508 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 6, 1888. 
allowed to get dry again. Neglect of out-of-sight places in vineries 
and other structures amounts to inviting insects to take possession 
and emerge when they can do any good for themselves and injury 
to Vines and plants. 
Before adding fresh soil in place of that removed from the 
border, no harm can he done in giving a thick dredging of soot. 
This acts both as an insect obstacle and Vine stimulant, and if the 
new soil given is good, and not loose, but tolerably firm, also kept 
moist through the summer, new roots will take possession of it to 
the great advantage of the Vines ; and, perhaps, the more the old 
roots are “ disturbed,” not ruthlessly, but intelligently, cutting 
back any that may be found shrivelled or decayed to healthy and 
thicker parts, the greater will be the production of young feeding 
roots into the soil near the surface. Tt is quite certain there are 
many portions of roots on some, if not most Vines, that would be 
better off than on, and their removal to healthier parts would be 
followed by a great increase in the number, as well as the quality, 
of roots succeeding. 
What is wanted in the case of most Vines that are not so 
satisfactory as could be wished is a multiplication of roots for 
imbibing what the soil contains, or what may be added ; but in 
the absence of fleshy fibrous roots much money may be spent on 
manures to little effect, these being then denounced as worthless, 
though in reality they may be amongst the best in the world, but 
applied under wrong conditions. First afford Vines a chance to 
produce a mass of active roots, then the food given will be appro¬ 
priated, and its effect be seen on the foliage, wood, and fruit in 
well-managed vineries ; for all know, or should know, that mis_ 
management in summer will nullify the effects of the best of soil 
the best of manures, and the best of winter work. 
MIXED HARDY FLOWERS. 
Though hardy flowers are very often unsatisfactory there is 
no reason why they should be so. Nay, there is every reason for 
their occuping worthily a prominent position in the adornment of 
gardens. The simplest method is to plant in wide and long 
borders, strictly to limit the choice of plants to those which are 
distinctly beautiful, showy, and if possible, sweet, and to arrange 
them with discretion. Culturally the borders must have every 
justice done to them both before planting by thoroughly breaking 
up the soil deeply and adding a fair supply of fresh material to it ; 
and after planting annual dressings either of soil or manure are of 
great importance. If no additions are made in the way of plants 
to the borders a surface dressing of clean soil is as good as any¬ 
thing. If, on the other hand, numbers of plants are annually put in 
in order to form a distinctive feature at one season of the year, then 
manure dug or pointed in may form the best method of placing 
fresh food in the way of the plants. Nothing is better for pointing 
in among the smaller plants than Mushroom bed refuse. This 
need not be put in at a greater depth than 3 or 4 inches. For 
strong growing plants such as Hollyhocks, Phloxes, Pentstemons, 
&c., cow manure is best, and may be dug in to a good depth. 
I have said that hardy plants should be disposed in wide and 
long borders, and the reason for making that statement is that we 
naturally expect flowers in these borders at all seasons when they can 
be had out of doors. We also expect a continually shifting variety 
of plants with a good deal of overlapping of course, but no doubt 
one of the charms of the mixed border is the expectation of fresh 
kinds of flowers coming out continually throughout the season. 
That being so we must have room, and a wide border is the con¬ 
sequence. But many of the finest out-of-door flowers are of noble 
proportions as to height and width, and in order to secure due 
effect with these an extended border is important. Then as to 
limiting the choice of plants. It must not be supposed that it is 
meant thereby that the collection should be devoid of variety. 
Too much cannot be secured so long as the necessary conditions 
are fulfilled of beauty, showiness, and, if at all possible, sweetness 
of scent. But what is condemned is the not uncommon practice 
of picking up all sorts of weedy rubbish so long as it is called her¬ 
baceous, and taking up room that could be better filled. Another 
not uncommon failing with people who plant borders of hardy 
flowers is that of avoiding the flowers which have been improved 
and multiplied in variety. For my part I see no harm in making 
a border gay in spring with Crocuses, Tulips, Polyanthuses, Prim¬ 
roses, Auriculas, Wallflowers, and Anemones. These do not 
detract from the beauty of distinctly alpine and herbaceous plants 
which flower with them. In the same spirit I do- not esclude- 
from these borders tufts of Pansies, clumps of sweet Pinks and’ 
Carnations, Boses of all sections, Chrysanthemums, Phloxes, Del¬ 
phiniums, Hollyhocks, Pentstemons, and many others grown in 
large clumps. Of Dahlias the Cactus varieties are especially 
suitable. These and other kinds for this purpose are best grown, 
not from cuttings but from divided tubers. These flower more 
freely, and I imagine do not grow quite so much to foliage as 
plants from cuttings do, and certainly they pass the winter much 
better. We have so many good perennial plants to select from 
that annuals do not occupy much space in our hardy borders.. 
There are, however, a few so distinct and good that we try to find 
room for them. 
As to arrangement, it is very easy to say, Put the tall plants at 
the back and the smallest at the front, placing those of inter¬ 
mediate sizes in the space between. Such advice rigidly carried 
out would insure a hotch-potch without character, effect, or beauty. 
Some hardy plants in addition to the beauty of their flowers are, as 
regards form, worth cultivating for that alone. Such plants, of 
course, need to stand in some degree clear of others. SolidagD' 
canadensis, Iris ruthenica, Spiraea Aruncus, Anemone japonica are 
examples of this ; but there are others, such as the common white 
Lily, Carnations, Gladiolus, Chrysanthemums, which ought to be 
placed very near the front of the borders. A well arranged border 
may in summer and autumn have plants 3 feet in height growing 
close to the front edge. Of course, many of the plants are stand¬ 
ing perfectly clear, the ground being carpeted with dwarfer flower¬ 
ing plants and those which have flowered during the spring and 
early summer months, while the back of the border is brought to 
proportion by clumps of tall Hollyhocks, Phloxes, Michaelmas- 
Daisies, single herbaceous Chrysanthemums, &c. 
As to colour, if a thoroughly effective border is wanted, it must 
be arranged so that its effect as a whole may be taken in. It is 
hardly possible to have too much white. That secured, yellow is 
of the greatest importance for giving brightness. White and 
yellow of themselves will make a most effective colour arrange¬ 
ment, and, of course, others, such as red, blue, and secondary 
shades and tints must be made the most of for changes. For 
purposes of colouring, Delphiniums, Snapdragons, Tritomas, 
Lupinus polyphyllus, Aster bessarabicus, dark Phloxes, and Pent- 
stemon, Dahlias Juarezi and Glare of the Garden, Schizostylis 
coccinea, Gladiolus brenchleyensis, Agapanthus umbellatus, Lilium 
tigrinum fl. pi. and L. umbellatum are flowers which occur to me 
as of great value for colouring. Under certain conditions I should 
not hesitate to employ Pelargonium Henry Jacoby and Clematis 
Jackmanni. Meanwhile I might advise that in order to improve 
a border of hardy flowers do not stick at a sentiment and keep 
out flowers which, although not strictly herbaceous or hardy, would 
be found of value if freely used.—B. 
ROOT-PRUNING. 
The advantages of root-pruning are many, if intelligently and 
carefully carried out. We should hear less of barren trees and 
inferior fruit if the knife were used more at their roots and less¬ 
on their branches. There are hundreds of unprofitable fruit trees 
in this country, not because they are bad varieties, nor because- 
the locality or soil is unsuitable, but because they are subjected to 
cultural operations only calculated to produce gross unfruitful 
wood, and in many cases canker. If you want a tree to produce 
wood only, plant it deeply in a rich garden soil, decide to keep it 
to a certain size and shape, never disturb more than the surface 
roots, which, of course, must be done once a year for appearance 
sake ; follow faithfully such an irrational practice, and it will not 
take long to gather the fruit. Who, of any gardening experience,, 
has not seen samples of this kind, and also witnessed the bundles 
of summer shoots annually cut away to keep the tree within 
bounds and to its proper shape ? It is simply presumption to 
expect a fruitful tree under such conditions ; it is totally contrary 
both to the theory and practice of fruit culture. For a tree to be 
fruitful it must have abundance of fibrous roots, and the more 
numerous these are close under the surface, the better will be the 
quality of the fruit. Of course we do not object to trees being 
kept to a certain size and shape, but we do condemn the baneful 
practice of annually cutting away large quantities of summer 
shoots, instead of attaining those ends by a judicious course of root- 
pruning. After a tree has attained the required size, the cultivator 
should aim at arresting the sap and causing it to accumulate in the 
formation of fruit and fruit buds ; but it is impossible to bring 
about this desirable state of things if the trees are allowed to 
drive strong fibreless roots deep into the cold subsoil. It is im¬ 
possible that roots at such a depth can ever supply food that will 
