PARK AND CEMETERY 
195 
SELECTED NOTES AND EXTRACTS. 
Ants in the Orchard. 
A writer in The Agricult ural Gazette 
of New South Wales, says on this subject: 
“I notice in several late numbers ques- 
tions asking how t o destroy ants. I 
would like to ask why people desire to 
destroy these insects. I have had over 
forty years’ experience in gardening and 
fruit-growing, and find ants my best 
friend, and would be sorry to lose them. 
I never lose anything sound, either fruit 
or vegetable, by them; but find that they 
clean off many small destructive insects 
from the trees; I notice one writer advis- 
ing lime; that he scattered lime under in- 
fected peach trees to keep away the ants, 
and the trees flourished after it. But I 
venture to tell the writer that the ants did 
more good to the trees than the lime, 
though lime does good if put on the 
trees.” Of course, every one is at liberty 
to hold his own opinion about questions 
of this kind. It must be remembered, 
however, that the mere presence of ants 
in large numbers upon a tree is a sign 
that there is something wrong with it, 
and if the attraction be removed the ants 
will not return. — lndia 7 i Gardening and 
Flan tine. 
Two Satisfactory House and Decorative 
Plants. 
Foliage plants that may be considered 
all-around satisfactory for house and gen- 
eral use in decorations are really very 
scarce. Where the best of care is given 
them, quite a li.st might be made; but 
quite naturally, in the majority of cases, 
the care of such plants is very irregular, 
and under adverse heating and ventilat- 
ing conditions they suffer more or less. 
No better plants, at the same time very 
ornamental, can be named than Aspar- 
as;us Sprengeri and the Boston Fern, 
Nephrolepis exaltata Bostoni nsls. Very 
large specimens of either are remarkably 
handsome, and show off particularly 
well if grown in large baskets or placed 
on pedestals where the graceful stems 
may show off to greatest effect. Then, 
too, they come in useful for other pur- 
poses, as the stems may be cut and 
worked into bouquets of flowers very ef- 
fectively.— for October. 
• * » 
Garden Irises. 
The Iris calendar begins with us in 
April with I. pumila and reticulata and 
ends in early October with the Scorpion, 
a very large gorgeously spotted beauty. 
reminding us amid the yellowing leaves 
and budding asters of our early Northern 
autumn, the lands of perpetual summer. 
Between these extremes comes a long 
procession, amid which the grand German 
tribe shines conspicuously. The flowers 
are large, abundantly produced and show 
great variety in colors and color combin- 
ations; yet it must be admitted that in 
each of these particulars the Ktenipferi 
are superior. Indeed, this comparatively 
new iris stands head and shoulders above 
all others of its class — both literally and 
metaphorically. With the exception of 
Anglicaand Ili.spanica, the bulbous irises 
are not hardy in this climate. All are 
especially sensitive to an excess of water, 
hence should be planted in a very light, 
well-drained soil, and given a sheltered 
and sunny situation. Success and failure 
in about equal proportions may be ex- 
pected by the amateur who attempts to 
grow bulbous iri.ses out of doors in this 
climate. But what of that? One success 
hides a multitude of defects! As house 
plants, I am told they do well. But for 
outdoor planting nothing listed in all the 
catalogues will give one more satisfaction 
than the Japan and German irises 
(among the corn-rooted sorts) and the 
English and Spanish (among the bulb- 
ous.) — N. O. Mobcrly.^Vva'a.fva. The May- 
Jiower. 
* -Si 
The Salpiglossis. 
Your note deservedly calls attention to 
the beauty of the different varieties of 
this fine annual. Their value in a cut 
state is not mentioned although this is 
one of their best characteristics, for they 
last well and lend themselves to graceful 
and light arrangement, and maj- be cut 
with any convenient length of stem. I 
think that 1 may safely say that one reas- 
on why they are not more often seen in 
gardens is the aggravating habit they 
have of dying off whole.sale and leaving 
blanks in the beds or borders. Gardeners 
fight shy of such plants when there are 
Ollier things that can take their places 
with greater certainty. If growers were 
content to leave the seeds in the packets 
until May, and then sow where the 
plants are to stand, there wo.uld be no 
fear of blanks, and very much better 
growth would result. The seed germin- 
ates quickly and the seedlings grow slow- 
ly at first, though after they are about 3 
inches high progress is again rapid, and 
by the middle of August or earl'er in hot 
seasons, there will be a glorious display 
of flower, lasting until the advent ef 
frost and in abundance to cut for the 
meanwhile. I do not claim there will be 
no losses, as some are certain to die, but 
by judicious thinning, and spreading this 
operation over three or four weeks, there 
will be no blanks in the bed or plot, and 
satisfactory results will en.sue. A check 
to growth is the great bane of this and a 
few other tender annuals, the Zinnias, 
for in.stance, and I am sure that those 
who grow salpiglossis largely will agree 
with me that the above is the only way 
to deal with them in order to command 
success. — y. C. Tallack in The Gar- 
den. 
* * » 
Planting White Pine Seedlings. 
My idea was to find a method by which 
planting could be carried on at an\- time 
in the year when the ground was free 
from frost, and at odd limes when suited 
best to the planter. In the spring I 
bought 4,000 white pine seedlings six 
inches high and potted them in fours in 
Neponset paper pots, using well worked 
ri h soil. They were then placed in the 
shade, under apple trees on the north 
side of the barn. They were well watered 
from time to time, and when rooted and 
started in the pots as many as convenient 
were carried in the wood lot and planted. 
As the paper pots are light a number can 
be carried with ease. Their botlonis are 
made in such a way that the roots soon 
protrude through uninjured and pots and 
all can be placed in the ground without 
disturbance to the young trees. The 
manner in which the pots are put to- 
gether is such that they soon become 
loosened and rot apart. I have planted 
in dense sprout growth and pasture land 
under bushes in the shade. Thus have 
the seedlings been protected from sun 
and dr) ing winds. 
How far this method could be can it d 
in extensive plantations I do not know, 
but it has solved the problem of planting 
at odd times all through the summer at 
small expense, without loss of seedlings. 
With an ordinary trowel I have planted 
one hundred pots in an hour, and thus 
far no trees have died. Any number of 
potted trees can be carried to future plan- 
tations and left in places near the field of 
planting, to be placed in the soil when 
convenient. The pots are so small that 
even when wetted they weigh but little. 
My trees cost me here potted about 8 
cents. We have done the work ourselves, 
which may seem a large sum; but the 
ease with which they are transplanted 
and the small number lost in the process 
will offset this. — Henry Brooks in The 
Forester. 
