10 
met cement 
' _ Prepare for Shrub Planting. - Sa * 
The season for tree gilt shrub ionvanns 
being close at hand, the places to receive 
them should be thorcughly prepared. 
Where the whole of 2 bed er border can- 
not he trenched and the soil renewed a 
‘wide, deep hole should be dug for the 
plant right down into the subsvil. The 
poorest of the soil should then be thrown 
out, and a well prepared soil sustituted. 
It is an excellent plan to fill the bottom 
of the hole with succulent green stuff from 
the rubbish heap. This makes a. cool 
moist bottom of gradually decaying veze- 
table mould for the plant. This hole 
can remain open to await the coming of 
the tree, or can be filled up temporarily» 
and in any case is ready when the busy 
planting season arrives. 
— Summer Annuals, — 
We advised the sowing of many hardy 
summer annuals last month. If this has 
“heen neglected it should be attended to 
‘during the present month. The same 
remarks with regard to deep cultivation 
applies equally to these. ‘The greater the 
depth of humie soil the more independent 
the plants will be of surface watering in 
the summer. It is always wise at this 
geason to have a good supply of well- 
rotted manure on hand for the purvose of 
digging in and deepening flower borders. 
wo feet of good soil should be the min- 
imum depth all over the garden. 
_— Sundry. Work, — 
The wind and heavy rain freqently 
experienced at this season make it 
“necessary to tieup and stake many 
‘plants afresh.” es 
“Exhausted and dying plants, withered 
stalks, and all untidy matter should ibe 
promptly removed to prevent that bed- 
“‘raggled, unkempt appearance gardens too 
often present at this time of year. 
_-~ The Autumn Attractions, — 
The Anemone Japonica is one of the 
glories oftheautumn. Both the pink and> 
the white varieties are quite hardy, increase 
rapidly, and are extremely decorative both 
for indoor and-garden--purposes, - 
© Michaelmas Daisies or the Perennial 
Aster, besides their eft, mebulous beauty, 
judicious disbuddinyg. 
The 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
have also the virtue of flowering profusely 
at this season. They are best replanted 
every year after flowering. The roots 
increase rapidly, and a big root will divide 
into several plants. 
Dahlias should still be making a display 
April, 1910 
if the attention we have so often urged 4 
has been given them. 
Chrysanthemum, the autumn queen of 
flowers, should now be justifying its title. 
They are always improved, even when . & 
only grown for garden decoration, by 
In doing so select 
the largest and most promising of the 
terminal buds, and reduce the side buds. 
Liquid manure, soot water more especially 
will intensify the color of the flower and 
give more onto the foliage. 
— Roses. — 
As May is a favorable month for plant- 
ing and transplanting Roses the ground 
should be thoroughly trenched and drained 
now for their reception. 
— Cuttings. — 
Cuttings of hard-wooded trees and 
shrubs can be taken at this season. 
bs Hollyhocks. — 
Hollyhocks, when they. have: finished 
flowering, can be cut down within 6 inches 
of the ground. To propagate them the 
root can be divided or cuttings taken off 
the basal shoots. 
‘Carnation. 
‘Its Eisen Varieties 
fo we and Uses. : 
‘Extracts from a pane read by W. We, 
ell of Franklin, Pa, before the 
‘American Carnation Society, in conven- 
tion at Pittsburgh, Pa., 
26 and 27, 1910.] 
January 
— Karly History of the Carnation, — 
The Carnation, or to express its name 
‘in strictly botanical terms, Dianthus 
caryophyllus, is, according to Loudon, a 
“native. of southern Europe, and has been 
found ‘growing naturally, in England. 
The - (Baie name, Dianthus, is com- 
the 
“famili iar Sweet William; but thé one 
Yellow Gino Carnation. 
ae ys of (ache Greek words, meaning 
the flower of the Gods, or the Deity ; 
which has led certain writers to cul it 
the Divine Flower,.a name which might 
well be exchanged for one more simple 
and comprehensible, The specitic name, 
earyophyllus, has reference to the clove- 
like fragrance of the flowers ; while the 
common name, Carnation, has for its 
base the Latin word “carnis,’ meaning 
flesh, in allusion to the pink or flesh 
color of the flowers in their wild state, 
~ There are many different species in 
genus Dianthus, including the 
that. most nearly resembles the Carnation 
is the Pink, with its several varieties. 
Where it grows naturally, the Carna- 
tion has single flowers, about one inch in 
diameter, having ‘but five petals ; ‘but 
variation, selection, and cultivation have 
80 changed its character that flowers four 
inches .in diameter are, now produced, 
having a very great number of petals, a 
‘The ordinary garden Carnation is a 
hardy perennial that blooms but once ub 
year; the flurist’s Carnation of to- -day” is 
undoubtedly the result of changes’ that 
have taken place: in its habits, through 
selecting | and cultivating the most 
promising plants produced by natural 
‘variation, until now it may be had in 
bloom during the entire year ; but in the 
evolutionary operation it’ has lost. a 
portion of its hardiness, probably, 
because of the higher temperature” to 
“which it has been subjected for genera- 
