PARK AND CEMETERY 
191 
PRACTICAL NOTES 
AND SUGGESTIONS. 
Extracts from 'Bulletins of 
the JVebu England Assn, of 
"P a rl{_ u perintendents. 
Preparation of Ground for Planting. 
The preparation of ground for the 
planting of trees or shrubbery is as 
much a matter for consideration as the 
question of when to plant or what to 
plant. Due importance is frequently 
not given to this fact. Trees and shrubs 
often are crowded into holes that are 
not large enough to permit even their 
roots being extended. Such planting 
generally is accompanied by a lack of 
subsequent cultivation, and the result 
is failure. A proper preparation of the 
ground (when intended for mass plant- 
ing) entails plowing and subsoil plow- 
ing, continued in cross directions until 
the ground is thoroughly broken up and 
reduced to a mellow condition. Should 
humus, or organic matter, be deficient 
in the soil, this should be corrected 
by a dressing of stable manure, peat, 
or other organic matter. This treatment 
will insure a condition of the soil which 
will make it hold moisture and assimi- 
late fertilizers. In dry, sandy, or grav- 
elly soils too much importance cannot 
be given to the value of surface mulch- 
ing, or constant cultivation, after plant- 
ing. For single specimen trees, or for 
widely spaced trees, holes for planting 
should be prepared not less than 
fifteen feet square and three and a half 
feet deep. If the subsoil is good a sim- 
ple loosening up, with an admixture 
of stable manure or peat, will be suf- 
ficient ; if of sand or sterile gravel, and 
the best results are desired, it would 
be better to excavate the whole and sub- 
stitute loam. “A silk purse cannot be 
made from a sow’s ear,” neither can 
a tree be grown to fine proportions un- 
less the proper conditions are given. 
J. A. Pettigrew. 
* * * 
Management of Parks and Streets. 
I do not agree that it is a good thing 
to consolidate the parks and streets 
under a single department of the city 
government, for the reason that it is 
almost certain to subordinate beauty to 
economy, and other practical considera- 
tions, whereas beauty is the controlling 
factor in properly managed parks, and 
it is not difficult with a good park 
superintendent for a park commission 
to secure economy and efficiency of ad- 
ministration. I do think that parks are 
♦omejimes managed too independently 
of other branches of city government. 
Surely the heads of all branches of a 
city should have a joint meeting, pre- 
sided over by the mayor, at stated in- 
tervals, so as to act in harmony with 
each other and co-operatively — not only 
could the street department sometimes 
get or put filling from or in a park or 
parkway with economy, but the park 
department could advise the street de- 
partment as to matters of design, and 
could attend to planting in the streets. 
The street department can often rent 
or loan a steam road roller to the park 
department, and it can also sometimes 
supply crushed stone. Supplies to both 
should often be secured under a single 
contract, as, for instance, coal. But 
the management of parks must, in my 
judgment, be under the control of com- 
missioners selected for having good 
taste, which quality is rarely considered 
in selecting street commissioners. 
John C. Olmsted. 
* * * 
Shrubs Under Shade Trees. 
What shrubs are best for an irregular 
screen in a very shady place? There 
are a good many shrubs, like the lilacs 
and Spiraeas that, if set out when the 
shade trees are, will become so well 
established before the shade becomes 
dense that they will flourish in spite of 
the shade. Stephanandra flexuosa I 
have found to grow well when set out 
under the dense shade of maple trees, 
but it is too low growing for a screen ; 
while Retinosporas and some other ever- 
greens grow well under American elms. 
But under low growing shade trees I 
have not been successful in establish- 
ing a leafy screen, although it has been 
much needed in some places. 
Edward P. Adams. 
4 * 
I find that under branched trees many 
good varieties of deciduous shrubs may 
be used. I have used the following with 
splendid results : Ligustrum ovalifolium, 
Ibota, Forsythia viridissima, Androme- 
da Mariana, Mvrica cerifera, Rhododen- 
dron maximum, Lonicera fragrantissima, 
Viburnum tomentosum, Lantana, Cor- 
nus sanguinea, etc., Ilex verticillata, 
Kalmia latifolia. For low growing shade 
trees I would recommend as follows : 
Azalea nudiflora, Callicarpa purpurea, 
Comptonia asplenifolia, Lonicera Hal- 
leana, brachypoda, Symphoricarpus vul- 
garis, Berberis Tlnmbergii, Ceanothus 
Americanus, Euonymus radicans (Ever- 
green), Rhus aromatica, Zanthorrhiza 
apiifolia, Taxus adpressa, baccata and 
Canadensis, and Vinca minor. 
J. F. Huss. 
When and Hoiv to Prvne. 
I am well aware of the theory and 
practice of some of not pruning except 
in the spring, or a special time for dif- 
ferent trees. I once asked the question 
through the columns of three different 
Agricultural papers, and when the nu- 
merous answers came I confess I was 
more puzzled than before, for in the 
several answers nearly each month in 
the year was recommended. Therefore, 
I concluded that observation, practice, 
and experience must be my teachers, 
and by so doing I have come to the 
conclusion that a maple can be safely 
pruned in the fall and first half of win- 
ter, also in June, without any apparent 
injury from flow of sap. Then again, 
does it injure a tree if pruned when the 
sap is flowing? If so, why do trees 
thrive in our northern sugar orchards? 
Really, I do not believe it makes much 
difference if the wound is coated over 
with lead and oil paint or perhaps coal 
tar. It is true that in extensive planta- 
tions pruning must be done at other 
times than any particular ideal time. I 
have pruned maple trees from October 
to December with good results, also in 
spring. Now comes the most impor- 
tant question — how to prune large trees, 
where large limbs are to be removed. 
The method I follow is to make my 
first cut 12 inches or more from body 
of tree ; second, cut a plumb cut with 
body. This prevents any split ; this 
cut I shave off smooth, if necessary use 
a chisel or gauge, then paint with' a 
mixture as near the color of bark of 
tree as possible. A. P. Capen. 
* * * 
The Pleasures of Landscape Work. 
It is a pleasure to plant and see the 
trees, shrubs, and flowers develop with 
a continuous and intelligent oversight ; 
to anticipate the requirements of the sea- 
sons and the resultant needs of the many- 
growths, ranging from the hardy to the 
exotic plants ; to see daily results of 
your care developed with the advancing 
season, and know that thousands are en- 
joying the results of your labor, in ad- 
dition to the pleasure you may derive- 
from it yourself. It is this progressive- 
work that pleases and affords the inter- 
est and charm to the landscape architect 
and park superintendent. Nature re- 
sponds so generously when she is un- 
derstood, and the more intimate one be- 
comes with her laws the closer becorne- 
the ties that bind one to her. 
W. S. Egerton. 
