60 
House & Garden 
Bobbink S Atkins 
.Nurserymen ^ Florists - Planters 
Beautiful grounds and gardens everywhere re¬ 
flect the character of our Nurseries, the extent 
and variety of our stock, the supreme excellence 
of our product. 
TREES and ORNAMENTAL SHRUBS 
HARDY OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 
HOME GROWN RHODODENDRONS 
VINES and CLIMBERS 
HOME GROWN ROSES 
HOUSE PLANTS 
EVERGREENS 
and 1 50 other specialties 
Arrange early for Spring Planting. 
We shall he glad to send an illustrated catalog. 
RUTHERFORD 
New Jersey 
Everybody loves this beautiful flower with its wonderful 
combination of colors: gay if you wish, or delicate if 
preferred, but always enchanting. Any child can grow them. 
Plant a succession and have bloom from last of June until almost 
winter. They bloom bravely through heat and drouth, and do not 
mind severe frosts in fall. We have gone to much labor and 
expense to collect 125 of the finest sorts from America and Europe. 
25 of these cannot be obtained from any other American seedsmen. 
Send for FREE Descriptive Catalog 
which also lists 150 varieties of finest Dahlias, 165 varieties Iris, 150 varieties 
Peonies, as well as the best of everything in vegetable and flower seeds. 
THE WING SEED COMPANY, Box 927, Mechanicsburg, Ohio 
The Gentle Art of Hedging 
(Continued from page 58) 
tirely different character, material 
that can be drawn on for winter com¬ 
fort and protection almost as cer¬ 
tainly as the shelter of a house. On 
a fairly large place there is nothing 
to equal them, and even small places 
may indulge in them if a not too elab¬ 
orate garden scheme is undertaken. 
Arborvitse leads all the rest, the 
Siberian form which is taller and 
more compact than our native va¬ 
riety, being quite the finest evergreen 
hedge plant in existence, to my mind. 
It stands shearing as well as privet, 
and a high hedge of unbroken, liv¬ 
ing green is a matter of only a few 
years’ effort and growth—a hedge 
that is protective, a bird refuge, and 
as beautiful as only itself can be, all 
at one and the same time. And it 
will endure for ages, if properly 
tended, and let alone. 
Pine is used frequently, in three of 
its varieties: the native white pine, 
the Scotch pine and the Austrian. 
But, personally, I care less for this 
than for any other coniferous hedge. 
The character of its growth is too 
loose and broken to furnish the de¬ 
sired smooth surface when sheared; 
and there is too great a depth of 
shadow in it as well, owdng to this 
same open habit. This is true, also, 
though in a less degree, of spruce; 
yet a hedge of white spruce sheared 
forms a very dense and compact 
barrier, firm and unyielding and high¬ 
ly resistant to wind and cold, besides 
being very satisfactory to the eye. 
Hedges That Flower 
For flowering hedges there are 
many things to choose from. Most 
serviceable and sturdy, perhaps, is the 
rugosa rose. This sends up many 
rugged shoots from the root every 
season, thereby increasing in density 
continually; and where exposed 
equally on both sides to light and air, 
it clothes itself to the ground with 
the leafy “petticoats” so essential to 
the beauty of a hedge. 
Altheas or rose of Sharon thickly 
planted, form the best tall screen 
hedge of any deciduous plant, save 
old and established privet or lilac. 
Where especial thickness is desired, 
a double row may be set for this is 
an erect and stiff growing shrub that 
requires very little ground space. It 
is so thinly furnished with branches 
and leaves low down, however, that 
it must be reinforced by a low grow¬ 
ing shrub before it, if a complete 
barrier is wanted. Deutzias, hy¬ 
drangeas or barberries will supply 
this deficiency. 
Whether to use the formal sheared 
hedge, or the informal bank of 
flowering shrubs on any given place, 
for any given purpose, is a matter 
that must be determined by the gen¬ 
eral surroundings of the place, 
and the character of it, as well. It 
is true of hedges—.perhaps more near¬ 
ly universally than of any other 
garden or outdoor feature—that they 
must conform to the character and 
spirit of a place to be successful. The 
clipped hedge corresponds, in a sense, 
to the architectural garden wall; and 
where such a wall would be appropri¬ 
ate the formal hedge is therefore 
appropriate—not in exactly the same 
spots, please do not understand me to 
mean, but in the same general sur¬ 
roundings. 
Similarly, the informal flowering 
hedge might be likened to the loosely 
piled stone wall, vine clad and pic¬ 
turesque. This is not in keeping with 
highly finished suburban surround¬ 
ings but finds its proper place on a 
wide estate, or farm, or in a semi- 
rural environment. In such environ¬ 
ment, too, the utilitarian barriers first 
considered belong. 
In choosing a hedge, therefore, be 
guided first by the place you are 
hedging. Let that determine its char¬ 
acter. With the character of it de¬ 
cided, let nothing short of dollars 
and cents, or the lack of them, in¬ 
duce you to plant the cheap, quick 
growing and commonly used hedge 
material. Choose the best that can 
be had, if money does not stand in 
the way, letting personal predilec¬ 
tions govern the matter of final selec¬ 
tion, of course. 
Whatever material you may use in 
a hedge that is to be clipped, re¬ 
member that the form into which it 
is to be brought and maintained by 
clipping is always the inverted, round 
topped wedge. A sheared hedge 
should never be permitted to grow 
as wide at the top as at the bottom, 
nor should it be plumb straight on 
the sides. Slope the sides in from 
the bottom to the top at a perpetual 
angle of from ten to fifteen degrees, 
on both sides. Thus the lower parts 
of the plants will receive as much 
light as the tops, and they continue 
to grow at the ground, never becom¬ 
ing “leggy.” Then, too_, the weight 
of snow and ice in winter is less 
and more evenly distributed, and 
there is practically no danger of 
branches being bent down under it 
and often broken. 
The planting of all deciduous 
hedges is greatly facilitated by dig¬ 
ging a trench where the plants are to 
go, making it the required depth 
along its entire length. Into this 
the plants are set by a spaced tape 
line and held by one man while an¬ 
other puts in a shovelful of earth to 
hold each in place. After all are in 
position, one man alone can finish 
the work of filling and tamping. 
Hedge plants should be set, however, 
just as , carefully as shrubs of any 
kind, anywhere. It is well to plant 
them a trifle deeper in the ground 
than they were originally. 
America First In Conservatories 
(Continued from page 39) 
Americans are today becoming in¬ 
terested in the soil, and getting the 
most out of a given area. Euro¬ 
peans have taught us the marvels that 
can be accomplished even with a 
small greenhouse. This is not only 
true of the cultivation of flowers, but 
of vegetables as well. The Italians 
train fruit trees into vines which are 
fastened against walls formed by 
terracing their hills into level beds. 
Not the least interesting phase of 
espalier work is its beauty as well 
as its utility. An apple, pear, or 
peach tree in bloom is a sight never 
to be forgotten. The Swiss and the 
French are adepts at this wall-cul¬ 
ture, while Germany and England 
are close followers; and now it seems 
that America is determined to lead. 
We have learned this art chiefly 
from English gardeners and land¬ 
scape artists who have experimented 
for years with it in beautifying their 
estates and in its practical applica¬ 
tion of conserving space. 
