can excel the Norway Spruce. 
Should a thick screen be desired, it must 
be watched, and pruned judiciously if a 
rank growth commences. It is hardy and 
scarcely shows the effect of a severe win- 
ter in the loss of a few leaves at the tips of 
branches. Where the area permits, and 
at least two trees are used in the screen 
proper, a tasty arrangement could be 
made by putting some of the rarer ever- 
greens in front of the spruce to form a 
group. The spruce would form an ad- 
mirable background for such colored re- 
tinisporas as squarrosa and plumosa 
aurea and at the same time be a protec- 
tion to them from the winds. — Meehans' 
Monthly for October. 
Flower Vases in Cemeteries. 
Unfilled vases are unsightly on ceme- 
tery lots during the summer season, and 
doubly so at other seasons when turned 
bottom up as is done in some cemeteries 
to prevent damage from freezing. In 
some cemeteries the rules prescribe a cer- 
tain date in the early summer for filling, 
and their removal from the lot, if this is 
not done in due course. In the latter case 
they are properly marked and placed in 
storage. This involves expense in hand- 
ling and properly storing, but it insures 
the keeping of the cemetery grounds more 
in harmony with the principles of land- 
scape gardening. 
Bracken in the Shrubberies. 
In places where the wild Bracken grows 
freely a very pretty effect is secured by al- 
lowing it to grow up among Rhododen- 
drons and other shrubs. At this time of 
year, after the flowers are over, it lights 
up the trees, and has a wonderfully pretty 
appearance. By far the prettiest bit of 
garden scenery I have seen lately was at 
Rougham Hall, Bury St. Edmunds. In 
an open part of the shrubbery, where grass 
walks have been laid and wide borders 
formed, a large corner has been planted 
with Lilium longiflorum, and the thous- 
ands of flowers now open, backed by the 
green of the Rhododendron and Fern, are 
really beautiful. Seen on one of the hot- 
test days of August, the cool refreshing 
green and the pure white Lily flowers 
were a sight not easily forgotten, and 
though of course, both Rhododendrons 
and Bracken grow here like weeds, which 
they will not do in some places, it is worth 
trying to get such a lovely picture. In 
open positions and in some soils the 
Bracken takes on lovely autumn tints, and 
for this effect alone in the landscape it 
would be worth preserving or even plant- 
ing where it does not grow naturally. — 
The Garden , London. 
The following is given by O. J. Farmer 
in the Minnesota Horticulturist as a de- 
stroyer of squash insect pests: “Dissolve 
one-fourth pound of saltpeter in water. 
Make a small ditch about the hills of cu- 
cumbers, squashes or pumpkins while the 
vines are small and pour in this solution 
of saltpeter. It will keep off striped 
squash bugs and kill the squash or flat- 
iron bug which eats the vines.” We have 
noticed that these bugs will turn their at- 
tention with disastrous effects to the 
clematis when squash vines give out. 
The stomachs of 109 yellow billed and 
46 black-billed cuckoos, obtained in 
twenty states, the District of Columbia 
and Canada, were examined at the De- 
partment of Agriculture. The examina- 
tion showed that cuckoos do at times eat 
fruit, but that it is not their usual habit. 
The insect food of cuckoos consists of 
beetles, grasshoppers, cicadas, bugs, wasps, 
flies, caterpillars aud spiders, of which 
grasshoppers and caterpillars constitute 
more than three fourths. The great ma- 
jority of the insects found in the stomachs 
were harmful kinds. Nearly half of the 
cuckoo’s food was found to be caterpillars. 
In the cuckoos we probably have one of 
nature’s most efficient checks on the in- 
crease of these harmful species.— New 
England Farmer. 
Grafting Moutan Pasonies should be at- 
tended to about this time. For stocks use 
any of the thick rooted Chinese varieties, 
those with undesirable flowers should of 
course, be selected. Dig up the plants 
and cut off the thick roots in lengths as 
desired— short pieces if wanted to go in 
pots, but if to be heeled in after grafting 
they may remain quite large. In select- 
ing varieties it should be borne in mind 
that among Moutan pasonies names are 
very common and varieties few. The cion 
should be tied on with material which will 
not rot during winter. In selecting the 
cions take those in which there are no 
flower buds as they “take” quicker. When 
the necessary number has been worked 
heel them in a frame and keep close for a 
time, or in a sheltered place outside with 
a mulch of moss or leaves according to 
locality . — The Florist's Exchange. 
