PARK AND CEMETERY. 
223 
Top-Dressing Lawns. 
iNIncli valuable fertilizinsr material is 
wasted where applied on frozen g'ronnd 
that is sloping. The rains and melting 
snow carry it off. Stable manure affords 
l)rotection to the surface roots of gra.ss, 
and is in that way beneficial, even thongb 
the fertilizing constituents are largely lost. 
Considering the matter solely in its re- 
lation to fertilization, unleached wood- 
a.shes are largely taking the place of 
manure, as they are less offeirsive, un- 
sightly, and do not make jiossible the 
S])reading of weed seeds. To get the 
mo.st benefit from ashes or any other fer- 
tilizer, they .should be applied about tbe 
time the I'oots ma}- be expected to use 
tbem, or wben the soil will readily acce])t 
them. Therefore, apply ashes before the 
ground freezes, that they may work into 
the soil; or in early spring, in time for 
the roots to make use of them. — Meehans' 
Monthly for December. 
» * * 
Bignonia Radicans. 
I have .seen one or two notices about 
the lieauty of Bignonia radicans lately in 
The Garden, says II. I). Palmer of 
Colchester, Phigland, in that journal. 
I have one I planted some ten or twelve 
vears ago in a S. IT corner which has a 
stem nearly 6 inches in diameter. It is 
the major variety. When I first had it I 
wanted it to grow .so as to form a coping 
to a wall, which it will do if the .soil suits 
it, because the .shoots cling and run along 
like Ivv, but tbe border I ])lanted it in 
was a rich one, and though it lived it did 
not increa.se in thickne.ss of .stem, nor did 
it ])ush fresh shoots. Seeing one day in 
your journal that it grew on hills and 
naturall}- on roots like a \hne amongst 
rock, etc., 1 moved it to its pre.sent pos- 
ition beside an old lean-to potting shed, 
with an ugly roof, which it now complete- 
Iv hides and is a sight to behold every sea- 
•son. In making alterations I had to 
raise the ground some three feet on my 
garden side to the level of the field be- 
hind, which 1 had bought in order to 
make a cart road into the field. This I did 
by heaping up some 3 feet of broken tiles 
I had handy and surfacing with gravel. 
I had forgotten this when I ordered my 
gardener to ])lant it where it now grows 
.so well, and well do I remember bis look 
of di.sgust when 1 came home in the 
afternoon and found him ^vith a crowbar 
still working out ;i hole to jdant it in and 
not finding anv soil. .\s he had got 
down some 3 feet I told him to stop and to 
fill up the hole with some soil and ])lant it. 
The next .sea.son it started into vigorous 
growth and in about twelve years has 
reached its pre.sent proportions. I kept 
lavering the terminal shoots every year 
till it had covered the space I wanted, 
from which, every year, from every joint 
it throws up .shoots .some 3 ft long, each 
terminated by a magnificent bunch of its 
orange-red flowers. The.se annual shoots 
at about the end of March I prune back 
to one or two ba.se buds, and the display 
is reproduced every sea.son. To show 
how it likes and has taken jKise.ssion of 
its well-drained mass of old tiles, I may 
remark that suckers from the roots are 
con.stantly springing up in the roadway 
and as far as jo feet from the base. It is 
rather difficidt to strike, but if at the 
spring pruning .some of the shoots are 
laid in at the foot of a wall, as one does 
scions of Ap])le trees to keep them ])lump, 
longwavs, and buried about 6 inches, 
thev will root from the joints and throw 
up shoots the following year; these can 
be lifted, and make nice plants without 
any trouble. 
* * * 
Forming Shrubs of Trees. 
An observing gardener can often pro- 
duce very plea.siug results from certain 
trees by keeping them cut back everv 
vear, allowing them to shoot uj) afre.sh 
each Spring. The paulownia, a large- 
growing tree, is quite frequently thus 
treated with iiitere.sting effect. Bv the 
encouragement of strong, vigorous 
growth, enormous leaves are produced 
])evond what are even normally large. 
single stem is shot uj), straight “as a 
bean-pole," without branches, the leaves 
being on long, .stout petioles. It is not 
uuu.sual to see these long, one-year stems 
about 10 feet in height. They are hollow, 
and will occasionallv kill jiartly back un- 
til age is gained. Allowed to grow up, 
the paidownia makes a large, round- 
headed tree, jiroducing ])anicles of blue 
flowers, arranged like candelabra in great 
abundance. They precede the leaves in 
Spring, the buds being interestinglv 
formed tbe year jwevious. The ailantus 
is another tree that may be treated in 
this wav, ami in cutting back, considei"- 
able of their olTensivcness is lost with the 
absence of flowers. One of the prettiest 
effects I ever .saw was a bank of ailantus 
back of a row of bouses. The pendulous 
leaves produced a really tropical effect, 
which .showed to great advantage through 
a vista formed by two houses. 
'I'o get the full value of the striped 
maple, .^cer striatum, new growth alone 
should be encouraged. The unique green 
and white striped bark is quite prettv, 
and will usually be found brighte.st on 
the young suckers which spring up in 
abundance around the base of a large tree. 
As the apjjrox'iniate height of this maple is 
only aljout 12 feet, there is no difficulty 
in keeping it down, 
Cornus alba or .stolonifera, the red- 
stemmed dogwood, is at this time .show- 
ing its brighte.st color. In the Summer, 
it is only slightly colored, .seeminglv 
especially- de.signed for brightening up 
the land.sca])e in Winter. This mav also 
be kept cut back, ])crforming the t)pera- 
tion just before Sjmiiig opens. \ 
Many old sbrubs, that have Ijeen more 
or le.ss ruined by- bad pruning, would 
doubtle.ss be improved by cutting com- 
pletely down, getting a whole new growth. 
There are but few evergreens that will 
stand such severe jiruning, it being very 
difficult to get buds to form from old 
wood; but the Ce])halotaxus Fortunei is 
oue. When cut down to within a few 
inches of the ground, or higher up after 
.several .such treatments, it goes ahead 
again, forming a gracefnl evergreen bush. 
By nature, it is .somewhat straggling in 
.growth, and the occa.sional .severe prun- 
ing is found quite desirable. In verv bard 
Winters, it will get pretty well browned 
on the .southern side, like its relative, the 
yew. — A. Mendelson Meehan, in Florists 
Exchange. 
* * 
The Age of Trees. 
(Tericke, the .great (lerman forester, 
writes that the .greatest a.ges to which 
trees in ('rcnnany are positively known 
to have, lived are from 500 to ,370 vears. 
For instance, the pine in Bohemia and 
the pine in Norway and Sweden have 
lived to the latter age. Next conies tbe 
sih-er fir, which in the Bohemia forests 
has stood and thrived for iqiward of 400 
years. In Bavaria the larch has reached 
the a.ge of 275 years. Of folia.ge trees 
the oak ajqiears to have survived . tbe 
lon.ge.st. The best example is the ever- 
green oak at .\schaffenburg, which reach- 
ed the age of 410 years. Other oaks in 
(’Terniany have lived to lie from 31,3 to 
320 vears old. At .V.schaffenburg the red 
beech has lived to the age of 245 vears. 
Of other trees the lii,ghest known are ash, 
170 years; birch, 160 to 200 vears; aspen. 
220 years; mountain maple, 223 vears; elm, 
130 years, and reil alder, 145 years. — 7 'hc 
National S m scry man . 
