the a 
merican 
[J’ebe 
80 
One 
against 
ttEEPIUG HBDG®®' 
winal obiections urged 
of the pnncipal o 
the employment 
plowbb beds m lawbs. 
The beauty of all bedding plants is best 
seen from above as the flowers or 
shoots are on the terminal branches, rhe 
Enn-lish have a way, to use a trite sayin„, 
eating their cake and keeping it at the same 
time, in the an-angement of their large 
lawns. At a distance of a few hundred feet 
from the house a ditch is diig. The side 
next to the house is nearly perpenchciilar 
and deep enough so that a sheep can not 
leap over it. The other side is a gradual 
slope and this slope and the perpendicular 
sides are seeded to grass. Beyond this ditch, 
sheep are pastured adding interest to the 
landscape and keeping the grass closely 
cropped. From the house only a broad ex¬ 
panse of lawn is seen with no interrupting 
fences. 
A similar method of deceiving the eye may 
be practiced in making flower beds. By 
placing them on the outer borders of the 
lawn and sinking the nearest edge six 
more inches below the lawn, the eye beholds 
only flowei-s, instead of stems and newly 
worked soil. In this way long-legged Gera¬ 
niums may be made to ornament, instead, as 
is generally the case, to detract from the 
beauty of the lawn. 
To one who purchases each year the bed¬ 
ding plants he uses, this suggestion will have 
less force than with those who prefer to save 
their Geraniums and other plants from year 
to year. But there are benefits in sinking 
the edges of any flower bed so that the 
foliage of the newly set plants just touches 
the grass. It presents a finished appearance 
from the start, is less liable to injury from 
passers-by and more readily presents its 
beauties to the eye. 
A natural and beautiful example of a 
sunken flower bed may be seen in any bog 
where the Cowslip flourishes, especially 
along side of railroads where the grass un¬ 
disturbed by cattle shapes itself into tus¬ 
socks, betiveen which the Cowslip—naturally 
an aquatic plant—flourishes without becom¬ 
ing drawn up. In the .spring after March 
fires have buimed away the dead and frozen 
grass, the Cowslip .springs up, just filling the 
little depressions with its rounded outline 
and bursting into full bloom, beeomes one of 
the most beautiful objects imaginable_ 
golden gems upon a cloth of emerald velvet. 
How to protect flower beds in the lawn or 
garden from the intrusion of fowls is an im¬ 
portant question with many amateur florists. 
Any wire arranged in the shaiie of a low 
fence around the bed is better than a fringe 
of sticks or paving stones, butas usually con¬ 
structed in our public parks they detract 
grievously from the appearance of the 
flowers. Chickens and turkeys will not go 
where their walking is not tolerably plain, a 
simple net work of wires is thoiefm-e sufli- 
cient to protect flower beds from their incur¬ 
sions. The mc.shes may be three or four 
inches wide and the plants placed through 
them. The wire will prevent the chickens 
from wallowing among the plants and mak¬ 
ing thoroughfares beneath it, while the foli¬ 
age of the plants will soon grow large enough 
to cover and hide it from view. 
B. B. I’jKitcii. 
agaiusv * . iceeuinf? 
hedges is of no qunliflention 
dent repair, to a proper attention 
that unless they ^ 
they will j, Unfortunately our 
fence against bye s Saunders, 
kept by winter trimming only, because in 
St seLonof oompara.iveleisin-e it wo^ 
probably receive attention, but with such 
stimig-growing plants as the Osage Orange 
and Honey Locust, our two populai hedge 
racticablc to produce a close 
plants, it is impr 
fence without frequent summer trimmin s 
There is one thing, however, which should 
be put to their credit, that after a few years, 
the growths will be less profuse; the weak¬ 
ening elTect of continued summer pruning 
ultimately weakens the plants, so that they 
become easier managed. This also prevents 
them from sending out their roots to a great 
distance, so that they do not iuterfere with 
cultivated crops, an evil which soon becomes 
visible when a hedge is neglected and allowed 
to take care of itself. 
\Mien a hedge gets into a condition that 
one summer trimming and one winter trim¬ 
ming will keep it in a fairly good condition, 
the labor and cost is reduced to a minimum. 
It will also have a tendency to retard the 
exuberance of early summer growth, if tlie 
winter trimming is delayed until after the 
buds begin to push in spring. This will 
make a difference of several weeks in regard 
to summer trimming, and will prove of some 
importance when summer pruning is confined 
to one operation. 
The weakest jiart of a hedge is always 
nearest the ground; the criterion of a well- 
kept hedge is that of thickness at the bot¬ 
tom; this should also be its widest part, and 
it should taper upwards to a point. Unless 
this form is strictly maintained the lower 
branches will giadually wmaken and ulti¬ 
mately die out, leaving gaps which arc not 
easily closed. Hedges w hich become weak 
and full of gaps through neglect may bo 
lenewed by cutting them down in win¬ 
ter to within eighteen inches oi- so from 
the ground; the plants will then branch out 
vigorously, and by proper pruning, soon be 
all that need be desired for a fence. 
HARDINESS OF MAGNOLIA GBANDIFLOEA. 
Unquestionably the most magnificent 
broad-leaved evergreen tree found in North 
America IS the Mauiwlin. umndlllnm, grand 
not only in the exi.uisite beauty of ils 
lovyers, but also in the rich luxuriance of 
^tsfoiage, as well as in the majesty of h.h 
Tlio tree is a native of 
Southwest, andtg::.i:;s;";;v-" 
sidcred hardy north of Wasliiim-i ’' 7”*' 
MajorUL.l,Veas«UtesintImS 
I'olegraph that he has a speein e ' ol 
vorys„nonpure nghtinhis h,,w i/ 
«oliu family full health 
his premises. Besides being growiw^ 
oral of our nurseries, there ar 
yards in this city in ivhich it ig 1 
perfection; hence, we see no reason'*'^ 
should notbe-seonas frequently as H 
or Snowball. 
“The objection urged against it that 
tree requires careful sheltering in 
says the writer, “is a mistake. Itnced"'*'”^’” 
whatever, so far.as we know, purg J 
tircly open to a northern exposure a***!^”' 
it had passed through several wi’ntei 
severe as any experienced, without 
slightest damage, is suffleient proof nf- 
hardiness.” 
“It is fully fifty years ago that we saw tl ' 
first tree of this Magnolia and desired tot 
our luck with it, although made to und"^ 
stand that it w^as not recommended foroT 
door culture in our latitude. The snnli 
plant that we had secured grew very slow] 
and w'o became quite imptitieiit in waitin^ 
for it to bloom. We leanied, however, that 
it was very slow' in flowering when the tree 
w'as not grafted and grew upon its own ■ 
roots; but we also found that when it began 
to bloom it never missed a season, and that 
it was far liardier than when grafted. Ith 
still standing, now for over forty years, and 
is apparently vigorous, having borne a par¬ 
tial crop of flowers the past season. We 
think we can tlicrefore say quite confidently 
tliat the Magnolia grandijlora is hardy in 
Philadelphia, and that we should like to see 
a sjiccimcn upon the grounds of every gentle¬ 
man wlio can appreciate one of the most 
beautiful floral sights in the entire catalogue.” 
IVT LAWNS, 
III our country with its frequent summer 
droughts, and severe, snowless wlntere. Ivy 
does not thrive as well as in the mild, moist 
climate of Great Britain, and ivy lawns are 
therefore known to but few among the many 
wlio are interested in gardening economy. 
They consist, as the name implies of Ivy 
only, and they oiler some peculiar advan¬ 
tages in cases where grass lawns are apt 
to occasion more trouble than they are 
w’orth to the builder. 
According to the Farmers’ Gazette (Dublin) 
an Ivy lawn may be w'ell made in one season, 
and if tlio primarj' operation of planting be 
proiicrly iicrformed tbo lawn will make it¬ 
self; it will want no cutting, no sweeping, 
no w'atci ing, no protection from the birds 
that cal. the grass seeds to-day, and to¬ 
morrow' scratch up the tender plants, •!» 
thougli it w'crc their mission to make gins* 
lawns impossible. Ami wlioii made, being, 
as it were, self-made, an Ivy 
care of itself for any number of years, 
if ill need of repair or trimming, the 
the sliears, or tlio spado may bo used 
unskillful hamls, and with tlio least imaU' ' 
able cost of time, for it is not an easy 
to kill, or oven to seriously injura, a a 
consisting of Ivy solely. 
FRUiaTNCl SALISBDRIA ADIANTIFOU^ 
conime»b 
fruits 8“ 
, .nKlUllMl-iiau .I-*''-; I ji ofc 
I'-'H'oly horo tiliiil; ii; 1ms boon boHovot ' ^ 
could not bear fruit on account t)f (j jn 
diieeiousand tlioro being no iiialo P " 
Miis country. However, this way 
Klizabotli (1. Kniglit of the Normal ' 
states that the tree fruits abundiwty 
year in the Mow York Ooiitral 
This beautiful ooniforon.s tree 
called Ginkgo, .Maiden-hair Tree, 
it 
