VOL. XXXVII. No. IS. 
WHOLE No. 1475. 
NEW YORK CITY, MAY 4, 1878. 
PRICE SIX CENTS. 
*2.50 PER YEAR. 
[Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1878, by the Knral Publishing Company, in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.] 
Ijotttcttllntal, 
A BOWER. 
We offor the accompanying sketch as a beau¬ 
tiful effect produced at little cost, and one that 
any farmer that can see beauty in a flower, 
shrub or vine, can reproduce about his own 
home. Such delightful, shady, inviting nooks 
are far too infrequent iu onr American gardens. 
We are too fond of imposing artificial effects 
that display wealth rather than that homelike, 
quiet.geucrous arrangement of plants, lawns and 
walks that is suggested by a love of homo, and 
refined taste, untutored though it bo. 
There are many hardy vines suitable for such 
arbors as that represented in the engraving. 
Either one, or several, might be planted iu 
one small plot and trained for two or three sea¬ 
sons to a central column, and then earned over 
upon wires or light frames of any kind. The 
hardy Akebia quinata would answer the purpose 
admirably. The Wistaria, Periploca Grieca, 
Honeysuckles, Virginia Creeper would answer 
the purpose separately or together. For a sin¬ 
gle vine, however, for this climate, we think of 
nono that we should employ for this purpose in 
preference to tlio old and well-tried'ti > jpet 
Flower, Tecoma radicans (see page 281). This 
is very hardy, of rapid growth, and attaches it¬ 
self by its leathery rootlets to whatever it 
touches. 
-- 
THINNING AND DIGGING. 
With amateurs and in many oases with pro¬ 
fessional gardeners, it is usual to plant the 
shrubbery borders very close. Iu most oases no 
harm, but much good comes of thick planting, 
roots of those left. Does it pay to try and save 
the thinnings ? Most certainly not, when it has 
to be done at the risk of destroying the remain¬ 
ing plants. 
Another great wrong is done to the shrub¬ 
bery by the semi-annual diggiug practiced by 
two-thirdB of the gardeners. Hardly have the 
roots made a fair start in the surface soil, when 
down must go the spade and cut them off. What 
is the use of manuring and mulching, if wo 
must cut the roots off every fall and BpriDg, as 
soon as they get a fair start to work. I do not 
say the weeds must be allowed to roam and 
flourish. The surface should bo kept clean by 
hoeing the weeds when small, and the crust 
should he kept from baking by the judicious use 
of the rake, but no spade should touch the 
ground between the shrubs. If nocessary to 
loosen the soil, do it once a year with a strong 
garden fork. Much injury is alBO done to our 
shrubbery by improper pruning and trimming, 
but of thiB time and space will not allow me to 
speak. It is a wonder how some plants have 
ever thrived, subject to the cruel and barbarous 
treatment that has been given them. Study the 
welfare of your plants if you would succeed. 
El Dorado, Cala. W. C. L. Drew. 
preference to the old and well-tried T». jpet (3| r fl (Npi MY J'ft! I 
Flower, Tecoma radicans (see page 281). This ,-C>l U Ul 11 III III l til* 
is very hardy, of rapid growth, and attaches it- - 
1 “"“’ r ' V r0 °“ e “ 10 “ WHAT SHALL I PLANT! No. 2. 
-ww*- 
SAMUEL PARSONS. 
THINNING AND DIGGING. - 
- In my last paper I noted briefly some of the 
With amateurs and in many oases with pro- best flowering plants for massing or using 
fessioual gardeners, it is usual to plant the singly on the lawnB. Flowers appeal to the most 
shrubbery borders very close. Iu most oases no careless eyo, but very many enjoy as they pass 
harm, but much good comes of thick planting, the varied colors of foliage without understaud- 
if timely thinning is practiced. As soon as it ing or even thinking why they receive such 
becomes apparent that they be¬ 
gin to crowd each other, some --— —— - - - ■ —■ 
of the plants must be re¬ 
moved. This is imperative and, 
in so removing, the especial 
welfare of the plants loft 
rather than the good of those 
removed, should bo carefully 
studied. The reverse of this 
is the usual practice with quite 
all gardeners, the thinnings 
must be cared for and made 
to grow at all hazards, and 
without regard to the loss of 
roots to the remaining plants. 
These remaining shrubs, as 
is too often the case, instead 
of being improved by the thin¬ 
ning as is iutended, date their 
decline from that time forth. 
The reasons for this, (and there 
are several,) should be appar¬ 
ent to any observer. In tho 
first place, plants growing 
closely together naturally pro¬ 
tect each other ; it follows that 
after a free thinning, tho plants 
left get chilled, arresting 
growth and impairing their 
constitution. This is the re¬ 
sult of the thinning being car¬ 
ried to excess; a little at a 
time is the only safe rule, and 
one which should never be 
forgotten for a moment while 
at work iu the shrubbery. 
NVill it be necessary to speak 
of the seoond reason for the 
deolino of thinned shrubs ? It 
is tlio wholesale Iosb of roots. 
In our endeavor to get a good 
ball of roots for the removed 
plants, we cannot help doing 
considerable damage to the LAWN OIL ©A 
pleasure. IYy .touching here and there, briefly, 
on certain deciduous tress and shrubs remarka¬ 
ble for foliage of attractive shape and color, I 
hope to indicate somewhat how this agreeable 
effeot is produced on well-planted lawns. 
The Maples rank especially high, not only 
on account of their vigorous and rapid growth 
and general health, but also from the varied 
forms and color their leaves assume in the 
different varieties. These massed together or 
planted singly, present rich and delicate hues 
quite unsurpassed in their way. The Sugar 
Maple is perhaps the best known and appreciated 
even in its most purely ornamental character 
for its autumnal garb of crimson aud gold. 
Then there ie the Norway with broad, Bhadowing 
1 foliage, well suited for single positions on the 
lawn, or for skirting the edges of other groups 
in clusters of two or three. The Scarlet is 
honorably known for the unrivaled coloring 
of its robes in fall. Both good in their way, 
the Silver-leaved and Ash-leaved, with their 
light or fresh-looking foliage, have a minor 
degree of value for lawn planting, although 
still very useful iu their way. 
By grouping those Maples with the Soarlet 
or Tin Oak and Liquidambar most effective 
combinations may be formed for the exhibition 
of flue Biitumal coloring, and I only wonder that 
Vi. ,ju is not given to this branch of 
lawn planting. I would like to dwell at length, 
did space but permit, on the exquisite beau¬ 
ties of the Japanese Maples with their lace¬ 
like leaves, golden, purple and tri-colored. This 
much must be said for them, that no lawn can 
dispense with their hardy beauty, any more 
than it can spare the peculiar fitness their 
dwarf nature gives them for certain positions 
near the path or house. 
The cut-leaved and purple forms of the White 
Birch have great value for the lawn planter. 
In the true sense of the word elegant, their 
as m?* 
GAHOI1N BOWER. 
white bark stands out among other trees with 
great prominence and the drooping, graceful 
foliage relieves the shores of lakes or edges 
of woodland with great effectiveness. 
For sturdiness, for richness and massiveness, 
nothing can much surpass the different varieties 
of Beech, Purple and glowing, cut-leaved, 
symmetrical, and weeping with great irregular 
sweeps of the branches, all habits seem to 
afford it new oapacity for astonishing ua by its 
noble aud varied forms. Nor must we forget 
that the shade cast by the Beech has been es¬ 
teemed specially delightful from early classi¬ 
cal days. 
The sturdy qualities of the Oaks also recom¬ 
mend them highly for lawn planting. Their out¬ 
lines and curiously-formed branches and leaves 
render them always pioturesque, and their 
longevity is almost unsurpassed. Maturity 
with them does not come early, but their grand 
and even elegant forms remain with us so com¬ 
paratively unchanged that they seem at last 
part of ourselves, something that we have al¬ 
ways with us, like the “everlasting hills.” 
Quite as much as other trees, they take on pur¬ 
ple, and golden, ent-leaved or weeping forms. 
Indeed Quereus concordia is one of the moBt 
permanent and best golden trees we have. 
There are two purple forms of Oaks: one, 
nigricans, grows weJ) and is hardy, but does 
not retain the purple strongly-marked through¬ 
out the summer; the,other, atropurpurea, is 
rare, richly and permanently colored, of very 
slow growth, though not very bardv while young, 
iu many sections of America. The Scarlet Oak 
is well-known for its fine autumnal coloring. 
Not common, and of very' rich coloring is the 
Pimple-leaved Hazel. Then we have the Liquid¬ 
ambar, just now of “ Alligator Tree” celebrity, 
with its star-shaped leaves and dark-red color 
in autumn, and the Kilmarnock Willow, of light 
i foliage and regular weepiug form, but defective 
longevity. 
I must, however, conclude my 
brief remarks by noticing only 
two more very ornamental gen¬ 
era of trees : the Lindens and 
Cypresses or Taxodinms. The 
Linden is silvery, symmetrical 
and massive, golden-twigged, 
shining and graceful, but always 
a tree of very great beauty and 
value. Cypresses are not ap¬ 
preciated. There is nothing 
among trees more graceful than 
their weeping corves, or more 
delicate and elegant than their 
light colors and feathery foli¬ 
age, especially in the forms 
termed Weeping and Chinese. 
Elms certainly deserve, at least, 
a passing uotioe, but most va¬ 
rieties are quite familiar, except 
probably the Weeping Slippery 
Elm, the vigorous growth and 
persistent, healthy foliage of 
which give it a value hardly at 
all, as yet, recognized. 1 might 
mention many curiously formed 
and colored shrubs, such as 
Purplo Berberry, Japan Silver¬ 
leaved Oleaster, Sea Buck-thorn 
and variegated Wiegela, did 
space permit me. 
- - ■ -4 » »- 
JAPAN PERSIMMON. 
Whatever may be said 
against the hardiness of the 
Japanese Persimmon throngh- 
out tho North, and very little is 
really known of the matter, this 
much is certain, that for the 
South it is going to prove a val¬ 
uable acquisition. Careful notes 
should be taken, in various lo- 
