34 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
September 16, 1893. " 
JAPANESE NURSERIES.* 
Dwarfing of Plants and Miniature 
Gardening. 
The customs and circumstances connected with 
everyday life in your great country, the traditions 
and customs of ours, make the Japanese and 
American nurseries as different as are the latitudes 
of both countries. In America the maddening rush 
of commercial seas, navigated by the unsatisfiable 
children of the world, demands the quickest returns 
on all outlays; the taller you can grow a seedling or 
a cutting in the shortest possible time, the better 
your chance of success; while the Japanese nursery¬ 
men must exercise unlimited patience and conform 
to the popular arts of his country. 
The Japanese nursery trade is divided into two 
great sections, one for the cultivation of plants for 
export, which are grown on the same principle as 
those in this country, and one for plants for home 
trade, which latter are of an entirely different class. 
In Japan we have very many beautiful species of 
shrubs and herbaceous plants that are little if at all 
known in this country. 
The nurseries of Japan are very extensive and 
well kept; millions of plants are yearly grown for 
home and foreign trade, and I am pleased to note 
the export trade of Japanese nursery stock is yearly 
increasing in very great proportions. 
The art of dwarfing plants is so little known in 
other lands that a short description of the process will 
not be out of place here. A few examples will suffice 
to give you a general idea. The successful Japanese 
nurseryman must not only be a good grower, but he 
must also be an artist, conversant with the general 
arts and customs of his country, which differ very 
materially with those of any other country. 
The Pines may be considered the most important 
of all trees in Japan, and great care is taken of their 
cultivation and preservation. The most popular 
ones are Pinus densiflora, Pinus parsiflora, and 
Pinus Thunbergii. They are generally grown from 
seed, and great care is taken to select the choicest 
qualities. In the spring of the second year, when 
the seedlings are about 8 in. in height, they are 
staked with bamboo canes and tied with rice straw, 
the plants being bent in different desirable shapes. 
The next fall they are transplanted to a richer soil 
and well fertilized. In the following spring the 
plants are restaked and twisted and tied in fanciful 
forms. This mode of treatment is given until the 
seventh year, when the trees will have assumed fairly 
large proportions, the branches being trained in 
graceful forms and the foliage-like small clouds of 
dense green. The plants are now taken up and 
potted in pots ft. in diameter, and are kept well 
watered. Every succeeding year great care must be 
taken of new shoots, which must be kept pinched 
back. After another three years of this treatment 
the trees are virtually dwarfed, there being no visible 
growth thereafter. 
The dwarfing of Bamboos is another important 
branch of the Japanese nursery business. Three 
weeks after Bamboo shoots begin to grow, and when 
the trunks measure about 8 in. in circumference, and 
5 ft. in height, the bark is removed, piece by piece, 
from the joint. After five weeks, when the plants 
get somewhat stout, bend and tie the stem zig-zag ; 
after three months, when the side shoots grow strong 
enough, cut them all off, 5 or 6 in. from the main 
trunk; they are then dug up and potted in sand; 
care should be taken not to use any fertiliser, but 
plenty of water should be given. Cut off the large, 
shoots every year, in May or June, and after three 
years the twigs and leaves will present admirable 
yellow and green tints. 
Dwarfed Thuyas are effected by means of grafting. 
Let a Thuya Lobbi seedling grow on fertile soil for 
three years, or until it becomes about 5 ft. in length ; 
then in the middle of spring cut off all branches, 
leaving the trunk and top branch ; take a J in. chisel 
and hammer it into the thickest portion of the trunk,, 
hollov/ out a I in. deep hole to every 2 or 3 in. space, 
so that the trunk can be bent more easily in the 
desired direction ; rice straw is twisted round the 
trunk, which is bent in many curious forms and 
fanciful shapes. In springtime of the second year of 
this treatment the plants are potted in rich soil; in 
another two years, when the plants have assumed 
* Paper read by Henry Izawa, of Japan, at the Nursery¬ 
men’s Session of the World's Congress Auxiliary of the 
W orld’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago, August lytb, 1893. 
permanent forms. Thuya obtusa is then grafted on 
the Lobbi stem. 
The process of grafting is in brief as follows : 
Apply plenty of fertilizer to the Thuya Lobbi plant; 
in early Spring take seme two-inch shoots of Thuya 
obtusa, cut the end in a slanting plane, and insert in 
the smaller portions of the Thuya Lobbi trunk, one 
graft to every inch on the trunk; wrap the grafts 
with rice straw and take the plants to a shady, wind¬ 
less room, with the temperature at 35 degrees F.; 
increase the temperature one or two degrees daily ; 
continue this for three weeks, by this time a little 
breeze may be admitted, and leave the temperature 
of the room 60° for two weeks and at 708 for two 
weeks ; leaves will soon grow from the grafted twigs. 
In the latter part of spring, when the temperature in 
and out of doors becomes uniform, the plants can be 
safely transferred to some shady position out of 
doors. In the fall, when all the grafts have taken 
good hold, cut off all the remaining shoots of Thuya 
Lobbi. Transplant every year in good rich soil; six 
years will be sufficient to produce handsome speci¬ 
mens of dwarfed Thuyas. 
All kinds of conifers are treated in a similar 
manner. There is also a great demand for -curiosi¬ 
ties in mixed grafted conifers—that is, six or seven 
kinds of conifers on one plant. 
Maples form one of the best materials for the 
artistic fancies of the Japanese craftsman. Often a 
great many different varieties of Maples are grafted 
on one stem. Seedling Maples are spliced and tied 
together when growing; after they have formed an 
union, the desired shoot is cut off; this is kept up 
until ten or twenty varieties are obtained. Maples 
thus grafted form lovely features for lawns, their 
varying hues and types of foliage enhancing each 
other’s beauty. 
Now a few words regarding our miniature 
gardening. The msthetic idea shows itself in every 
line of Japanese industries, and especially is it the 
case with our nursery and landscape gardeners. The 
most inexperienced need not fear any difficulty in 
our mode of gardening if he but uses his mind and 
efforts in the right direction. The skilful artist 
introduces into his miniature garden, not regular 
geometrical forms, but anything odd, irregular and 
artistic. To us gardening is not mathematic, but an 
art—hills, dales, rivulets, waterfalls, bridges, etc., 
vie with each other in presenting their quaintest 
forms and fancies, and harmonious symmetries. 
Dwarfed plants of all descriptions deck the scene 
here and there in thousands of peculiarly artistic 
shapes. We derive many lessons from Nature, and 
endeavour to imitate her as much as is practicable, 
although on a smaller scale. It is in the person of a 
Japanese gardener that Dame Nature finds her 
most ardent lover; his is the ambition to make his 
country a place for men like Arnold to flee to when 
seeking a studio to the beauties of the " Light of 
the World.” 
- ^ - 
ELLINGTON PARK, 
RAMSGATE. 
On Thursday of last week the keys of this new 
public park for Ramsgate were handed over to the 
Mayor of the town by the contractors, Messrs. J. 
Cheal & Sons, of Crawley, Sussex, and on the 
following day the park was thrown open to the public 
for ever. Since September last the park has been 
almost completely transformed in appearance. 
Lending dtself readily to the purposes for which it 
was intended, and being endowed by Nature with 
many beauties not always met with, it seemed to 
some almost sacrilegious to talk of cutting up the 
grounds. Messrs. Cheal, however, with great artistic 
ability,succeeded in devising plans which immediately 
met with the approval of the Council, and the 
governing body are to be congratulated upon having 
placed the work in hands so skilled. The park looks 
even better than the plans foreshadowed, and it must 
certainly be said that the very most has been made 
of the ground at the contractors’ disposal. The 
twelve acres of land has been so arranged as to con¬ 
vey the appearance of being much larger. Most of 
the magnificent old trees have been preserved, and 
though a great deal has been done in alteration of 
the old levels, the land still retains much of its former 
natural attractiveness. 
Among the main features of the park, a few must be 
mentioned briefly here. First of all, however, it must 
be said that perhaps the finest piece of constructive 
work is the handsomely designed Doulton-ware 
terrace, 246 ft. in length, 25 ft. wide at the narrowest 
and 75 ft. at the widest part. At the rear of the 
terrace, from which a most beautiful vdew of the 
grounds can be obtained, is the band stand, a rustic 
erection of some attractiveness. Messrs. Cheal 
have succeeded in so laying out and arranging the 
land that wherever one stands in the park one is 
still compelled to move in order to see the whole of 
the grounds. From each point of prominence a 
newer and more picturesque view seems to be 
secured, a fact which speaks eloquently of the 
manner in which Messrs. Cheal have done then- 
work. The handsome fountain given by Mrs. Barber 
faces the terrace walk, and further on is another and 
smaller fountain, given by Mr. Jonas Levy, J.P. At 
convenient intervals are disposed the seats kindly 
given by the Member for Thanet, while picturesque 
corners are appropriately filled with small 
shelters, for which many visitors will feel grateful. 
A miniature lake and a children’s playground in the 
Grange Road corner are other features. The lake is 
small, and so is the children’s playground, but in 
regard to this it must be remembered that children 
can with safety play in any other part of the grounds, 
there being no restrictions whatever in this respect. 
Previous to the commencement of the proceedings 
the company walked round the park on a tour of 
inspection, and there were many expressions of 
gratification at the manner in which the grounds had 
been beautified, and the various gifts disposed. A 
large crowd having assembled near the band stand, 
the Mayor addressed a few words to the company, 
after which the visitors proceeded to the centre of 
the park, v/here the business of assisting in the 
planting of an Oak tree was gone through, the Right 
Hon. James Lowther, M.P., wielding a spade with 
considerable vigour, amid the applause of the 
spectators. Another move was made to the west 
corner of the park, where the Mayoress planted a 
CopperBeech, and where some further speech-making 
took place. At the close of this ceremony the 
National Anthem was played by the Corporation 
Band, and the company present were addressed by 
the Mayor, the Vicar of Ramsgate, the Chairman of 
the Parks Committee, and Mr. J. Cheal, who 
thanked the Mayor and other speakers for the com¬ 
plimentary remarks made by them as to the way in 
which his firm had carried out their work. 
- .im - 
WORKING MEN’S 
FLOWERS. 
The Daily News of Monday, the 21st ult. in noticing 
some of the features of the flower show in connec¬ 
tion with the Great National Co-operative Festival, 
held at the Crystal Palace on the previous Saturday, 
said : ” The flower-table showed what the working 
man is growing. He understands Zinnias, and wisely 
puts the African IMarigold beside them. His trusses 
of Phlox Drummondii are what trusses of Phlox 
Drummondii should be ; and he knows the value of 
Indian Pinks. But some of his greatest achieve¬ 
ments, to judge from the show, are with Salpiglossis. 
Flowers of this kind were objects of general admira¬ 
tion on Saturday, and it was remarkable how often 
the question was asked, ‘ But what are they ?' 
Truly, their fame is not equal to their deserts.” In 
this pleasant way the newspaper writer touches upon 
some of the leading flowers grown and exhibited by 
the working man co-operator ; and it is not at all 
surprising he should single out the Salpiglossis for 
special praise, for every eye that could be attracted 
by the beautiful in flowers noticed the bunches of 
exquisite blossoms, and many, as above stated, 
wondered what they were. 
The Salpiglossis. 
(from Salpinx, a tube, and glossis, a tongue, referring 
to the style in the tube of the flower) is a native of 
Chili, and the earliest introduction came to us about 
1820. At first regarded as a herbaceous perennial, 
it was cultivated in greenhouses; later in point of 
time it came to be regarded as a biennial; but novi’, 
especially in reference to the improved forms we 
know in this day, as varieties of S. variabilis, and 
termed grandiflora, it is classed among the annuals, 
where it reigns almost supreme as one of the most 
beautiful and attractive. Like some of the Petunias 
it is a viscid plant, exuding from leaves and stems a 
sticky or gummy secretion which makes the sprays a 
little disagreeable to handle. We do not appear to 
have a common name for the plant. The flowers are 
