PARK AND CEMETERY, 
127 
Hardiness of Privet. 
The unusually severe past winter 
furnished many lessons from which we 
may profit. One of the notable effects 
was the killing back of California privet. 
In some localities the injury was slight, 
while in others the plants were killed al- 
most to the ground. But the roots, with 
possibly a very few exceptions, were not 
injured at all, and no doubt some hedges 
got a much needed pruning. In great 
contrast, the common privet, Ligustrum 
vulgare, stands out unscathed and as 
bright as ever. Opinions will differ as to 
the beauty of this species in comparison 
with the more popular one, but it cer- 
tainly makes a very nice hedge when 
regularly trimmed. What a pity the 
evergreen species, L. Japonicum, is not 
thoroughly hardy. The leaves are per- 
sistent and remain on the plant through- 
out the winter, though the ones on the 
upper branches may be browned more or 
less severely. In an ordinary winter, 
the damage would be slight; and where 
protected from winter sun as well as 
from cold exposure, no doubt the entire 
plant would maintain its hardy, evergreen 
character. There is something about 
the slightly folded leaf that makes it 
peculiarly attractive; and the dark 
berries after blooming are also very or- 
namental. — S. Mendelson Meeha 7 t. 
» * * 
Lawn Plants. 
The species of allamanda give wonder- 
ful results when grown for this purpose. 
Good sized plants which show no signs of 
flowering at present may yet be taken in 
hand and give excellent satisfaction be- 
fore the summer is over. A good, rich, 
light soil is necessary, and if a tub is used 
for the plant, put enough drainage in the 
bottom so that the plant when knocked 
out of the pot will rest on the drainage. 
Ram the soil firmly around the ball, 
shorten the strong growths back and 
stand them in a partly shaded spot, 
syringing frequently. In a few weeks’ 
time, the kinds grown under the names 
Wardleana, Hendersoni and Schotti, will 
give an abundant display of their wide, 
trumpet-shaped, yellow flowers. The 
varieties of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis are all 
well worth growing for this purpose. 
When grown in tubs they need liberal 
feeding, as they are strong growing plants; 
and as the flowers are produced on the 
young wood there has to be an abundant 
supply of this to have the plants at their 
best. When planted out as isolated speci- 
mens on a lawn, and kept well watered 
the display of bloom from midsummer on 
will always be satisfactory. To grow on 
plants for this work, spring struck 
cuttings, even if they are now occupying 
3 inch pots, should be shifted into 6 inch 
and plunged out in the full sun. They 
should make plants three feet high by the 
end of summer. The varieties known as 
brilliantissimus and grandiflorus are the 
best two singles among the crimson- 
flowered varieties. Then there are double 
red and double pink, both of which have 
very large flowers, but not so freely pro- 
duced as the single kinds. The double 
yellow and double buff are not possessed 
of the same robust nature as the above 
named sorts, but are well worth growing. 
Lucien linden has irregularly shaped 
flowers, and has not proved satisfactory 
here. It may be supposed that these 
plants take up too much room in winter; 
they can, how’ever, if kept dry, be 
wintered in a structure which is frostproof, 
although they do better if wintered with- 
out losing their foliage. — G. W. O. m 
Florists Exchange . 
* * * 
Plant Breeding. 
Practical suggestions for plant- 
breeding by hybridization: 
1. Select a large genus to work upon 
if possible. The species in large genera 
are apt to be more variable, more easy to 
cross, and they furnish a greater variety 
of possible combinations. 
2. Confine attention to one or two 
genera. Most noted hybridizers have 
made their reputations in single genera. 
Nobody but Luther Burbank succeeds 
with everything. 
3. Give high cultivation. High cul- 
tivation induces variability and often 
makes species easier to cross. 
4. Plant together those varieties and 
species which bloom at the same time if 
{here is any chance of natural cross poll- 
ination. Nature makes many crosses, 
and her work is better and cheaper than 
that of the best hired man. 
5. Do not depend alone upon the first 
generation of hybrids. Subsequent gener- 
ations are likely to show greater variation 
than appears in the first hybrids, and 
from these variations the desired forms 
may often Be selected. 
6. Do not breed for too many plants at 
once. Especially do not breed for antag- 
onistic qualities. If possible confine atten- 
tion to the improvement of a single quality. 
7. .Supplement hybridization by selec- 
tion. Selection is often the more im- 
portant of the two. Keep only the very 
best, and destroy all the others. The 
severest selection is best. 
8. Do not neglect to fix any new 
variety when once secured. This may 
take more work than it did to produce 
the new variety, but unless properly fixed 
it is worthless and disappointing. 
Varieties propagated by buds require 
little or no attention to fixing. This 
should be borne in mind when selecting 
genera for hybridizing. 
9 Be content with small beginnings. 
Small variations indicate the breaking of 
the type, after which much more rapid 
progress is possible. In fact small vari- 
ations may be of more significance to the 
plant breeder than great ones. — American 
Gardening . 
* ■* » 
Wall Edgings. 
When in one of the most remarkable 
of Surrey gardens recently I noted how 
singularly effective as covers or surface 
edgings on low stone walls bordering the 
carriage drive were such things as Sedum 
acre aureum, a mass of golden color then 
some 15 inches broad and ten feet to 12 
feet long. Then would come an equal 
length of veronica prostata, a mass of 
blue, followed by a singularly effective 
length of Thymus Serpyllum coccineus, 
literally a mass of blood-red color and 
beautiful beyond description. A little 
further would be seen a huge mass of the 
beautiful blue Lithospermum prostratum ; 
next, perhaps. Golden Stonecrop again, 
Aubrietia Leichtlinii, and so on, ringing 
the changes on these and other creeping 
plants with marvelous effect. How very 
possible is it by the employment of sim- 
ple hardy creeping plants in this way to 
produce effects of great beauty. What a 
charm attaches to gardening of this des- 
cription when it presents some break away 
from the common rut. — A. D. in The 
Gardeti, Lojtdon. 
* * * 
Destroying Ants, 
Make holes with a crowbar or conven- 
ient stick, from six inches to one foot 
deep and about fifteen inches apart, over 
the hill or portion of the lawn infested by 
the ants and into each hole pour two or 
three teaspoonfuls of bisulphide of carbon, 
stamping the dirt into the hole as soon as 
the liquid is poured into it. The bisul- 
phide of carbon at once vaporizes and, per- 
meating the ground, destroys the ants but 
does not injure the grass. One should re- 
member while using this substance that 
it is highly inflammable and should not 
bring near it a flame or even a lighted ci - 
gar. — Massachusetts Experime^it t^tati.n, 
in Mmnesota Horticulturist. 
