Manual of Gardening

A PRACTICAL GUIDE
TO THE MAKING OF HOME GROUNDS AND THE GROWING OF FLOWERS, FRUITS, AND VEGETABLES FOR HOME USE

by L. H. Bailey

SECOND EDITION

1910

Contents

Abutilons; agapanthus; alstremeria; amaryllis; anemone; aralia; araucaria; auricula; azaleas; begonias; cactus; caladium; calceolaria; calla; camellias; cannas; carnations; century plants; chrysanthemums; cineraria; clematis; coleus; crocus; croton; cyclamen; dahlia; ferns; freesia; fuchsia; geranium; gladiolus; gloxinia; grevillea; hollyhocks; hyacinths; iris; lily; lily-of-the-valley; mignonette; moon-flowers; narcissus; oleander; oxalis; palms; pandanus; pansy; pelargonium; peony; phlox; primulas; rhododendrons; rose; smilax; stocks; sweet pea; swainsona; tuberose; tulips; violet; wax plant.

Almond; apples; apricot; blackberry; cherry; cranberry; currant; dewberry; fig; gooseberry; grape; mulberry; nuts; orange; peach; pear; plum; quince; raspberry; strawberry;

Asparagus; artichoke; artichoke; Jerusalem; bean; beet; broccoli; brussels sprouts; cabbage; carrot; cauliflower; celeriac; celery; chard; chicory; chervil; chives; collards; corn salad; corn; cress; cucumber; dandelion; egg-plant; endive; garlic; horseradish; kale; kohlrabi; leek; lettuce; mushroom; mustard; muskmelon; okra; onion; parsley; parsnip; pea; pepper; potato; radish; rhubarb; salsify; sea-kale; sorrel; spearmint; spinach; squash; sweet-potato; tomato; turnips and rutabagas; watermelon.

LIST OF PLATES

EXPLANATION

It has been my desire to reconstruct the two books, “Garden-Making” and “Practical Garden-Book”; but inasmuch as these books have found a constituency in their present form, it has seemed best to let them stand as they are and to continue their publication as long as the demand maintains itself, and to prepare a new work on gardening. This new work I now offer as “A Manual of Gardening.” It is a combination and revision of the main parts of the other two books, together with much new material and the results of the experience of ten added years.

A book of this kind cannot be drawn wholly from one’s own practice, unless it is designed to have a very restricted and local application. Many of the best suggestions in such a book will have come from correspondents, questioners, and those who enjoy talking about gardens; and my situation has been such that these communications have come to me freely. I have always tried, however, to test all such suggestions by experience and to make them my own before offering them to my reader. I must express my special obligation to those persons who collaborated in the preparation of the other two books, and whose contributions have been freely used in this one: to C.E. Hunn, a gardener of long experience; Professor Ernest Walker, reared as a commercial florist; Professor L.R. Taft and Professor F.A. Waugh, well known for their studies and writings in horticultural subjects.

In making this book, I have had constantly in mind the home-maker himself or herself rather than the professional gardener. It is of the greatest importance that we attach many persons to the land; and I am convinced that an interest in gardening will naturally take the place of many desires that are much more difficult to gratify, and that lie beyond the reach of the average man or woman.

It has been my good fortune to have seen amateur and commercial gardening in all parts of the United States, and I have tried to express something of this generality in the book; yet my experience, as well as that of my original collaborators, is of the northeastern states, and the book is therefore necessarily written from this region as a base. One gardening book cannot be made to apply in its practice in all parts of the United States and Canada unless its instructions are so general as to be practically useless; but the principles and points of view may have wider application. While I have tried to give only the soundest and most tested advice, I cannot hope to have escaped errors and shortcomings, and I shall be grateful to my reader if he will advise me of mistakes or faults that he may discover. I shall expect to use such information in the making of subsequent editions.

Of course an author cannot hold himself responsible for failures that his reader may suffer. The statements in a book of this kind are in the nature of advice, and it may or it may not apply in particular conditions, and the success or failure is the result mostly of the judgment and carefulness of the operator. I hope that no reader of a gardening book will ever conceive the idea that reading a book and following it literally will make him a gardener. He must always assume his own risks, and this will be the first step in his personal progress.

I should explain that the botanical nomenclature of this book is that of the “Cyclopedia of American Horticulture,” unless otherwise stated. The exceptions are the “trade names,” or those used by nurserymen and seedsmen in the sale of their stock.

I should further explain the reason for omitting ligatures and using such words as peony, spirea, dracena, cobea. As technical Latin formularies, the compounds must of course be retained, as in Pæonia officinalis, Spiræa Thunbergi, Dracæna fragrans, Cobœa scandens; but as Anglicized words of common speech it is time to follow the custom of general literature, in which the combinations æ and œ have disappeared. This simplification was begun in the “Cyclopedia of American Horticulture” and has been continued in other writings.

L. H. BAILEY.

ITHACA, NEW YORK,
January 20, 1910.

CHAPTER I
THE POINT OF VIEW

I. The open center.

Wherever there is soil, plants grow and produce their kind, and all plants are interesting; when a person makes a choice as to what plants he shall grow in any given place, he becomes a gardener or a farmer; and if the conditions are such that he cannot make a choice, he may adopt the plants that grow there by nature, and by making the most of them may still be a gardener or a farmer in some degree.

Every family, therefore, may have a garden. If there is not a foot of land, there are porches or windows. Wherever there is sunlight, plants may be made to grow; and one plant in a tin-can may be a more helpful and inspiring garden to some mind than a whole acre of lawn and flowers may be to another.

The satisfaction of a garden does not depend on the area, nor, happily, on the cost or rarity of the plants. It depends on the temper of the person. One must first seek to love plants and nature, and then to cultivate the happy peace of mind that is satisfied with little.

In the vast majority of cases a person will be happier if he has no rigid and arbitrary notions, for gardens are moodish, particularly with the novice. If plants grow and thrive, he should be happy; and if the plants that thrive chance not to be the ones that he planted, they are plants nevertheless, and nature is satisfied with them.

We are wont to covet the things that we cannot have; but we are happier when we love the things that grow because they must. A patch of lusty pigweeds, growing and crowding in luxuriant abandon, may be a better and more worthy object of affection than a bed of coleuses in which every spark of life and spirit and individuality has been sheared out and suppressed. The man who worries morning and night about the dandelions in the lawn will find great relief in loving the dandelions. Each blossom is worth more than a gold coin, as it shines in the exuberant sunlight of the growing spring, and attracts the insects to its bosom. Little children like the dandelions: why may not we? Love the things nearest at hand; and love intensely. If I were to write a motto over the gate of a garden, I should choose the remark that Socrates is said to have made as he saw the luxuries in the market, “How much there is in the world that I do not want!”

I verily believe that this paragraph I have just written is worth more than all the advice with which I intend to cram the succeeding pages, notwithstanding the fact that I have most assiduously extracted this advice from various worthy but, happily, long-forgotten authors. Happiness is a quality of a person, not of a plant or a garden; and the anticipation of joy in the writing of a book may be the reason why so many books on garden-making have been written. Of course, all these books have been good and useful. It would be ungrateful, at the least, for the present writer to say otherwise; but books grow old, and the advice becomes too familiar. The sentences need to be transposed and the order of the chapters varied, now and then, or interest lags. Or, to speak plainly, a new book of advice on handicraft is needed in every decade, or perhaps oftener in these days of many publishers. There has been a long and worthy procession of these handbooks,—Gardiner & Hepburn, M’Mahon, Cobbett—original, pungent, versatile Cobbett!—Fessenden, Squibb, Bridgeman, Sayers, Buist, and a dozen more, each one a little richer because the others had been written. But even the fact that all books pass into oblivion does not deter another hand from making still another venture.

I expect, then, that every person who reads this book will make a garden, or will try to make one; but if only tares grow where roses are desired, I must remind the reader that at the outset I advised pigweeds. The book, therefore, will suit everybody,—the experienced gardener, because it will be a repetition of what he already knows; and the novice, because it will apply as well to a garden of burdocks as of onions.

What a garden is.

A garden is the personal part of an estate, the area that is most intimately associated with the private life of the home. Originally, the garden was the area inside the inclosure or lines of fortification, in distinction from the unprotected area or fields that lay beyond; and this latter area was the particular domain of agriculture. This book understands the garden to be that part of the personal or home premises devoted to ornament, and to the growing of vegetables and fruits. The garden, therefore, is an ill-defined demesne; but the reader must not make the mistake of defining it by dimensions, for one may have a garden in a flower-pot or on a thousand acres. In other words, this book declares that every bit of land that is not used for buildings, walks, drives, and fences, should be planted. What we shall plant—whether sward, lilacs, thistles, cabbages, pears, chrysanthemums, or tomatoes—we shall talk about as we proceed.

The only way to keep land perfectly unproductive is to keep it moving. The moment the owner lets it alone, the planting has begun. In my own garden, this first planting is of pigweeds. These may be followed, the next year, by ragweeds, then by docks and thistles, with here and there a start of clover and grass; and it all ends in June-grass and dandelions.

Nature does not allow the land to remain bare and idle. Even the banks where plaster and lath were dumped two or three years ago are now luxuriant with burdocks and sweet clover; and yet persons who pass those dumps every day say that they can grow nothing in their own yard because the soil is so poor! Yet I venture that those same persons furnish most of the pigweed seed that I use on my garden.

The lesson is that there is no soil—where a house would be built—so poor that something worth while cannot be grown on it. If burdocks will grow, something else will grow; or if nothing else will grow, then I prefer burdocks to sand and rubbish.

The burdock is one of the most striking and decorative of plants, and a good piece of it against a building or on a rough bank is just as useful as many plants that cost money and are difficult to grow. I had a good clump of burdock under my study window, and it was a great comfort; but the man would persist in wanting to cut it down when he mowed the lawn. When I remonstrated, he declared that it was nothing but burdock; but I insisted that, so far from being burdock, it was really Lappa major, since which time the plant and its offspring have enjoyed his utmost respect. And I find that most of my friends reserve their appreciation of a plant until they have learned its name and its family connections.

The dump-place that I mentioned has a surface area of nearly one hundred and fifty square feet, and I find that it has grown over two hundred good plants of one kind or another this year. This is more than my gardener accomplished on an equal area, with manure and water and a man to help. The difference was that the plants on the dump wanted to grow, and the imported plants in the garden did not want to grow. It was the difference between a willing horse and a balky horse. If a person wants to show his skill, he may choose the balky plant; but if he wants fun and comfort in gardening, he would better choose the willing one.

I have never been able to find out when the burdocks and mustard were planted on the dump; and I am sure that they were never hoed or watered. Nature practices a wonderfully rigid economy. For nearly half the summer she even refused rain to the plants, but still they thrived; yet I staid home from a vacation one summer that I might keep my plants from dying. I have since learned that if the plants in my hardy borders cannot take care of themselves for a time, they are little comfort to me.

The joy of garden-making lies in the mental attitude and in the sentiments.

CHAPTER II
THE GENERAL PLAN OR THEORY OF THE PLACE

Having now discussed the most essential elements of gardening, we may give attention to such minor features as the actual way in which a satisfying garden is to be planned and executed.

Speaking broadly, a person will get from a garden what he puts into it; and it is of the first importance, therefore, that a clear conception of the work be formulated at the outset. I do not mean to say that the garden will always turn out what it was desired that it should be; but the failure to turn out properly is usually some fault in the first plan or some neglect in execution.

Sometimes the disappointment in an ornamental garden is a result of confusion of ideas as to what a garden is for. One of my friends was greatly disappointed on returning to his garden early in September to find that it was not so full and floriferous as when he left it in July. He had not learned the simple lesson that even a flower-garden should exhibit the natural progress of the season. If the garden begins to show ragged places and to decline in late August or early September, it is what occurs in all surrounding vegetation. The year is maturing. The garden ought to express the feeling of the different months. The failing leaves and expended plants are therefore to be looked on, to some extent at least, as the natural order and destiny of a good garden.

These attributes are well exhibited in the vegetable-garden. In the spring, the vegetable-garden is a model of neatness and precision. The rows are straight. There are no missing plants. The earth is mellow and fresh. Weeds are absent. One takes his friends to the garden, and he makes pictures of it. By late June or early July, the plants have begun to sprawl and to get out of shape. The bugs have taken some of them. The rows are no longer trim and precise. The earth is hot and dry. The weeds are making headway. By August and September, the garden has lost its early regularity and freshness. The camera is put aside. The visitors are not taken to it: the gardener prefers to go alone to find the melon or the tomatoes, and he comes away as soon as he has secured his product. Now, as a matter of fact, the garden has been going through its regular seasonal growth. It is natural that it become ragged. It is not necessary that weeds conquer it; but I suspect that it would be a very poor garden, and certainly an uninteresting one, if it retained the dress of childhood at the time when it should develop the personalities of age.

There are two types of outdoor gardening in which the progress of the season is not definitely expressed,—in the carpet-bedding kind, and in the subtropical kind. I hope that my reader will get a clear distinction in these matters, for it is exceedingly important. The carpet-bedding gardening is the making of figure-beds in house-leeks and achyranthes and coleus and sanitalia, and other things that can be grown in compact masses and possibly sheared to keep them within place and bounds; the reader sees these beds in perfection in some of the parks and about florists’ establishments; he will understand at once that they are not meant in any way to express the season, for the difference between them in September and June is only that they may be more perfect in September. The subtropical gardening (plates IV and V) is the planting out of house-grown stuff, in order to produce given effects, of such plants as palms, dracenas, crotons, caladiums, papyrus, together with such luxuriant things as dahlias and cannas and large ornamental grasses and castor beans; these plants are to produce effects quite foreign to the expression of a northern landscape, and they are usually at their best and are most luxuriant when overtaken by the fall frosts.

Now, the home gardener usually relies on plants that more or less come and go with the seasons. He pieces out and extends the season, to be sure; but a garden with pansies, pinks, sweet william, roses, sweet peas, petunias, marigolds, salpiglossis, sweet sultan, poppies, zinnias, asters, cosmos, and the rest, is a progress-of-the-season garden, nevertheless; and if it is a garden of herbaceous perennials, it still more completely expresses the time-of-year.

My reader will now consider, perhaps, whether he would have his garden accent and heighten his natural year from spring to fall, or whether he desires to thrust into his year a feeling of another order of vegetation. Either is allowable; but the gardener should distinguish at the outset.

I wish to suggest to my reader, also, that it is possible for the garden to retain some interest even in the winter months. I sometimes question whether it is altogether wise to clear out the old garden stems too completely and too smoothly in the fall, and thereby obliterate every mark of it for the winter months; but however this may be, there are two ways by which the garden year may be extended: by planting things that bloom very late in fall and others that bloom very early in spring; by using freely, in the backgrounds, of bushes and trees that have interesting winter characters.

The plan of the grounds (see Plate II).

II. The plan of the place. The arrangement of the property (which is in New York) is determined by an existing woodland to the left or southeast of the house and a natural opening to the southwest of the house. The house is colonial, and the entire treatment is one of considerable simplicity. Wild or woodland gardens have been developed to the right and left of the entrance, the latter or entrance lawns being left severely simple and plain in their treatment. To the rear of the house a turf terrace raised three steps above the general grade of the lawn leads to a general lawn terminated by a small garden exedra or teahouse with a fountain in its center, and to two shrub gardens forming interesting and closed pockets of lawn. The stable and vegetable gardens are located to the south of the house in a natural opening in the woodland. The design is made by a professional landscape architect.

One cannot expect satisfaction in the planting and developing of a home area unless he has a clear conception of what is to be done. This necessarily follows, since the pleasure that one derives from any enterprise depends chiefly on the definiteness of his ideals and his ability to develop them. The homemaker should develop his plan before he attempts to develop his place. He must study the various subdivisions in order that the premises may meet all his needs. He should determine the locations of the leading features of the place and the relative importance to be given to the various parts of it,—as of the landscape parts, the ornamental areas, the vegetable-garden, and the fruit plantation.

The details of the planting may be determined in part as the place develops; it is only the structural features and purposes that need to be determined beforehand in most small properties. The incidental modifications that may be made in the planting from time to time keep the interest alive and allow the planter to gratify his desire to experiment with new plants and new methods.

It must be understood that I am now speaking of ordinary home grounds which the home-maker desires to improve by himself. If the area is large enough to present distinct landscape features, it is always best to employ a landscape architect of recognized merit, in the same spirit that one would employ an architect. The details, however, may even then be filled in by the owner, if he is so inclined, following out the plan that the landscape architect makes.

It is desirable to have a definite plan on paper (drawn to scale) for the location of the leading features of the place. These features are the residence, the out-houses, the walks and drives, the service areas (as clothes yards), the border planting, flower-garden, vegetable-garden, and fruit-garden. It should not be expected that the map plan can be followed in every detail, but it will serve as a general guide; and if it is made on a large enough scale, the different kinds of plants can be located in their proper positions, and a record of the place be kept. It is nearly always unsatisfactory, for both owner and designer, if a plan of the place is made without a personal inspection of the area. Lines that look well on a map may not adjust themselves readily to the varying contours of the place itself, and the location of the features inside the grounds will depend also in a very large measure on the objects that lie outside it. For example, all interesting and bold views should be brought into the place, and all unsightly objects in the immediate vicinity should be planted out.

A plan of a back yard of a narrow city lot is given in Fig. 2, showing the heavy border planting of trees and shrubs, with the skirting border of flowers. In the front are two large trees, that are desired for shade. It will readily be seen from this plan how extensive the area for flowers becomes when they are placed along such a devious border. More color effect can be got from such an arrangement of the flowers than could be secured if the whole area were planted to flower-beds.

A contour map plan of a very rough piece of ground is shown in Fig. 3. The sides of the place are high, and it becomes necessary to carry a walk through the middle area; and on either side of the front, it skirts the banks. Such a plan is usually unsightly on paper, but may nevertheless fit special cases very well. The plan is inserted here for the purpose of illustrating the fact that a plan that will work on the ground does not necessarily work on a map.

In charting a place, it is important to locate the points from which the walks are to start, and at which they are to emerge from the grounds. These two points are then joined by direct and simple curves; and alongside the walks, especially in angles or bold curves, planting may be inserted.

A suggestion for school premises on a four-corners, and which the pupils enter from three directions, is made in Fig. 4. The two playgrounds are separated by a broken group of bushes extending from the building to the rear boundary; but, in general, the spaces are kept open, and the heavy border-masses clothe the place and make it home-like. The lineal extent of the group margins is astonishingly large, and along all these margins flowers may be planted, if desired.

If there is only six feet between a schoolhouse and the fence, there is still room for a border of shrubs. This border should be between the walk and the fence,—on the very boundary,—not between the walk and the building, for in the latter case the planting divides the premises and weakens the effect. A space two feet wide will allow of an irregular wall of bushes, if tall buildings do not cut out the light; and if the area is one hundred feet long, thirty to fifty kinds of shrubs and flowers can be grown to perfection, and the school-grounds will be practically no smaller for the plantation.

One cannot make a plan of a place until he knows what he wants to do with the property; and therefore we may devote the remainder of this chapter to developing the idea in the layout of the premises rather than to the details of map-making and planting.

Because I speak of the free treatment of garden spaces in this book it must not be inferred that any reflection is intended on the “formal” garden. There are many places in which the formal or “architect’s garden” is much to be desired; but each of these cases should be treated wholly by itself and be made a part of the architectural setting of the place. These questions are outside the sphere of this book. All formal gardens are properly individual studies.

All very special types of garden design are naturally excluded from a book of this kind, such types, for example, as Japanese gardening. Persons who desire to develop these specialties will secure the services of persons who are skilled in them; and there are also books and magazine articles to which they may go.

The picture in the landscape.

The deficiency in most home grounds is not so much that there is too little planting of trees and shrubs as that this planting is meaningless. Every yard should be a picture. That is, the area should be set off from other areas, and it should have such a character that the observer catches its entire effect and purpose without stopping to analyze its parts. The yard should be one thing, one area, with every feature contributing its part to one strong and homogeneous effect.

These remarks will become concrete if the reader turns his eye to Figs. 5 and 6. The former represents a common type of planting of front yards. The bushes and trees are scattered promiscuously over the area. Such a yard has no purpose, no central idea. It shows plainly that the planter had no constructive conception, no grasp of any design, and no appreciation of the fundamental elements of the beauty of landscape. Its only merit is the fact that trees and shrubs have been planted; and this, to most minds, comprises the essence and sum of the ornamentation of grounds. Every tree and bush is an individual alone, unattended, disconnected from its environments, and, therefore, meaningless. Such a yard is only a nursery.

The other plan (Fig. 6) is a picture. The eye catches its meaning at once. The central idea is the residence, with a free and open greensward in front of it The same trees and bushes that were scattered haphazard over Fig. 5 are massed into a framework to give effectiveness to the picture of home and comfort. This style of planting makes a landscape, even though the area be no larger than a parlor. The other style is only a collection of curious plants. The one has an instant and abiding pictorial effect, which is restful and satisfying: the observer exclaims, “What a beautiful home this is!” The other piques one’s curiosity, obscures the residence, divides and distracts the attention: the observer exclaims, “What excellent lilac bushes are these!”

An inquiry into the causes of the unlike impressions that one receives from a given landscape and from a painting of it explains the subject admirably. One reason why the picture appeals to us more than the landscape is because the picture is condensed, and the mind becomes acquainted with its entire purpose at once, while the landscape is so broad that the individual objects at first fix the attention, and it is only by a process of synthesis that the unity of the landscape finally becomes apparent. This is admirably illustrated in photographs. One of the first surprises that the novice experiences in the use of the camera is the discovery that very tame scenes become interesting and often even spirited in the photograph. But there is something more than mere condensation in this vitalizing and beautifying effect of the photograph or the painting: individual objects are so much reduced that they no longer appeal to us as distinct subjects, and however uncouth they may be in the reality, they make no impression in the picture; the thin and sere sward may appear rather like a closely shaven lawn or a new-mown meadow. And again, the picture sets a limit to the scene; it frames it, and thereby cuts off all extraneous and confusing or irrelevant landscapes.

These remarks are illustrated in the aesthetics of landscape gardening. It is the artist’s one desire to make pictures in the landscape. This is done in two ways: by the form of plantations, and by the use of vistas. He will throw his plantations into such positions that open and yet more or less confined areas of greensward are presented to the observer at various points. This picture-like opening is nearly or quite devoid of small or individual objects, which usually destroy the unity of such areas and are meaningless in themselves. A vista is a narrow opening or view between plantations to a distant landscape. It cuts up the broad horizon into portions that are readily cognizable. It frames parts of the country-side. The verdurous sides of the planting are the sides of the frame; the foreground is the bottom, and the sky is the top. It is of the utmost importance that good views be left or secured from the best windows of the house (not forgetting the kitchen window); in fact, the placing of the house may often be determined by the views that may be appropriated.

If a landscape is a picture, it must have a canvas. This canvas is the greensward. Upon this, the artist paints with tree and bush and flower as the painter does upon his canvas with brush and pigments. The opportunity for artistic composition and design is nowhere so great as in the landscape garden, because no other art has such a limitless field for the expression of its emotions. It is not strange, if this be true, that there have been few great landscape gardeners, and that, falling short of art, the landscape gardener too often works in the sphere of the artisan. There can be no rules for landscape gardening, any more than there can be for painting or sculpture. The operator may be taught how to hold the brush or strike the chisel or plant the tree, but he remains an operator; the art is intellectual and emotional and will not confine itself in precepts.

The making of a good and spacious lawn, then, is the very first practical consideration in a landscape garden.

The lawn provided, the gardener conceives what is the dominant and central feature in the place, and then throws the entire premises into subordination to this feature. In home grounds this central feature is the house. To scatter trees and bushes over the area defeats the fundamental purpose of the place,—the purpose to make every part of the grounds lead up to the home and to accentuate its homelikeness.

A house must have a background if it is to become a home. A house that stands on a bare plain or hill is a part of the universe, not a part of a home. Recall the cozy little farm-house that is backed by a wood or an orchard; then compare some pretentious structure that stands apart from all planting. Yet how many are the farm-houses that stand as stark and cold against the sky as if they were competing with the moon! We would not believe it possible for a man to live in a house twenty-five years and not, by accident, allow some tree to grow, were it not that it is so!

Of course these remarks about the lawn are meant for those countries where greensward is the natural ground cover. In the South and in arid countries, greensward is not the prevailing feature of the landscape, and in these regions the landscape design may take on a wholly different character, if the work is to be nature-like. We have not yet developed other conceptions of landscape work to any perfect extent, and we inject the English greensward treatment even into deserts. We may look for the time when a brown landscape garden may be made in a brown country, and it may be good art not to attempt a broad open center in regions in which undergrowth rather than sod is the natural ground cover. In parts of the United States we are developing a good Spanish-American architecture, perhaps we may develop a recognized comparable landscape treatment as an artistic expression.

Birds; and cats

The picture in the landscape is not complete without birds, and the birds should comprise more species than English sparrows. If one is to have birds on his premises, he must (1) attract them and (2) protect them.

One attracts birds by providing places in which they may nest. The free border plantings have distinct advantages in attracting chipping sparrows, catbirds, and other species. The bluebirds, house wrens, and martins may be attracted by boxes in which they can build.

One may attract birds by feeding them and supplying water. Suet for woodpeckers and others, grain and crumbs for other kinds, and taking care not to frighten or molest them, will soon win the confidence of the birds. A slowly running or dripping fountain, with a good rim on which they may perch, will also attract them, and it is no mean enjoyment to watch the birds at bathing. Or, if one does not care to go to the expense of a bird fountain, he may supply their wants by means of a shallow dish of water set on the lawn.

The birds will need protection from cats. There is no more reason why cats should roam at will and uncontrolled than that dogs or horses or poultry should be allowed unlimited license. A cat away from home is a trespasser and should be so treated. A person has no more right to inflict a cat on a neighborhood than to inflict a goat or rabbits or any other nuisance. All persons who keep cats should feel the same responsibility for them that they feel for other property; and they should be willing to forfeit their property right when they forfeit their control. The cats not only destroy birds, but they break the peace. The caterwauling at night will not be permitted in well-governed communities any more than the shooting of fire-arms or vicious talking will be allowed: all night-roaming cats should be gathered in, just as stray dogs and tramps are provided for.

I do not dislike cats, but I desire to see them kept at home and within control. If persons say that they cannot keep them on their own premises, then these persons should not be allowed to have them. A bell on the cat will prevent it from capturing old birds, and this may answer a good purpose late in the season; but it will not stop the robbing of nests or the taking of young birds, and here is where the greatest havoc is wrought.

It is often asserted that cats must roam in order that rats and mice may be reduced; but probably few house mice and few rats are got by wandering cats; and, again, many cats are not mousers. There are other ways of controlling rats and mice; or if cats are employed for this purpose, see that they are restricted to the places where the house rats and mice are to be found.

Many persons like squirrels about the place, but they cannot expect to have both birds and squirrels unless very special precautions are taken.

The English or house sparrow drives away the native birds, although he is himself an attractive inhabitant in winter, particularly where native birds are not resident. The English sparrow should be kept in reduced numbers. This can be easily accomplished by poisoning them in winter (when other birds are not endangered) with wheat soaked in strychnine water. The contents of one of the eighth-ounce vials of strychnine that may be secured at a drug store is added to sufficient water to cover a quart of wheat. Let the wheat stand in the poison water twenty-four to forty-eight hours (but not long enough for the grains to sprout), then dry the wheat thoroughly. It cannot be distinguished from ordinary wheat, and sparrows usually eat it freely, particularly if they are in the habit of eating scattered grain and crumbs. Of course, the greatest caution must be exercised that in the use of such highly poisonous materials, accidents do not occur with other animals or with human beings.

III. Open center treatment in a semi-tropical country.

The planting is part of the design or picture.

If the reader catches the full meaning of these pages, he has acquired some of the primary conceptions in landscape gardening. The suggestion will grow upon him day by day; and if he is of an observing turn of mind, he will find that this simple lesson will revolutionize his habit of thought respecting the planting of grounds and the beauty of landscapes. He will see that a bush or flower-bed that is no part of any general purpose or design—that is, which does not contribute to the making of a picture—might better never have been planted. For myself, I would rather have a bare and open pasture than such a yard as that shown in Fig. 9, even though it contained the choicest plants of every land. The pasture would at least be plain and restful and unpretentious; but the yard would be full of effort and fidget.

Reduced to a single expression, all this means that the greatest artistic value in planting lies in the effect of the mass, and not in the individual plant. A mass has the greater value because it presents a much greater range and variety of forms, colors, shades, and textures, because it has sufficient extent or dimensions to add structural character to a place, and because its features are so continuous and so well blended that the mind is not distracted by incidental and irrelevant ideas. Two pictures will illustrate all this. Figures 10, 11 are pictures of natural copses. The former stretches along a field and makes a lawn of a bit of meadow which lies in front of it. The landscape has become so small and so well defined by this bank of verdure that it has a familiar and personal feeling. The great, bare, open meadows are too ill-defined and too extended to give any domestic feeling; but here is a part of the meadow set off into an area that one can compass with his affections.

These masses in Figs. 10, 11, and 12 have their own intrinsic merits, as well as their office in defining a bit of nature. One is attracted by the freedom of arrangement, the irregularity of sky-line, the bold bays and promontories, and the infinite play of light and shade. The observer is interested in each because it has character, or features, that no other mass in all the world possesses. He knows that the birds build their nests in the tangle and the rabbits find it a covert.

Now let the reader turn to Fig. 9, which is a picture of an “improved” city yard. Here there is no structural outline to the planting, no defining of the area, no continuous flow of the form and color. Every bush is what every other one is or may be, and there are hundreds like them in the same town. The birds shun them. Only the bugs find any happiness in them. The place has no fundamental design or idea, no lawn upon which a picture may be constructed. This yard is like a sentence or a conversation in which every word is equally emphasized.

In bold contrast with this yard is the open-center treatment in Fig. 13. Here there is pictorial effect; and there is opportunity along the borders to distribute trees and shrubs that may be desired as individual specimens.

The motive that shears the trees also razes the copse, in order that the gardener or “improver” may show his art. Compare Figs. 14 and 15. Many persons seem to fear that they will never be known to the world unless they expend a great amount of muscle or do something emphatic or spectacular; and their fears are usually well founded.

It is not enough that trees and bushes be planted in masses. They must be kept in masses by letting them grow freely in a natural way. The pruning-knife is the most inveterate enemy of shrubbery. Pictures 16 and 17 illustrate what I mean. The former represents a good group of bushes so far as arrangement is concerned; but it has been ruined by the shears. The attention of the observer is instantly arrested by the individual bushes. Instead of one free and expressive object, there are several stiff and expressionless ones. If the observer stops to consider his own thoughts when he comes upon such a collection, he will likely find himself counting the bushes; or, at least, he will be making mental comparisons of the various bushes, and wondering why they are not all sheared to be exactly alike. Figure 17 shows how the same “artist” has treated two deutzias and a juniper. Much the same effect could have been secured, and with much less trouble, by laying two flour barrels end to end and standing a third one between them.

I must hasten to say that I have not the slightest objection to the shearing of trees. The only trouble is in calling the practice art and in putting the trees where people must see them (unless they are part of a recognized formal-garden design). If the operator simply calls the business shearing, and puts the things where he and others who like them may see them, objection could not be raised. Some persons like painted stones, others iron bulldogs in the front yard and the word “welcome” worked into the door-mat, and others like barbered trees. So long as these likes are purely personal, it would seem to be better taste to put such curiosities in the back yard, where the owner may admire them without molestation

There is a persistent desire among workmen to shear and to trim: it displays their industry. It is a great thing to be able to allow the freedom of nature to remain. The artist often builds his structures into a native planting (as in Fig. 18) rather than to trust himself to produce a good result by planting on razed surfaces.

In this discussion, I have tried to enforce the importance of the open center in non-formal home grounds in greensward regions. Of course this does not mean that there may not be central planting in particular cases where the conditions distinctly call for it nor that there may not be trees on the lawn. If one has the placing of the trees, he may see that they are not scattered aimlessly; but if good trees are already growing on the place, it would be folly to think of removing them merely because they are not in the best ideal positions; in such case, it may be very necessary to adapt the treatment of the area to the trees. The home-maker should always consider, also, the planting of a few trees in such places as to shade and protect the residence: the more closely they can be made a part of the general design or handling of the place, the better the results will be.

The flower-growing should be part of the design.

I do not mean to discourage the use of brilliant flowers and bright foliage and striking forms of vegetation; but these things are never primary considerations in a good domain. The structural elements of the place are designed first. The flanking and bordering masses are then planted. Finally the flowers and accessories are put in, as a house is painted after it is built. Flowers appear to best advantage when seen against a background of foliage, and they are then, also, an integral part of the picture. The flower-garden, as such, should be at the rear or side of a place, as all other personal appurtenances are; but flowers and bright leaves may be freely scattered along the borders and near the foliage masses.

It is a common saying that many persons have no love or appreciation of flowers, but it is probably nearer to the truth to say that no person is wholly lacking in this respect. Even those persons who declare that they care nothing for flowers are generally deceived by their dislike of flower-beds and the conventional methods of flower-growing. I know many persons who stoutly deny any liking for flowers, but who, nevertheless, are rejoiced with the blossoming of the orchards and the purpling of the clover fields. The fault may not lie so much with the persons themselves as with the methods of growing and displaying the flowers.

Defects in flower-growing.

The greatest defect with our flower-growing is the stinginess of it. We grow our flowers as if they were the choicest rarities, to be coddled in a hotbed or under a bell-jar, and then to be exhibited as single specimens in some little pinched and ridiculous hole cut in the turf, or perched upon an ant-hill that some gardener has laboriously heaped oh a lawn. Nature, on the other hand, grows many of her flowers in the most luxurious abandon, and one can pick an armful without offense. She grows her flowers in earnest, as a man grows a crop of corn. One can revel in the color and the fragrance and be satisfied.

The next defect with our flower-growing is the flower-bed. Nature has no time to make flower-bed designs: she is busy growing flowers. And, then, if she were given to flower-beds, the whole effect would be lost, for she could no longer be luxurious and wanton, and if a flower were picked her whole scheme might be upset. Imagine a geranium-bed or a coleus-bed, with its wonderful “design,” set out into a wood or in a free and open landscape! Even the birds would laugh at it!

What I want to say is that we should grow flowers freely when we make a flower-garden. We should have enough of them to make the effort worth the while. I sympathize with the man who likes sunflowers. There are enough of them to be worth looking at. They fill the eye. Now show this man ten feet square of pinks or asters, or daisies, all growing free and easy and he will tell you that he likes them. All this has a particular application to the farmer, who is often said to dislike flowers. He grows potatoes and buckwheat and weeds by the acre: two or three unhappy pinks or geraniums are not enough to make an impression.

Lawn flower-beds.

The easiest way to spoil a good lawn is to put a flower-bed in it; and the most effective way in which to show off flowers to the least advantage is to plant them in a bed in the greensward. Flowers need a background. We do not hang our pictures on fence-posts. If flowers are to be grown on a lawn, let them be of the hardy kind, which can be naturalized in the sod and which grow freely in the tall unmown grass; or else perennials of such nature that they make attractive clumps by themselves. Lawns should be free and generous, but the more they are cut up and worried with trivial effects, the smaller and meaner they look.

But even if we consider these lawn flower-beds wholly apart from their surroundings, we must admit that they are at best unsatisfactory. It generally amounts to this, that we have four months of sparse and downcast vegetation, one month of limp and frost-bitten plants, and seven months of bare earth (Fig 19) I am not now opposing the carpet-beds which professional gardeners make in parks and other museums. I like museums, and some of the carpet-beds and set pieces are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (see Fig 20) I am directing my remarks to those humble home-made flower-beds that are so common in lawns of country and city homes alike. These beds are cut from the good fresh turf, often in the most fantastic designs, and are filled with such plants as the women of the place may be able to carry over in cellars or in the window. The plants themselves may look very well in pots, but when they are turned out of doors, they have a sorry time for a month adapting themselves to the sun and winds, and it is generally well on towards midsummer before they begin to cover the earth. During all these weeks they have demanded more time and labor than would have been needed to care for a plantation of much greater size and which would have given flowers every day from the time the birds began to nest in the spring until the last robin had flown in November.

Flower-borders.

We should acquire the habit of speaking of the flower-border. The border planting of which we have spoken sets bounds to the place, and makes it one’s own. The person lives inside his place, not on it. Along these borders, against groups, often by the corners of the residence or in front of porches—these are places for flowers. Ten flowers against a background are more effective than a hundred in the open yard.

I have asked a professional artist, Mr Mathews, to draw me the kind of a flower-bed that he likes. It is shown in Fig. 21. It is a border,—a strip of land two or three feet wide along a fence. This is the place where pigweeds usually grow. Here he has planted marigolds, gladiolus, golden rod, wild asters, China asters, and—best of all—hollyhocks. Any one would like that flower-garden It has some of that local and indefinable charm that always attaches to an “old-fashioned garden” with its medley of form and color Nearly every yard has some such strip of land along a rear walk or fence or against a building It is the easiest thing to plant it,—ever so much easier than digging the characterless geranium bed into the center of an inoffensive lawn. The suggestions are carried further in 22 to 25.

The old-fashioned garden.

Speaking of the old-fashioned garden recalls one of William Falconer’s excellent paragraphs (“Gardening,” November 15, 1897, p. 75): “We tried it in Schenley Park this year. We needed a handy dumping ground, and hit on the head of a deep ravine between two woods; into it we dumped hundreds upon hundreds of wagon loads of rock and clay, filling it near to the top, then surfaced it with good soil. Here we planted some shrubs, and broadcast among them set out scarlet poppies, eschscholtzias, dwarf nasturtiums, snapdragons, pansies, marigolds, and all manner of hardy herbaceous plants, having enough of each sort to make a mass of its kind and color, and the effect was fine. In the middle was a plantation of hundreds of clumps of Japan and German irises interplanted, thence succeeded by thousands of gladioli, and banded with montbretias, from which we had flowers till frost. The steep face of this hill was graded a little and a series of winding stone steps set into it, making the descent into the hollow quite easy; the stones were the rough uneven slabs secured in blasting the rocks when grading in other parts of the park, and both along outer edges of the steps and the sides of the upper walk a wide belt of moss pink was planted; and the banks all about were planted with shrubs, vines, wild roses, columbines, and other plants. More cameras and kodaks were leveled by visitors at this piece of gardening than at any other spot in the park, and still we had acres of painted summer beds.”

Contents of the flower-borders.

There is no prescribed rule as to what one should put into these informal flower-borders. Put in them the plants you like. Perhaps the greater part of them should be perennials that come up of themselves every spring, and that are hardy and reliable. Wild flowers are particularly effective. Every one knows that many of the native herbs of woods and glades are more attractive than some of the most prized garden flowers. The greater part of these native flowers grow readily in cultivation, sometimes even in places which, in soil and exposure, are much unlike their native haunts. Many of them make thickened roots, and they may be safely transplanted at any time after the flowers have passed. To most persons the wild flowers are less known than many exotics that have smaller merit, and the extension of cultivation is constantly tending to annihilate them. Here, then, in the informal flower-border, is an opportunity to rescue them. Then one may sow in freely of easy-growing annuals, as marigolds, China asters, petunias and phloxes, and sweet peas.

One of the advantages of these borders lying at the boundary is that they are always ready to receive more plants, unless they are full. That is, their symmetry is not marred if some plants are pulled out and others are put in. And if the weeds now and then get a start, very little harm is done. Such a border half full of weeds is handsomer than the average hole-in-the-lawn geranium bed. An ample border may receive wild plants every month in the year when the frost is out of the ground. Plants are dug in the woods or fields, whenever one is on an excursion, even if in July. The tops are cut off, the roots kept moist until they are placed in the border; most of these much-abused plants will grow. To be sure, one will secure some weeds; but then, the weeds are a part of the collection! Of course, some plants will resent this treatment, but the border may be a happy family, and be all the better and more personal because it is the result of moments of relaxation. Such a border has something new and interesting every month of the growing season; and even in the winter the tall clumps of grasses and aster-stems hold their banners above the snow and are a source of delight to every frolicsome bevy of snowbirds.

I have spoken of a weedland to suggest how simple and easy a thing it is to make an attractive mass-plantation. One may make the most of a rock (Fig. 26) or bank, or other undesirable feature of the place. Dig up the ground and make it rich, and then set plants in it. You will not get it to suit you the first year, and perhaps not the second or the third; you can always pull out plants and put more in. I should not want a lawn-garden so perfect that I could not change it in some character each year; I should lose interest in it.

It must not be understood that I am speaking only for mixed borders. On the contrary, it is much better in most cases that each border or bed be dominated by the expression of one kind of flower or bush. In one place a person may desire a wild aster effect, or a petunia effect, or a larkspur effect, or a rhododendron effect; or it may be desirable to run heavily to strong foliage effects in one direction and to light flower effects in another. The mixed border is rather more a flower-garden idea than a landscape idea; when it shall be desirable to emphasize the one and when the other, cannot be set down in a book.

The value of plants may lie in foliage and form rather than in bloom.

What kinds of shrubs and flowers to plant is a wholly secondary and largely a personal consideration. The main plantings are made up of hardy and vigorous species; then the things that you like are added. There is endless choice in the species, but the arrangement or disposition of the plants is far more important than the kinds; and the foliage and form of the plant are usually of more importance than its bloom.

The appreciation of foliage effects in the landscape is a higher type of feeling than the desire for mere color. Flowers are transitory, but foliage and plant forms are abiding. The common roses have very little value for landscape planting because the foliage and habit of the rose-bush are not attractive, the leaves are inveterately attacked by bugs, and the blossoms are fleeting. Some of the wild roses and the Japanese Rosa rugosa, however, have distinct merit for mass effects.

Even the common flowers, as marigold, zinnias, and gaillardias, are interesting as plant forms long before they come into bloom. To many persons the most satisfying epoch in the garden is that preceding the bloom, for the habits and stature of the plants are then unobscured. The early stages of lilies, daffodils, and all perennials are most interesting; and one never appreciates a garden until he realizes that this is so.

Now let the reader, with these suggestions in mind, observe for one week the plant-forms in the humble herbs that he meets, whether these herbs are strong garden plants or the striking sculpturing of mulleins, burdocks, and jimson-weed. Figures 27 to 31 will be suggestive.

Wild bushes are nearly always attractive in form and habit when planted in borders and groups. They improve in appearance under cultivation because they are given a better chance to grow. In wild nature there is such fierce struggle for existence that plants usually grow to few or single stems, and they are sparse and scraggly in form; but once given all the room they want and a good soil, they become luxurious, full, and comely. In most home grounds in the country the body of the planting may be very effectively composed of bushes taken from the adjacent woods and fields. The masses may then be enlivened by the addition here and there of cultivated bushes, and the planting of flowers and herbs about the borders. It is not essential that one know the names of these wild bushes, although a knowledge of their botanical kinships will add greatly to the pleasure of growing them. Neither will they look common when transferred to the lawn. There are not many persons who know even the commonest wild bushes intimately, and the things change so much in looks when removed to rich ground that few home-makers recognize them.

Odd and formal trees.

It is but a corollary of this discussion to say that plants which are simply odd or grotesque or unusual should be used with the greatest caution, for they introduce extraneous and jarring effects. They are little in sympathy with a landscape garden. An artist would not care to paint an evergreen that is sheared into some grotesque shape. It is only curious, and shows what a man with plenty of time and long pruning shears can accomplish. A weeping tree (particularly of a small-growing species) is usually seen to best advantage when it stands against a group or mass of foliage (Fig. 32), as a promontory, adding zest and spirit to the border; it then has relation with the place.

This leads me to speak of the planting of the Lombardy poplar, which may be taken as a type of the formal tree, and as an illustration of what I mean to express. Its chief merits to the average planter are the quickness of its growth and the readiness with which it multiplies by sprouts. But in the North it is likely to be a short-lived tree, it suffers from storms, and it has few really useful qualities. It may be used to some advantage in windbreaks for peach orchards and other short-lived plantations; but after a few years a screen of Lombardies begins to fail, and the habit of suckering from the root adds to its undesirable features. For shade it has little merit, and for timber none. Persons like it because it is striking, and this, in an artistic sense, is its gravest fault. It is unlike anything else in our landscape, and does not fit into our scenery well. A row of Lombardies along a roadside is like a row of exclamation points!

IV. Subtropical bedding against a building. Caladiums, cannas, abutilons, permanent rhododendrons, and other large stuff, with tuberous begonias and balsams between.

But the Lombardy can often be used to good effect as one factor in a group of trees, where its spire-like shape, towering above the surrounding foliage, may lend a spirited charm to the landscape. It combines well in such groups if it stands in visual nearness to chimneys or other tall formal objects. Then it gives a sort of architectural finish and spirit to a group; but the effect is generally lessened, if not altogether spoiled, in small places, if more than one Lombardy is in view. One or two specimens may often be used to give vigor to heavy plantations about low buildings, and the effect is generally best if they are seen beyond or at the rear of the building. Note the use that the artist has made of them in the backgrounds in Figs. 12, 13, and 43.

Poplars and the like.

Another defect in common ornamental planting, which is well illustrated in the use of poplars, is the desire for plants merely because they grow rapidly. A very rapid-growing tree nearly always produces cheap effects. This is well illustrated in the common planting of willows and poplars about summer places or lake shores. Their effect is almost wholly one of thinness and temporariness. There is little that suggests strength or durability in willows and poplars, and for this reason they should usually be employed as minor or secondary features in ornamental or home grounds. When quick results are desired, nothing is better to plant than these trees; but better trees, as maples, oaks, or elms, should be planted with them, and the poplars and willows should be removed as rapidly as the other species begin to afford protection. When the plantation finally assumes its permanent characters, a few of the remaining poplars and willows, judiciously left, may afford very excellent effects; but no one who has an artist’s feeling would be content to construct the framework of his place of these rapid-growing and soft-wooded trees.

I have said that the legitimate use of poplars in ornamental grounds is in the production of minor or secondary effects. As a rule, they are less adapted to isolated planting as specimen trees than to using in composition,—that is, as parts of general groups of trees, where their characters serve to break the monotony of heavier forms and heavier foliage. The poplars are gay trees, as a rule, especially those, like the aspens, that have a trembling foliage. Their leaves are bright and the tree-tops are thin. The common aspen or “popple,” Populus tremuloides, of our woods, is a meritorious little tree for certain effects. Its dangling catkins (Fig. 33), light, dancing foliage, and silver-gray limbs, are always cheering, and its autumn color is one of the purest golden-yellows of our landscape. It is good to see a tree of it standing out in front of a group of maples or evergreens.

Plant-forms.

Before one attains to great sensitiveness in the appreciation of gardens, he learns to distinguish plants by their forms. This is particularly true for trees and shrubs. Each species has its own “expression,” which is determined by the size that is natural to it, mode of branching, form of top, twig characters, bark characters, foliage characters, and to some extent its flower and fruit characters. It is a useful practice for one to train his eye by learning the difference in expression of the trees of different varieties of cherries or pears or apples or other fruits, if he has access to a plantation of them. The differences in cherries and pears are very marked (Figs. 34-36). He may also contrast and compare carefully the kinds of any tree or shrub of which there are two or three species in the neighborhood, learning to distinguish them without close examination; as the sugar maple, red maple, soft maple, and Norway maple (if it is planted); the white or American elm, the cork elm, the slippery elm, the planted European elms; the aspen, large-toothed poplar, cottonwood, balm of gilead, Carolina poplar, Lombardy poplar; the main species of oaks; the hickories; and the like.

It will not be long before the observer learns that many of the tree and shrub characters are most marked in winter; and he will begin unconsciously to add the winter to his year.

Various specific examples.

The foregoing remarks will mean more if the reader is shown some concrete examples. I have chosen a few cases, not because they are the best, or even because they are always good enough for models, but because they lie in my way and illustrate what I desire to teach.

A front yard example.

We will first look at a very ordinary front yard. It contained no plants, except a pear tree standing near the corner of the house. Four years later sees the yard as shown in Fig. 37. An exochorda is the large bush in the very foreground, and the porch foundation is screened and a border is thereby given to the lawn. The length of this planting from end to end is about fourteen feet, with a projection towards the front on the left of ten feet. In the bay at the base of this projection the planting is only two feet wide or deep, and from here it gradually swings out to the steps, eight feet wide. The prominent large-leaved plant near the steps is a bramble, Rubus odoratus, very common in the neighborhood, and it is a choice plant for decorative planting, when it is kept under control. The plants in this border in front of the porch are all from the wild, and comprise a prickly ash, several plants of two wild osiers or dogwoods, a spice bush, rose, wild sunflowers and asters and golden-rods. The promontory at the left is a more ambitious but less effective mass. It contains an exochorda, a reed, variegated elder, sacaline, variegated dogwood, tansy, and a young tree of wild crab. At the rear of the plantation, next the house, one sees the pear tree. The best single part of the planting is the reed (Arundo Donax) overtopping the exochorda. The photograph was taken early in summer, before the reed had become conspicuous.

A ground plan of this planting is shown in Fig. 38. At A is the walk and B the steps. An opening at D serves as a passage. The main planting, in front of the porch, fourteen feet long, received twelve plants, some of which have now spread into large clumps. At 1 is a large bush of osier, Cornus Baileyi, one of the best red-stemmed bushes. At 2 is a mass of Rubus odoratus; at 5 asters and golden-rods; at 3 a clump of wild sunflowers. The projecting planting on the left comprises about ten plants, of which 4 is exochorda, 6 is arundo or reed, at the back of which is a large clump of sacaline, and 7 is a variegated-leaved elder.

Another example.

A back yard is shown in Fig. 39. The owner wanted a tennis court, and the yard is so small as not to allow of wide planting at the borders. However, something could be done. On the left is a weedland border, which formed the basis of the discussion of wild plants on page 35. In the first place, a good lawn was made. In the second place, no walks or drives were laid in the area. The drive for grocers’ wagons and coal is seen in the rear, ninety feet from the house. From I to J is the weedland, separating the area from the neighbor’s premises. Near I is a clump of roses. At K is a large bunch of golden-rods. H marks a clump of yucca. G is a cabin, covered with vines on the front. From G to F is an irregular border, about six feet wide, containing barberries, forsythias, wild elder, and other bushes. D E is a screen of Russian mulberry, setting off the clothes yard from the front lawn. Near the back porch, at the end of the screen, is an arbor covered with wild grapes, making a play-house for the children. A clump of lilacs stands at A. At B is a vine-covered screen, serving as a hammock support. The lawn made and the planting done, it was next necessary to lay the walks. These are wholly informal affairs, made by sinking a plank ten inches wide into the ground to a level with the sod. The border plantings of this yard are too straight and regular for the most artistic results, but such was necessary in order not to encroach upon the central space. Yet the reader will no doubt agree that this yard is much better than it could be made by any system of scattered and spotted planting. Let him imagine how a glowing carpet-bed would look set down in the center of this lawn!

A third example.

The making of a landscape picture is well illustrated in Figs. 40, 41. The former shows a small clay field (seventy-five feet wide, and three hundred feet deep), with a barn at the rear. In front of the barn is a screen of willows. The observer is looking from the dwelling-house. The area has been plowed and seeded for a lawn. The operator has then marked out a devious line upon either border with a hoe handle, and all the space between these borders has been gone over with a garden roller to mark the area of the desired greensward.

The borders are now planted with a variety of small trees, bushes, and herbs. Five years later the view shown in Fig. 41 was taken.

A small back yard.

A back yard is shown in Fig. 42. It is approximately sixty feet square. At present it contains a drive, which is unnecessary, expensive to keep in repair, and destructive of any attempt to make a picture of the area. The place could be improved by planting it somewhat after the manner of Fig. 43.

V. A subtropical bed. Center of cannas, with border of Pennisetum longistylum (a grass) started in late February or early March.

A city lot.

A plan of a city lot is given in Fig. 44. The area is fifty by one hundred, and the house occupies the greater part of the width. It is level, but the surrounding land is higher, resulting in a sharp terrace, three or four feet high, on the rear, E D. This terrace vanishes at C on the right, but extends nearly the whole length of the other side, gradually diminishing as it approaches A. There is a terrace two feet high extending from A to B, along the front. Beyond the line E D is the rear of an establishment which it is desired to hide. Since the terraces set definite borders to this little place, it is desirable to plant the boundaries rather heavily. If the adjoining lawns were on the same level, or if the neighbors would allow one area to be merged into the other by pleasant slopes, the three yards might be made into one picture; but the place must remain isolated.

There are three problems of structural planting in the place: to provide a cover or screen at the rear; to provide lower border masses on the side terraces; to plant next the foundations of the house. Aside from these problems, the grower is entitled to have a certain number of specimen plants, if he has particular liking for given types, but these specimens must be planted in some relation to the structural masses, and not in the middle of the lawn.

The owner desired a mixed planting, for variety. The following shrubs were actually selected and planted. The place is in central New York:—

Shrubs for the tall background

• 2 Barberry, Berberis vulgaris and var. purpurea.
• 1 Cornus Mas.
• 2 Tall deutzias.
• 3 Lilacs.
• 2 Mock oranges, Philadelphus grandiflorus and P. coronarius.
• 2 Variegated elders.
• 2 Eleagnus, Elœagnus hortensis and E. longipes.
• 1 Exochorda.
• 2 Hibiscuses.
• Privet.
• 3 Viburnums.
• 1 Snowball.
• 1 Tartarian honeysuckle.
• 1 Silver Bell, Halesia tetraptera.

These were planted on the sloping bank of the terrace, from E to D. The terrace has an incline, or width, of about three feet. Figure 45 shows this terrace after the planting was completed, looking from the point C.

Shrubs of medium size, suitable for side plantings and groups in the foregoing example

• 3 Barberries, Berberis Thunbergii.
• 3 Osier dogwoods, variegated.
• 2 Japanese quinces, Cydonia Japonica and C. Maulei.
• 4 Tall deutzias.
• 1 Variegated elder.
• 7 Weigelas, assorted colors.
• 1 Rhodotypos.
• 9 Spireas of medium growth, assorted.
• 1 Rubus odoratus.
• 1 Lonicera fragrantissima.

Most of these shrubs were planted in a border two feet wide, extending from B to C D, the planting beginning about ten feet back from the street. Some of them were placed on the terrace at the left, extending from E one-fourth of the distance to A. The plants were set about two feet apart. A strong clump was placed at N to screen the back yard. In this back yard a few small fruit trees and a strawberry bed were planted.

Low informal shrubs for front of porch and banking against house

• 3 Deutzia gracilis.
• 6 Kerrias, green and variegated.
• 3 Daphne Mezereum.
• 3 Lonicera Halliana.
• 3 Rubus phœnicolasius.
• 3 Symphoricarpus vulgaris.
• 4 Mahonias.
• 1 Ribes aureum.
• 1 Ribes sanguineum.
• 1 Rubus cratægifolius.
• 1 Rubus fruticosus var. laciniatus.

These bushes were planted against the front of the house (a porch on a high foundation extends to the right from O), from the walk around to P, and a few of them were placed at the rear of the house.

Specimen shrubs for mere ornament, for this place

• Azalea.
• Rhododendron.
• Rose.
• 2 Hydrangeas.
• 1 Snowball.
• 1 each Forsythia suspensa and F. viridissima.
• 2 Flowering almonds.

These were planted in conspicuous places here and there against the other masses.

Here are one hundred excellent and interesting bushes planted in a yard only fifty feet wide and one hundred feet deep, and yet the place has as much room in it as it had before. There is abundant opportunity along the borders for dropping in cannas, dahlias, hollyhocks, asters, geraniums, coleuses, and other brilliant plants. The bushes will soon begin to crowd, to be sure, but a mass is wanted, and the narrowness of the plantations will allow each bush to develop itself laterally to perfection. If the borders become too thick, however, it is an easy matter to remove some of the bushes; but they probably will not. Picture the color and variety and life in that little yard. And if a pigweed now and then gets a start in the border, it would do no harm to let it alone: it belongs there! Then picture the same area filled with disconnected, spotty, dyspeptic, and unspirited flower-beds and rose bushes!

Various examples.

Strong and bare foundations should be relieved by heavy planting. Fill the corners with snow-drifts of foliage. Plant with a free hand, as if you meant it (compare Figs. 46 and 47). The corner by the steps is a perennial source of bad temper. The lawn-mower will not touch it, and the grass has to be cut with a butcher-knife. If nothing else comes to hand, let a burdock grow in it (Fig. 1).

The tennis-screen may be relieved by a background (Fig. 48), and a clump of ribbon-grass or something else is out of the way against a post (Fig. 49).

Excellent mass effects may be secured by cutting well-established plants of sumac, ailanthus, basswood, and other strong-growing things, to the ground each year, for the purpose of securing the stout shoots. Figure 50 will give the hint.

But if one has no area which he can make into a lawn and upon which he can plant such verdurous masses, what then may he do? Even then there may be opportunity for a little neat and artistic planting. Even if one lives in a rented house, he may bring in a bush or an herb from the woods, and paint a picture with it. Plant it in the corner by the steps, in front of the porch, at the corner of the house,—almost anywhere except in the center of the lawn. Make the ground rich, secure a strong root, and plant it with care; then wait. The little clump will not only have a beauty and interest of its own, but it may add immensely to the furniture of the yard.

About these clumps one may plant bulbs of glowing tulips or dainty snowdrops and lilies-of-the-valley; and these may be followed with pansies and phlox and other simple folk. Very soon one finds himself deeply interested in these random and detached pictures, and almost before he is aware he finds that he has rounded off the corners of the house, made snug little arbors of wild grapes and clematis, covered the rear fence and the outhouse with actinidia and bitter-sweet, and has thrown in dashes of color with hollyhocks, cannas, and lilies, and has tied the foundations of the buildings to the greensward by low strands of vines or deft bits of planting. He soon comes to feel that flowers are most expressive of the best emotions when they are daintily dropped in here and there against a background of foliage, or else made a side-piece in the place. There is no limit to the adaptations; Figs. 51 to 58 suggest some of the backyard possibilities.

Presently he rebels at the bold, harsh, and impudent designs of some of the gardeners, and grows into a resourceful love of plant forms and verdure. He may still like the weeping and cut-leaved and party-colored trees of the horticulturist, but he sees that their best effects are to be had when they are planted sparingly, as borders or promontories of the structural masses.

The best planting, as the best painting and the best music, is possible only with the best and tenderest feeling and the closest living with nature. One’s place grows to be a reflection of himself, changing as he changes, and expressing his life and sympathies to the last.

Review

We have now discussed some of the principles and applications of landscape architecture or landscape gardening, particularly in reference to the planting. The object of landscape gardening is to make a picture. All the grading, seeding, planting, are incidental and supplemental to this one central idea. The greensward is the canvas, the house or some other prominent point is the central figure, the planting completes the composition and adds the color.

The second conception is the principle that the picture should have a landscape effect. That is, it should be nature-like. Carpet-beds are masses of color, not pictures. They are the little garnishings and reliefs that are to be used very cautiously, as little eccentricities and conventionalisms in a building should never be more than very minor features.

Every other concept in landscape gardening is subordinate to these two. Some of the most important of these secondary yet underlying considerations are as follows:—

The place is to be conceived of as a unit. If a building is not pleasing, ask an architect to improve it. The real architect will study the building as a whole, grasp its design and meaning, and suggest improvements that will add to the forcefulness of the entire structure. A dabbler would add a chimney here, a window there, and apply various daubs of paint to the building. Each of these features might be good in itself. The paints might be the best of ochre, ultramarine, or paris green, but they might have no relation to the building as a whole and would be only ludicrous. These two examples illustrate the difference between landscape gardening and the scattering over the place of mere ornamental features.

There should be one central and emphatic point in the picture. A picture of a battle draws its interest from the action of a central figure or group. The moment the incidental and lateral figures are made as prominent as the central figures, the picture loses emphasis, life, and meaning. The borders of a place are of less importance than its center. Therefore:

Keep the center of the place open;

Frame and mass the sides; Avoid scattered effects.

In a landscape picture flowers are incidents. They add emphasis, supply color, give variety and finish; they are the ornaments, but the lawn and the mass-plantings make the framework. One flower in the border, and made an incident of the picture, is more effective than twenty flowers in the center of the lawn.

More depends on the positions that plants occupy with reference to each other and to the structural design of the place, than on the intrinsic merits of the plants themselves.

Landscape gardening, then, is the embellishment of grounds in such a way that they will have a nature-like or landscape effect. The flowers and accessories may heighten and accelerate the effect, but they should not contradict it.

CHAPTER III
EXECUTION OF SOME OF THE LANDSCAPE FEATURES

The general lay-out of a small home property having now been considered, we may discuss the practical operations of executing the plan. It is not intended in this chapter to discuss the general question of how to handle the soil: that discussion comes in Chapter IV; nor in detail how to handle plants: that occurs in Chapters V to X; but the subjects of grading, laying out of walks and drives, executing the border plantings, and the making of lawns, may be briefly considered.

Of course the instructions given in a book, however complete, are very inadequate and unsatisfactory as compared with the advice of a good experienced person. It is not always possible to find such a person, however; and it is no little satisfaction to the homemaker if he can feel that he can handle the work himself, even at the expense of some mistakes.

The grading.

The first consideration is to grade the land. Grading is very expensive, especially if performed at a season when the soil is heavy with water. Every effort should be made, therefore, to reduce the grading to a minimum and still secure a pleasing contour. A good time to grade, if one has the time, is in the fall before the heavy rains come, and then allow the surface to settle until spring, when the finish may be made. All filling will settle in time unless thoroughly tamped as it proceeds.

The smaller the area the more pains must be taken with the grading; but in any plat that is one hundred feet or more square, very considerable undulations may be left in the surface with excellent effect. In lawns of this size, or even half this size, it is rarely advisable to have them perfectly flat and level. They should slope gradually away from the house; and when the lawn is seventy-five feet or more in width, it may be slightly crowning with good effect. A lawn should never be hollow,—that is, lower in the center than at the borders,—and broad lawns that are perfectly flat and level often appear to be hollow. A slope of one foot in twenty or thirty is none too much for a pleasant grade in lawns of some extent.

In small places, the grading may be done by the eye, unless there are very particular conditions to meet. In large or difficult areas, it is well to have the place contoured by instruments. This is particularly desirable if the grading is to be done on contract. A basal or datum line is established, above or below which all surfaces are to be shaped at measured distances. Even in small yards, such a datum line is desirable for the best kind of work.

The terrace.

In places in which the natural slope is very perceptible, there is a tendency to terrace the lawn for the purpose of making the various parts or sections of it more or less level and plane. In nearly all cases, however, a terrace in a main lawn is objectionable. It cuts the lawn into two or more portions, and thereby makes it look smaller and spoils the effect of the picture. A terrace always obtrudes a hard and rigid line, and fastens the attention upon itself rather than upon the landscape. Terraces are also expensive to make and to keep in order; and a shabby terrace is always distracting.

When formal effects are desired, their success depends, however, very largely on the rigidity of the lines and the care with which they are maintained. If a terrace is necessary, it should be in the form of a retaining wall next the street, or else it should lie next the building, giving as broad and continuous a lawn as possible. It should be remembered, however, that a terrace next a building should not be a part of the landscape, but a part of the architecture; that is, it should serve as a base to the building. It will at once be seen, therefore, that terraces are most in place against those buildings that have strong horizontal lines, and they are little suitable against buildings with very broken lines and mixed or gothic features. In order to join the terrace to the building, it is usually advisable to place some architectural feature upon its crown, as a balustrade, and to ascend it by means of architectural steps. The terrace elevation, therefore, becomes a part of the base of the building, and the top of it is an esplanade.

A simple and gradually sloping bank can nearly always be made to take the place of a terrace. For example, let the operator make a terrace, with sharp angles above and below, in the fall of the year; in the spring, he will find (if he has not sodded it heavily) that nature has taken the matter in hand and the upper angle of the terrace has been washed away and deposited in the lower angle, and the result is the beginning of a good series of curves. Figure 59 shows an ideal slope, with its double curve, comprising a convex curve on the top of the bank, and a concave curve at the lower part. This is a slope that would ordinarily be terraced, but in its present condition it is a part of the landscape picture. It may be mown as readily as any other part of the lawn, and it takes care of itself.

The diagrams in Fig. 60 indicate poor and good treatment of a lawn. The terraces are not needed in this case; or if they are, they should never be made as at 1. The same dip could be taken up in a single curved bank, as at 3, but the better way, in general, is to give the treatment shown in 2. Figure 61 shows how a very high terrace, 4, can be supplaced by a sloping bank 5. Figure 62 shows a terrace that falls away too suddenly from the house.

The bounding lines.

In grading to the borders of the place, it is not always necessary, nor even desirable, that a continuous contour should be maintained, especially if the border is higher or lower than the lawn. A somewhat irregular line of grade will appear to be most natural, and lend itself best to effective planting. This is specially true in the grade to watercourses, which, as a rule, should be more or less devious or winding; and the adjacent land should, therefore, present various heights and contours. It is not always necessary, however, to make distinct banks along water-courses, particularly if the place is small and the natural lay of the land is more or less plane or flat. A very slight depression, as shown in Fig. 63, may answer all the purposes of a water grade in such places.

If it is desirable that the lawn be as large and spacious as possible, then the boundary of it should be removed. Take away the fences, curbing, and other right lines. In rural places, a sunken fence may sometimes be placed athwart the lawn at its farther edge for the purpose of keeping cattle off the place, and thereby bring in the adjacent landscape. Figure 64 suggests how this may be done. The depression near the foot of the lawn, which is really a ditch and scarcely visible from the upper part of the place because of the slight elevation on its inner rim, answers all the purposes of a fence.

Nearly all trees are injured if the dirt is filled about the base to the depth of a foot or more. The natural base of the plant should be exposed so far as possible, not only for protection of the tree, but because the base of a tree trunk is one of its most distinctive features. Oaks, maples, and in fact most trees will lose their bark near the crown if the dirt is piled against them; and this is especially true if the water tends to settle about the trunks. Figure 65 shows how this difficulty may be obviated. A well is stoned up, allowing a space of a foot or two on all sides, and tile drains are laid about the base of the well, as shown in the diagram at the right. A grating to cover a well is also shown. It is often possible to make a sloping bank just above the tree, and to allow the ground to fall away from the roots on the lower side, so that there is no well or hole; but this is practicable only when the land below, the tree is considerably lower than that above it.

If much of the surface is to be removed, the good top earth should be saved, and placed back on the area, in which to sow the grass seed and to make the plantings. This top soil may be piled at one side out of the way while the grading is proceeding.

Walks and drives.

So far as the picture in the landscape is concerned, walks and drives are blemishes. Since they are necessary, however, they must form a part of the landscape design. They should be as few as possible, not only because they interfere with the artistic composition, but also because they are expensive to make and to maintain.

Most places have too many, rather than too few, walks and drives. Small city areas rarely need a driveway entrance, not even to the back door. The back yard in Fig. 39 illustrates this point. The distance from the house to the street on the back is about ninety feet, yet there is no driveway in the place. The coal and provisions are carried in; and, although the deliverymen may complain at first, they very soon accept the inevitable. It is not worth the while to maintain a drive in such a place for the convenience of truckmen and grocers. Neither is it often necessary to have a drive in the front yard if the house is within seventy-five or one hundred feet of the street. When a drive is necessary, it should enter, if possible, at the side of the residence, and not make a circle in the front lawn. This remark may not apply to areas of a half acre or more.

The drives and walks should be direct. They should go where they appear to go, and should be practically the shortest distances between the points to be reached. Figure 66 illustrates some of the problems connected with walks to the front door. A common type of walk is a, and it is a nuisance. The time that one loses in going around the cameo-set in the center would be sufficient, if conserved, to lengthen a man’s life by several months or a year. Such a device has no merit in art or convenience. Walk b is better, but still is not ideal, inasmuch as it makes too much of a right-angled curve, and the pedestrian desires to cut across the corner. Such a walk, also, usually extends too far beyond the corner of the house to make it appear to be direct. It has the merit, however, of leaving the center of the lawn practically untouched. The curve in walk d is ordinarily unnecessary unless the ground is rolling. In small places, like this, it is better to have a straight walk directly from the sidewalk to the house. In fact, this is true in nearly all cases in which the lawn is not more than forty to seventy-five feet deep. Plan c is also inexcusable. A straight walk would answer every purpose better. Any walk that passes the house, and returns to it, e, is inexcusable unless it is necessary to make a very steep ascent. If most of the traveling is in one direction from the house, a walk like f may be the most direct and efficient. It is known as a direct curve, and is a compound of a concave and a convex curve.

It is essential that any service walk or drive, however long, should be continuous in direction and design from end to end. Figure 67 illustrates a long drive that contradicts this principle.

It is a series of meaningless curves. The reason for these curves is the fact that the drive was extended from time to time as new houses were added to the villa. The reader will easily perceive how all the kinks might be taken out of this drive and one direct and bold curve be substituted.

The question of drainage, curbing, and gutters.

Thorough drainage, natural or artificial, is essential to hard and permanent walks and drives. This point is too often neglected. On the draining and grading of residence streets a well-known landscape gardener, O.C. Simonds, writes as follows in “Park and Cemetery”:

“The surface drainage is something that interests us whenever it rains or when the snow melts. It has been customary to locate catch-basins for receiving the surface water at street intersections. This arrangement causes most of the surface water from both streets to run past the crossings, making it necessary to depress the pavement, so that one must step down and up in going from one side of a street to the other, or else a passageway for the water must be made through the crossing. It may be said that a step down to the pavement and up again to the sidewalk at the street intersections is of no consequence, but it is really more elegant and satisfactory to have the walk practically continuous (Fig. 68). With the catch-basin at the corner, the stoppage of the inlet, or a great fall of rain, sometimes covers the crossing with water, so one must either wade or go out of his way. With catch-basins placed in the center of the blocks, or, if the blocks are long, at some distance from the crossing, the intersections can be kept relatively high and dry. Roadways are generally made crowning in the center so that water runs to the sides, but frequently the fall lengthwise of the roadway is less than it should be. City engineers are usually inclined to make the grade along the length of a street as nearly level as possible. Authorities who have given the subject of roads considerable study recommend a fall lengthwise of not less than one foot in one hundred and twenty-five, nor more than six feet in one hundred. Such grades are not always feasible, but a certain amount of variation in level can usually be made in a residence street which will make it much more pleasing in appearance, and have certain practical advantages in keeping the street dry. The water is usually confined to the edge of the pavement by curbing, which may rise anywhere from four to fourteen inches above the surface. This causes all the water falling on the roadway to seek the catch-basin and be wasted, excepting for its use in flushing the sewer. If the curbing, which is really unnecessary in most cases, were omitted, much of the surface water would soak into the ground between the sidewalk and the pavement, doing much good to trees, shrubs, and grass. The roots of the trees naturally extend as far, or farther, than their branches, and for their good the ground under the pavement and sidewalk should be supplied with a certain amount of moisture.

VI. A tree that gives character to a place.

“The arrangement made for the removal of surface water from the street must also take care of the surplus water from adjacent lots, so there is a practical advantage in having the level of the street lower than that of the ground adjoining. The appearance of houses and home grounds is also much better when they are higher than the street, and for this reason it is usually desirable to keep the latter as low as possible and give the underground pipes sufficient covering to protect them from frost. Where the ground is high and the sewers very deep, the grades should, of course, be determined with reference to surface conditions only. It sometimes happens that this general arrangement of the grades of home grounds, which is desirable on most accounts, causes water from melting snow to flow over the sidewalk in the winter time, where it may freeze and be dangerous to pedestrians. A slight depression of the lot away from the sidewalk and then an ascent toward the house would usually remedy this difficulty, and also make the house appear higher. Sometimes, however, a pipe should be placed underneath the sidewalk to allow water to reach the street from inside of the lot line. The aim in surface drainage should always be to keep the traveled portions of the street in the most perfect condition for use. The quick removal of surplus water from sidewalks, crossings, and roadways will help insure this result.”

These remarks concerning the curbings and hard edges of city streets may also be applied to walks and drives in small grounds. Figure 69, for example, shows the common method of treating the edge of a walk, by making a sharp and sheer elevation. This edge needs constant trimming, else it becomes unshapely; and this trimming tends to widen the walk. For general purposes, a border, like that shown in Fig. 70, is better. The sod rolls over until it meets the walk, and the lawn-mower is able to keep it in condition. If it becomes more or less rough and irregular, it is pounded down.

If it is thought necessary to trim the edges of walks and drives, then one of the various kinds of sod-cutters that are sold by dealers may be used for the purpose, or an old hoe may have its shank straightened and the corners of the blade rounded off, as shown in Fig. 71, and this will answer all purposes of the common sod-cutter; or, a sharp, straight-edged spade may sometimes be used. The loose overhanging grass on these edges is ordinarily cut by large shears made for the purpose.

Walks and drives should be laid in such direction that they will tend to drain themselves; but if it is necessary to have gutters, these should be deep and sharp at the bottom, for the water then draws together and tends to keep the gutter clean. A shallow and rounded brick or cobble gutter does not clean itself; it is very likely to fill with weeds, and vehicles often drive in it. The best gutters and curbs are now made of cement. Figure 72 shows a catch basin at the left of a walk or drive, and the tile laid underneath for the purpose of carrying away the surface water.

The materials.

The best materials for the main walks are cement and stone flagging. In many soils, however, there is enough binding material in the land to make a good walk without the addition of any other material. Gravel, cinders, ashes, and the like, are nearly always inadvisable, for they are liable to be loose in dry weather and sticky in wet weather. In the laying of cement it is important that the walk be well drained by a layer of a foot or two of broken stone or brickbats, unless the walk is on loose and leachy land or in a frostless country.

In back yards it is often best not to have any well-defined walk. A ramble across the sod may be as good. For a back walk, over which delivery men are to travel, one of the very best means is to sink a foot-wide plank into the earth on a level with the surface of the sod; and it is not necessary that the walk be perfectly straight. These walks do not interfere with the work of the lawn-mower, and they take care of themselves. When the plank rots, at the expiration of five to ten years, the plank is taken up and another one dropped in its place. This ordinarily makes the best kind of a walk alongside a rear border. (Plate XI.) In gardens, nothing is better for a walk than tanbark.

The sides of walks and drives may often be planted with shrubbery. It is not necessary that they always have prim and definite borders. Figure 73 illustrates a bank of foliage which breaks up the hard line of a walk, and serves also as a border for the growing of flowers and interesting specimens. This walk is also characterized by the absence of high and hard borders. Figure 68 illustrates this fact, and also shows how the parking between the walk and the street may be effectively planted.

Making the borders.

The borders and groups of planting are laid out on the paper plan. There are several ways of transferring them to the ground. Sometimes they are not made until after the lawn is established, when the inexperienced operator may more readily lay them out. Usually, however, the planting and lawn-making proceed more or less simultaneously. After the shaping of the ground has been completed, the areas are marked off by stakes, by a limp rope laid on the surface, or by a mark made with a rake handle. The margin once determined, the lawn may be seeded and rolled (Fig. 40), and the planting allowed to proceed as it may; or the planting may all be done inside the borders, and the seeding then be applied to the lawn. If the main dimensions of the borders and beds are carefully measured and marked by stakes, it is an easy matter to complete the outline by making a mark with a stick or rakestale.

The planting may be done in spring or fall,—in fall preferably if the stock is ready (and of hardy species) and the land in perfect condition of drainage; usually, however, things are not ready early enough in the fall for any extended planting, and the work is commonly done as soon as the ground settles in spring (see Chapter V). Head the bushes back. Dig up the entire area. Spade up the ground, set the bushes thick, hoe them at intervals, and then let them go. If you do not like the bare earth between them, sow in the seeds of hardy annual flowers, like phlox, petunia, alyssum, and pinks. Never set the bushes in holes dug in the old sod (Fig. 75). The person who plants his shrubs in holes in the sward does not seriously mean to make any foliage mass, and it is likely that he does not know what relation the border mass has to artistic planting. The illustration, Fig. 76, shows the office that a shrubbery may perform in relation to a building; this particular building was erected in an open field.

I have said to plant the bushes thick. This is for quick effect. It is an easy matter to thin the plantation if it becomes too thick. All common bushes may usually be planted as close as two to three feet apart each way, especially if one gets many of them from the fields, so that he does not have to buy them. If there are not sufficient of the permanent bushes for thick planting, the spaces may be tilled temporarily by cheaper or commoner bushes: but do not forget to remove the fillers as rapidly as the others need the room.

Making the lawn.

The first thing to be done in the making of a lawn is to establish the proper grade. This should be worked out with the greatest care, from the fact that when a lawn is once made, its level and contour should never be changed.

Preparing the ground.

The next important step is to prepare the ground deeply and thoroughly. The permanence of the sod will depend very largely on the fertility and preparation of the soil in the beginning. The soil should be deep and porous, so that the roots will strike far into it, and be enabled thereby to withstand droughts and cold winters. The best means of deepening the soil, as explained in Chapter IV, is by tile-draining; but it can also be accomplished to some extent by the use of the subsoil plow and by trenching. Since the lawn cannot be refitted, however, the subsoil is likely to fall back into a hard-pan in a few years if it has been subsoiled or trenched, whereas a good tile-drain affords a permanent amelioration of the under soil. Soils that are naturally loose and porous may not need this extra attention. In fact, lands that are very loose and sandy may require to be packed or cemented rather than loosened. One of the best means of doing this is to fill them with humus, so that the water will not leach through them rapidly. Nearly all lands that are designed for lawns are greatly benefited by heavy dressings of manure thoroughly worked into them in the beginning, although it is possible to get the ground too rich on the surface at first; it is not necessary that all the added plant-food be immediately available.

The lawn will profit by an annual application of good chemical fertilizer. Ground bone is one of the best materials to apply, at the rate of three hundred to four hundred pounds to the acre. It is usually sown broadcast, early in spring. Dissolved South Carolina rock may be used instead, but the application will need to be heavier if similar results are expected. Yellow and poor grass may often be reinvigorated by an application of two hundred to three hundred pounds to the acre of nitrate of soda. Wood ashes are often good, particularly on soils that tend to be acid. Muriate of potash is not so often used, although it may produce excellent results in some cases. There is no invariable rule. The best plan is for the lawn-maker to try the different treatments on a little piece or corner of the lawn; in this way, he should secure more valuable information than can be got otherwise.

The first operation after draining and grading is the plowing or spading of the surface. If the area is large enough to admit a team, the surface is worked down by means of harrows of various kinds. Afterwards it is leveled by means of shovels and hoes, and finally by garden rakes. The more finely and completely the soil is pulverized, the quicker the lawn may be secured, and the more permanent are the results.

The kind of grass.

The best grass for the body or foundation of lawns in the North is June-grass or Kentucky blue-grass (Poa pratensis), not Canada blue-grass (Poa compressa).

Whether white clover or other seed should be sown with the grass seed is very largely a personal question. Some persons like it, and others do not. If it is desired, it may be sown directly after the grass seed is sown, at the rate of one to four quarts or more to the acre.

For special purposes, other grasses may be used for lawns. Various kinds of lawn mixtures are on the market, for particular uses, and some of them are very good.

A superintendent of parks in one of the Eastern cities gives the following experience on kinds of grass: “For the meadows on the large parks we generally use extra recleaned Kentucky blue-grass, red-top, and white clover, in the proportion of thirty pounds of blue-grass, thirty pounds of red-top, and ten pounds of white clover to the acre. Sometimes we use for smaller lawns the blue-grass and red-top without the white clover. We have used blue-grass, red-top, and Rhode Island bent in the proportion of twenty pounds each, and ten pounds of white clover to the acre, but the Rhode Island bent is so expensive that we rarely buy it. For grass in shady places, as in a grove, we use Kentucky blue-grass and rough-stalked meadow-grass (Poa trivialis) in equal parts at the rate of seventy pounds to the acre. On the golf links we use blue-grass without any mixture on some of the putting greens; sometimes we use Rhode Island bent, and on sandy greens we use red-top. We always buy each kind of seed separately and mix them, and are particular to get the best extra recleaned of each kind. Frequently we get the seed of three different dealers to secure the best.”

In most cases, the June-grass germinates and grows somewhat slowly, and it is usually advisable to sow four or five quarts of timothy grass to the acre with the June-grass seed. The timothy comes on quickly and makes a green the first year, and the June-grass soon crowds it out. It is not advisable to sow grain in the lawn as a nurse to the grass. If the land is well prepared and the seed is sown in the cool part of the year, the grass ought to grow much better without the other crops than with them. Lands that are hard and lacking in nitrogen may be benefited if crimson clover (four or five quarts) is sown with the grass seed. This will make a green the first year, and will break up the subsoil by its deep roots and supply nitrogen, and being an annual plant it does not become troublesome, if mown frequently enough to prevent seeding.

In the southern states, where June-grass does not thrive, Bermuda-grass is the leading species used for lawns; although there are two or three others, as the goose-grass of Florida, that may be used in special localities. Bermuda-grass is usually propagated by roots, but imported seed (said to be from Australia) is now available. The Bermuda-grass becomes reddish after frost; and English rye-grass may be sown on the Bermuda sod in August or September far south for winter green; in spring the Bermuda crowds it out.

When and how to sow the seed.

The lawn should be seeded when the land is moist and the weather comparatively cool. It is ordinarily most advisable to grade the lawn in late summer or early fall, because the land is then comparatively dry and can be moved cheaply. The surface can also be got in condition, perhaps, for sowing late in September or early in October in the North; or, if the surface has required much filling, it is well to leave it in a somewhat unfinished state until spring, in order that the soft places may settle and then be refilled before the seeding is done. If the seed can be sown early in the fall, before the rains come, the grass should be large enough, except in northernmost localities, to withstand the winter; but it is generally most desirable to sow in very early spring. If the land has been thoroughly prepared in the fall, the seed may be sown on one of the late light snows in spring and as the snow melts the seed is carried into the land, and germinates very quickly. If the seed is sown when the land is loose and workable, it should be raked in; and if the weather promises to be dry or the sowing is late, the surface should be rolled.

The seeding is usually done broadcast by hand on all small areas, the sower going both ways (at right angles) across the area to lessen the likelihood of missing any part. Steep banks are sometimes sown with seed that is mixed in mold or earth to which water is added until the material will just run through the spout of a watering-can; the material is then poured on the surface, which is first made loose.

Inasmuch as we desire to secure many very fine stalks of grass rather than a few large ones, it is essential that the seed be sown very thick. Three to five bushels to the acre is the ordinary application of grass seed (page 79).

Securing a firm sod.

The lawn will ordinarily produce a heavy crop of weeds the first year, especially if much stable manure has been used. The weeds need not be pulled, unless such vicious intruders as docks or other perennial plants gain a foothold; but the area should be mown frequently with a lawn-mower. The annual weeds die at the approach of cold, and they are kept down by the use of the lawn-mower, while the grass is not injured.

It rarely happens that every part of the lawn will have an equal catch of grass. The bare or sparsely seeded places should be sown again every fall and spring until the lawn is finally complete. In fact, it requires constant attention to keep a lawn in good sod, and it must be continuously in the process of making. It is not every lawn area, or every part of the area, that is adapted to grass; and it may require long study to find out why it is not. Bare or poor places should be hetcheled up strongly with an iron-toothed rake, perhaps fertilized again, and then reseeded. It is unusual that a lawn does not need repairing every year. Lawns of several acres which become thin and mossy may be treated in essentially the same way by dragging them with a spike-tooth harrow in early spring as soon as the land is dry enough to hold a team. Chemical fertilizers and grass seed are now sown liberally, and the area is perhaps dragged again, although this is not always essential; and then the roller is applied to bring the surface into a smooth condition. To plow up these poor lawns is to renew all the battle with weeds, and really to make no progress; for, so long as the contour is correct, the lawn may be repaired by these surface applications.

The stronger the sward, the less the trouble with weeds; yet it is practically impossible to keep dandelions and some other weeds out of lawns except by cutting them out with a knife thrust underground (there are good spuds manufactured for this purpose, Figs. 108 to 111). If the sod is very thin after the weeds are removed, sow more grass seed.

The mowing.

The mowing of the lawn should begin as soon as the grass is tall enough in the spring and continue at the necessary intervals throughout the summer. The most frequent mowings are needed early in the season, when the grass is growing rapidly. If it is mown frequently—say once or twice a week—in the periods of most vigorous growth, it will not be necessary to rake off the mowings. In fact, it is preferable to leave the grass on the lawn, to be driven into the surface by the rains and to afford a mulch. It is only when the lawn has been neglected and the grass has got so high that it becomes unsightly on the lawn, or when the growth is unusually luxurious, that it is necessary to take it off. In dry weather care should be taken not to mow the lawn any more than absolutely necessary. The grass should be rather long when it goes into the winter. In the last two months of open weather the grass makes small growth, and it tends to lop down and to cover the surface densely, which it should be allowed to do.

Fall treatment.

As a rule, it is not necessary to rake all the leaves off lawns in the fall. They afford an excellent mulch, and in the autumn months the leaves on the lawn are among the most attractive features of the landscape. The leaves generally blow off after a time, and if the place has been constructed with an open center and heavily planted sides, the leaves will be caught in these masses of trees and shrubs and there afford an excellent mulch. The ideal landscape planting, therefore, takes care of itself to a very large extent. It is bad economy to burn the leaves, especially if one has herbaceous borders, roses, and other plants that need a mulch. When the leaves are taken off the borders in the spring, they should be piled with the manure or other refuse and there allowed to pass into compost (pages 110, 111).

If the land has been well prepared in the beginning, and its life is not sapped by large trees, it is ordinarily unnecessary to cover the lawn with manure in the fall. The common practice of covering grass with raw manure should be discouraged because the material is unsightly and unsavory, and the same results can be got with the use of commercial fertilizers combined with dressings of very fine and well-rotted compost or manure, and by not raking the lawn too clean of the mowings of the grass.

Spring treatment.

Every spring the lawn should be firmed by means of a roller, or, if the area is small, by means of a pounder, or the back of a spade in the hands of a vigorous man. The lawn-mower itself tends to pack the surface. If there are little irregularities in the surface, caused by depressions of an inch or so, and the highest places are not above the contour-line of the lawn, the surface may be brought to level by spreading fine, mellow soil over it, thereby filling up the depressions. The grass will quickly grow through this soil. Little hummocks may be cut off, some of the earth removed, and the sod replaced.

Watering lawns.

The common watering of lawns by means of lawn sprinklers usually does more harm than good. This results from the fact that the watering is generally done in clear weather, and the water is thrown through the air in very fine spray, so that a considerable part of it is lost in vapor. The ground is also hot, and the water does not pass deep into the soil. If the lawn is watered at all, it should be soaked; turn on the hose at nightfall and let it run until the land is wet as deep as it is dry, then move the hose to another place. A thorough soaking like this, a few times in a dry summer, will do more good than sprinkling every day. If the land is deeply prepared in the first place, so that the roots strike far into the soil, there is rarely need of watering unless the place is arid, the season unusually dry, or the moisture sucked out by trees. The surface sprinkling engenders a tendency of roots to start near the surface, and therefore the more the lawn is lightly watered, the greater is the necessity for watering it.

Sodding the lawn.

Persons who desire to secure a lawn very quickly may sod the area rather than seed it, although the most permanent results are usually secured by seeding. Sodding, however, is expensive, and is to be used only about the borders of the place, near buildings, or in areas in which the owner can afford to expend considerable money. The best sod is that which is secured from an old pasture, and for two or three reasons. In the first place, it is the right kind of grass, the June-grass (in the North) being the species that oftenest runs into pastures and crowds out other plants. Again, it has been so closely eaten down, especially if it has been pastured by sheep, that it has made a very dense and well-filled sod, which can be rolled up in thin layers. In the third place, the soil in old pastures is likely to be rich from the droppings of animals.

In taking sod, it is important that it be cut very thin. An inch and a half thick is usually ample. It is ordinarily rolled up in strips a foot wide and of any length that will allow the rolls to be handled by one or two men. A foot-wide board is laid upon the turf, and the sod cut along either edge of it. One person then stands upon the strip of sod and rolls it towards himself, while another cuts it loose with a spade, as shown in Fig. 77. When the sod is laid, it is unrolled on the land and then firmly beaten down. Land that is to be sodded should be soft on top, so that the sod can be well pounded into it. If the sod is not well pounded down, it will settle unevenly and present a bad surface, and will also dry out and perhaps not live through a dry spell. It is almost impossible to pound down sod too firm. If the land is freshly plowed, it is important that the borders that are sodded be an inch or two lower than the adjacent land, because the land will settle in the course of a few weeks. In a dry time, the sod may be covered from a half inch to an inch with fine, mellow soil as a mulch. The grass should grow through this soil without difficulty. Upon terraces and steep banks, the sod may be held in place by driving wooden pegs through it.

A combination of sodding and seeding.

An “economical sodding” is described in “American Garden” (Fig. 78): “To obtain sufficient sod of suitable quality for covering terrace-slopes or small blocks that for any reason cannot well be seeded is often a difficult matter. In the accompanying illustration we show how a surface of sod may be used to good advantage over a larger area than its real measurement represents. This is done by laying the sods, cut in strips from six to ten inches wide, in lines and cross-lines, and after filling the spaces with good soil, sowing these spaces with grass-seed. Should the catch of seed for any reason be poor, the sod of the strips will tend to spread over the spaces between them, and failure to obtain a good sward within a reasonable time is almost out of the question. Also, if one needs sod and has no place from which to cut it except the lawn, by taking up blocks of sod, leaving strips and cross-strips, and treating the surface as described, the bare places are soon covered with green.”

Sowing with sod.

Lawns may be sown with pieces of sods rather than with seeds. Sods may be cut up into bits an inch or two square, and these may be scattered broadcast over the area and rolled into the land. While it is preferable that the pieces should lie right side up, this is not necessary if they are cut thin, and sown when the weather is cool and moist. Sowing pieces of sod is good practice when it is difficult to secure a catch from seed.

If one were to maintain a permanent sod garden, at one side, for the selecting and growing of the very best sod (as he would grow a stock seed of corn or beans), this method should be the most rational of all procedures, at least until the time that we produce strains of lawn grass that come true from seeds.

Other ground covers.

Under trees, and in other shady places, it may be necessary to cover the ground with something else than grass. Good plants for such uses are periwinkle (Vinca minor, an evergreen trailer, often called “running myrtle”), moneywort (Lysimachia nummularia), lily-of-the-valley, and various kinds of sedge or carex. In some dark or shady places, and under some kinds of trees, it is practically impossible to secure a good lawn, and one may be obliged to resort to decumbent bushes or other forms of planting.

CHAPTER IV
THE HANDLING OF THE LAND

Almost any land contains enough food for the growing of good crops, but the food elements may be chemically unavailable, or there may be insufficient water to dissolve them. It is too long a story to explain at this place,—the philosophy of tillage and of enriching the land,—and the reader who desires to make excursions into this delightful subject should consult King on “The Soil,” Roberts on “The Fertility of the Land,” and recent writings of many kinds. The reader must accept my word for it that tilling the land renders it productive.

I must call my reader’s attention to the fact that this book is on the making of gardens,—on the planning and the doing of the work from the year’s end to end,—not on the appreciation of a completed garden. I want the reader to know that a garden is not worth having unless he makes it with his own hands or helps to make it. He must work himself into it. He must know the pleasure of preparing the land, of contending with bugs and all other difficulties, for it is only thereby that he comes into appreciation of the real value of a garden.

I am saying this to prepare the reader for the work that I lay out in this chapter. I want him to know the real joy that there is in the simple processes of breaking the earth and fitting it for the seed. The more pains he takes with these processes, naturally the keener will be his enjoyment of them. No one can have any other satisfaction than that of mere manual exercise if he does not know the reasons for what he does with his soil. I am sure that my keenest delight in a garden comes in the one month of the opening season and the other month of the closing season. These are the months when I work hardest and when I am nearest the soil. To feel the thrust of the spade, to smell the sweet earth, to prepare for the young plants and then to prepare for the closing year, to handle the tools with discrimination, to guard against frost, to be close with the rain and wind, to see the young things start into life and then to see them go down into winter,—these are some of the best of the joys of gardening. In this spirit we should take up the work of handling the land.

The draining of the land.

The first step in the preparation of land, after it has been thoroughly cleared and subdued of forest or previous vegetation, is to attend to the drainage. All land that is springy, low, and “sour,” or that holds the water in puddles for a day or two following heavy rains, should be thoroughly underdrained. Draining also improves the physical condition of the soil even when the land does not need the removal of superfluous water. In hard lands, it lowers the water-table, or tends to loosen and aerate the soil to a greater depth, and thereby enables it to hold more water without injury to plants. Drainage is particularly useful in dry but hard garden lands, because these lands are often in sod or permanently planted, and the soil cannot be broken up by deep tillage. Tile drainage is permanent subsoiling.

Hard-baked cylindrical tiles make the best and most permanent drains. The ditches usually should not be less than two and one-half feet deep, and three or three and one-half feet is often better. In most garden areas, drains may be laid with profit as often as every thirty feet. Give all drains a good and continuous fall. For single drains and for laterals not over four hundred or five hundred feet long, a two and one-half inch tile is sufficient, unless much water must be carried from swales or springs. In stony countries, flat stones may be used in place of tiles, and persons who are skillful in laying them make drains as good and permanent as those constructed of tiles. The tiles or stones are covered with sods, straw, or paper, and the earth is then filled in. This temporary cover keeps the loose dirt out of the tiles, and by the time it is rotted the earth has settled into place.

In small places, ditching must ordinarily be done wholly with hand tools. A common spade and pick are the implements usually employed, although a spade with a long handle and narrow blade, as shown in Fig. 79, is very useful for excavating the bottom of the ditch.

In most cases, much time and muscle are wasted in the use of the pick. If the digging is properly done, a spade can be used to cut the soil, even in fairly hard clay land, with no great difficulty. The essential point in the easy use of the spade is to manage so that one edge of the spade always cuts a free or exposed surface. The illustration (Fig. 80) will explain the method. When the operator endeavors to cut the soil in the method shown at A, he is obliged to break both edges at every thrust of the tool; but when he cuts the slice diagonally, first throwing his spade to the right and then to the left, as shown at B, he cuts only one side and is able to make progress without the expenditure of useless effort. These remarks will apply to any spading of the land.

In large areas, horses may be used to facilitate the work of ditching. There are ditching plows and machines, which, however, need not be discussed here; but three or four furrows may be thrown out in either direction with a strong plow, and a subsoil plow be run behind to break up the hard-pan, and this may reduce the labor of digging as much as one-half. When the excavating is completed, the bottom of the ditch is evened up by means of a line or level, and the bed for the tiles is prepared by the use of a goose-neck scoop, shown in Fig. 79. It is very important that the outlets of drains be kept free of weeds and litter. If the outlet is built up with mason work, to hold the end of the tile intact, very much will be added to the permanency of the drain.

VII. Bedding with palms. If a bricked-up pit is made about the porch, pot palms may be plunged in it in spring and pot conifers in winter; and fall bulbs in tin cans (so that the receptacles will not split with frost) may be plunged among the evergreens.

Trenching and subsoiling.

Although underdraining is the most important means of increasing the depth of the soil, it is not always practicable to lay drains through garden lands. In such cases, recourse is had to very deep preparation of the land, either every year or every two or three years.

In small garden areas, this deep preparation will ordinarily be done by trenching with a spade. This operation of trenching consists in breaking up the earth two spades deep. Figure 81 explains the operation. The section at the left shows a single spading, the earth being thrown over to the right, leaving the subsoil exposed the whole width of the bed. The section at the right shows a similar operation, so far as the surface spading is concerned, but the subsoil has also been cut as fast as it has been exposed. This under soil is not thrown out on the surface, and usually it is not inverted; but a spadeful is lifted and then allowed to drop so that it is thoroughly broken and pulverized in the manipulation.

In all lands that have a hard and high subsoil, it is usually essential to practice trenching if the best results are to be secured; this is especially true when deep-rooted plants, as beets, parsnips, and other root-crops, are to be grown; it prepares the soil to hold moisture; and it allows the water of heavy rainfall to pass to greater depths rather than to be held as puddles and in mud on the surface.

In places that can be entered with a team, deep and heavy plowing to the depth of seven to ten inches may be desirable on hard lands, especially if such lands cannot be plowed very often; and the depth of the pulverization is often extended by means of the subsoil plow. This subsoil plow does not turn a furrow, but a second team draws the implement behind the ordinary plow, and the bottom of the furrow is loosened and broken. Figure 82 shows a home-made subsoil plow, and Fig. 83 two types of commercial tools. It must be remembered that it is the hardest lands that need subsoiling and that, therefore, the subsoil plow should be exceedingly strong.

Preparation of the surface.

Every pains should be taken to prevent the surface of the land from becoming crusty or baked, for the hard surface establishes a capillary connection with the moist soil beneath, and is a means of passing off the water into the atmosphere. Loose and mellow soil also has more free plant-food, and provides the most congenial conditions for the growth of plants. The tools that one may use in preparing the surface soil are now so many and so well adapted to the work that the gardener should find special satisfaction in handling them.

If the soil is a stiff clay, it is often advisable to plow it or dig it in the fall, allowing it to lie rough and loose all winter, so that the weathering may pulverize and slake it. If the clay is very tenacious, it may be necessary to throw leafmold or litter over the surface before the spading is done, to prevent the soil from running together or cementing before spring. With mellow and loamy lands, however, it is ordinarily best to leave the preparation of the surface until spring.

In the preparation of the surface, the ordinary hand tools, or spades and shovels, may be used. If, however, the soil is mellow, a fork is a better tool than a spade, from the fact that it does not slice the soil, but tends to break it up into smaller and more irregular masses. The ordinary spading-fork, with strong flat tines, is a most serviceable tool; a spading-fork for soft ground may be made from an old manure fork by cutting down the tines, as shown in Fig. 84.

It is important that the soil should not be sticky when it is prepared, as it is likely to become hard and baked and the physical condition be greatly injured. However, land that is too wet for the reception of seeds may still be thrown up loose with a spade or fork and allowed to dry, and after two or three days the surface preparation may be completed with the hoe and the rake. In ordinary soils the hoe is the tool to follow the spading-fork or the spade, but for the final preparation of the surface a steel garden-rake is the ideal implement.

In areas, large enough to admit horse tools, the land can be fitted more economically by means of the various types of plows, harrows, and cultivators that are to be had of any dealer in agricultural implements. Figure 85 shows various types of model surface plows. The one shown at the upper left-hand is considered by Roberts, in his “Fertility of the Land,” to be the ideal general-purpose plow, as respects shape and method of construction.

The type of machine to be used must be determined wholly by the character of the land and the purposes for which it is to be fitted. Lands that are hard and cloddy may be reduced by the use of the disk or Acme harrows, shown in Fig. 86; but those that are friable and mellow may not need such heavy and vigorous tools. On these mellower lands, the spring-tooth harrow, types of which are shown in Fig. 87, may follow the plow. On very hard lands, these spring-tooth harrows may follow the disk and Acme types. The final preparation of the land is accomplished by light implements of the pattern shown in Fig. 88. These spike-tooth smoothing-harrows do for the field what the hand-rake does for the garden-bed.

If it is desired to put a very fine finish on the surface of the ground by means of horse tools, implements like the Breed or Wiard weeder may be used. These are constructed on the principle of a spring-tooth horse hay-rake, and are most excellent, not only for fitting loose land for ordinary seeding, but also for subsequent tillage.

In areas that cannot be entered with a team, various one-horse implements may do the work that is accomplished by heavier tools in the field. The spring-tooth cultivator, shown at the right in Fig. 89, may do the kind of work that the spring-tooth harrows are expected to do on larger areas; and various adjustable spike-tooth cultivators, two of which are shown in Fig. 89, are useful for putting a finish on the land. These tools are also available for the tilling of the surface when crops are growing. The spring-tooth cultivator is a most useful tool for cultivating raspberries and blackberries, and other strong-rooted crops.

For still smaller areas, in which horses cannot be used and which are still too large for tilling wholly by means of hoes and rakes, various types of wheel-hoes may be used. These implements are now made in great variety of patterns, to suit any taste and almost any kind of tillage. For the best results, it is essential that the wheel should be large and with a broad tire, that it may override obstacles. Figure 90 shows an excellent type of wheel-hoe with five blades, and Fig. 91 shows one with a single blade and that may be used in very narrow rows. Two-wheeled hoes (Fig. 92) are often used, particularly when it is necessary to have the implement very steady, and the wheels may straddle the rows of low plants. Many of these wheel-hoes are provided with various shapes of blades, so that the implement may be adjusted to many kinds of work. Nearly all the weeding of beds of onions and like plants can be done by means of these wheel-hoes, if the ground is well prepared in the beginning; but it must be remembered that they are of comparatively small use on very hard and cloddy and stony lands.

The saving of moisture.

The garden must have a liberal supply of moisture. The first effort toward securing this supply should be the saving of the rainfall water.

Proper preparation and tillage put the land in such condition that it holds the water of rainfall. Land that is very hard and compact may shed the rainfall, particularly if it is sloping and if the surface is bare of vegetation. If the hard-pan is near the surface, the land cannot hold much water, and any ordinary rainfall may fill it so full that it overflows, or puddles stand on the surface. On land in good tilth, the water of rainfall sinks away, and is not visible as free water.

As soon as the moisture begins to pass from the superincumbent atmosphere, evaporation begins from the surface of the land. Any body interposed between the land and the air checks this evaporation; this is why there is moisture underneath a board. It is impracticable, however, to floor over the garden with boards, but any covering will have similar effect, but in different degree. A covering of sawdust or leaves or dry ashes will prevent the loss of moisture. So will a covering of dry earth. Now, inasmuch as the land is already covered with earth, it only remains to loosen up a layer or stratum on top in order to secure the mulch.

All this is only a roundabout way of saying that frequent shallow surface tillage conserves moisture. The comparatively dry and loose mulch breaks up the capillary connection between the surface soil and the under soil, and while the mulch itself may be useless as a foraging ground for roots, it more than pays its keep by its preventing of the loss of moisture; and its own soluble plant-foods are washed down into the lower soil by the rains.

As often as the surface becomes compact, the mulch should be renewed or repaired by the use of the rake or cultivator or harrow. Persons are deceived by supposing that so long as the surface remains moist, the land is in the best possible condition; a moist surface may mean that water is rapidly passing off into the atmosphere. A dry surface may mean that less evaporation is taking place, and there may be moister earth beneath it; and moisture is needed below the surface rather than on top. A finely raked bed is dry on top; but the footprints of the cat remain moist, for the animal packed the soil wherever it stepped and a capillary connection was established with the water reservoir beneath. Gardeners advise firming the earth over newly planted seeds to hasten germination. This is essential in dry times; but what we gain in hastening germination we lose in the more rapid evaporation of moisture. The lesson is that we should loosen the soil as soon as the seeds have germinated, to reduce evaporation to the minimum. Large seeds, as beans and peas, may be planted deep and have the earth firmed about them, and then the rake may be applied to the surface to stop the rise of moisture before it reaches the air.

Two illustrations, adapted from Roberts’s “Fertility,” show good and poor preparation of the land. Figure 93 is a section of land twelve inches deep. The under soil has been finely broken and pulverized and then compacted. It is mellow but firm, and is an excellent water reservoir. Three inches of the surface is a mulch of loose and dry earth. Figure 94 shows an earth-mulch, but it is too shallow; and the under soil is so open and cloddy that the water runs through it.

When the land is once properly prepared, the soil-mulch is maintained by surface-working tools. In field practice, these tools are harrows and horse cultivators of various kinds; in home garden practice they are wheel-hoes, rakes, and many patterns of hand hoes and scarifiers, with finger-weeders and other small implements for work directly among the plants.

A garden soil is not in good condition when it is hard and crusted on top. The crust may be the cause of wasting water, it keeps out the air, and in general it is an uncongenial physical condition; but its evaporation of water is probably its chief defect. Instead of pouring water on the land, therefore, we first attempt to keep the moisture in the land. If, however, the soil becomes so dry in spite of you that the plants do not thrive, then water the bed. Do not sprinkle it, but water it. Wet it clear through at evening. Then in the morning, when the earth begins to dry, loosen the surface again to keep the water from getting away. Sprinkling the plants every day or two is one of the surest ways of spoiling them. We may water the ground with a garden-rake.

Hand tools for weeding and subsequent tillage and other hand work.

Any of the cultivators and wheel-hoes are as useful for the subsequent tilling of the crop as for the initial preparation of the land, but there are other tools also that greatly facilitate the keeping of the plantation in order. Yet wholly aside from the value of a tool as an implement of tillage and as a weapon for the pursuit of weeds, is its merit merely as a shapely and interesting instrument. A man will take infinite pains to choose a gun or a fishing-rod to his liking, and a woman gives her best attention to the selecting of an umbrella; but a hoe is only a hoe and a rake only a rake. If one puts his personal choice into the securing of plants for a garden, so should he discriminate in the choice of hand tools, to secure those that are light, trim, well made, and precisely adapted to the work to be accomplished. A case of neat garden tools ought to be a great joy to a joyful gardener. So I am willing to enlarge on the subject of hoes and their kind.

The hoe.

The common rectangular-bladed hoe is so thoroughly established in the popular mind that it is very difficult to introduce new patterns, even though they may be intrinsically superior. As a general-purpose tool, it is no doubt true that a common hoe is better than any of its modifications, but there are various patterns of hoe-blades that are greatly superior for special uses, and which ought to appeal to any quiet soul who loves a garden.

The great width of the common blade does not admit of its being used in very narrow rows or very close to delicate plants, and it does not allow of the deep stirring of the soil in narrow spaces. It is also difficult to enter hard ground with such a broad face. Various pointed blades have been introduced from time to time, and most of them have merit. Some persons prefer two points to the hoe, as shown in Marvin’s blades, in Fig. 95. These interesting shapes represent the suggestions of gardeners who will not be bound by what the market affords, but who have blades cut and fitted for their own satisfaction.

Persons who followed the entertaining writings of one who called himself Mr. A.B. Tarryer, in “American Garden,” a few years back, will recall the great variety of implements that he advised for the purpose of extirpating his hereditary foes, the weeds. A variety of these blades and tools is shown in Figs. 96 and 97. I shall let Mr. Tarryer tell his story at some length in order to lead my reader painlessly into a new field of gardening pleasures.

Mr. Tarryer contends that the wheel-hoe is much too clumsy an affair to allow of the pursuit of an individual weed. While the operator is busy adjusting his machine and manipulating it about the corners of the garden, the quack-grass has escaped over the fence or has gone to seed at the other end of the plantation. He devised an expeditious tool for each little work to be performed on the garden,—for hard ground and soft, for old weeds and young (one of his implements was denominated “infant-damnation”).

“Scores of times during the season,” Mr. Tarryer writes, “the ten or fifteen minutes one has to enjoy in the flower, fruit, and vegetable garden—and that would suffice for the needful weeding with the hoes we are celebrating—would be lost in harnessing horses or adjusting and oiling squeaky wheel-hoes, even if everybody had them. The ‘American Garden’ is not big enough, nor my patience long enough, to give more than an inkling of the unspeakable merits of these weapons of society and civilization. When Mrs. Tarryer was showing twelve or fifteen acres of garden with never a weed to be seen, she valued her dozen or more of these light implements at five or ten dollars daily; whether they were in actual use or adorning the front hall, like a hunter’s or angler’s furniture, made no difference. But where are these millennial tools made and sold? Nowhere. They are as unknown as the Bible was in the dark ages, and we must give a few hints towards manufacturing them.

“First, about the handles. The ordinary dealer or workman may say these knobs can be formed on any handles by winding them with leather; but just fancy a young maiden setting up her hoe meditatively and resting her hands and chin upon an old leather knob to reflect upon something that has been said to her in the garden, and we shall perceive that a knob by some other name would smell far sweeter. Moreover, trees grow large enough at the butt to furnish all the knobs we want—even for broom-sticks—though sawyers, turners, dealers, and the public seem not to be aware of it; yet it must be confessed we are so far gone in depravity that there will be trouble in getting those handles....

“In a broadcast prayer of this public nature, absolute specifications would not be polite. Black walnut and butternut are fragrant as well as beautiful timber. Cherry is stiff, heavy, durable, and, like maple, takes a slippery polish. For fine, light handles, that the palm will stick to, butt cuts of poplar or cottonwood cannot be excelled, yet straight-grained ash will bear more careless usage.

“The handles of Mrs. Tarryer’s hoes are never perfectly straight. All the bayonet class bend downward in use half an inch or more; all the thrust-hoe handles bend up in a regular curve (like a fiddle-bow turned over) two or three inches. Unless they are hung right, these hoes are very awkward things. When perfectly fit for one, they may not fit another; that is, a tall, keen-sighted person cannot use the hoe that is just fit for a very short one.... Curves in the handles throw centers of gravity where they belong. Good timber generally warps in a handle about right, only implement makers and babes in weeding may not know when it is made fast right side up in the hoe.

“There are plenty of thrust-hoes in market, such as they are. Some have malleable iron sockets and bows—heavier to the buyer and cheaper to the dealer—instead of wrought-iron and steel, such as is required for true worth.”

Scarifiers.

For many purposes, tools that scrape or scarify the surface are preferable to hoes that dig up the ground. Weeds may be kept down by cutting them off, as in walks and often in flower-beds, rather than by rooting them out. Figure 98 shows such a tool, and a home-made implement answering the same purpose is illustrated in Fig. 99. This latter tool is easily made from strong band-iron. Another type is suggested in Fig. 100, representing a slicing-hoe made by fastening a sheet of good metal to the tines of a broken fork. The kind chiefly in the market is shown in Fig. 101.

Hand-weeders.

For small beds of flowers or vegetables, hand-weeders of various patterns are essential to easy and efficient work. One of the best patterns, with long and short handles, is shown in Fig. 102. Another style, that may be made at home of hoop-iron, is drawn in Fig. 103. A finger-weeder is illustrated in Fig. 104. In Fig. 105 a common form is shown. Many patterns of hand-weeders are in the market, and other forms will suggest themselves to the operator.

Trowels and their kind.

Small hand-tools for digging, as trowels, dibbers, and spuds, may be had of dealers. In buying a trowel it is economy to pay an extra price and secure a steel blade with a strong shank that runs through the entire length of the handle. One of these tools will last several years and may be used in hard ground, but the cheap trowels are generally hardly worth the buying. A solid wrought-iron trowel all in one piece is also manufactured, and is the most durable pattern. A steel trowel may be secured to a long handle; or the blade of a broken trowel may be utilized in the same way (Fig. 106). A very good trowel may also be made from a discarded blade of a mowing machine (Fig. 107), and it answers the purpose of a hand-weeder.

Weed-spuds are shown in Figs. 108 to 111. The first is particularly serviceable in cutting docks and other strong weeds from lawns and pastures. It is provided with a brace to allow it to be thrust into the ground with the foot. It is seldom necessary to dig out perennial weeds to the tips of their deep roots, if the crown is severed a short distance below the surface.

Rollers.

It is often essential that the land be compacted after it has been spaded or hoed, and some kind of hand-roller is then useful. Very efficient iron rollers are in the market, but a good one can be made from a hard chestnut or oak log, as shown in Fig. 112. (It should be remembered that when the surface is hard and compact, water escapes from it rapidly, and plants may suffer for moisture on arrival of warm weather.) The roller is useful in two ways—to compact the under-surface, in which case the surface should be again loosened as soon as the rolling is done; and to firm the earth about seeds (page 98) or the roots of newly set plants.

Markers.

A marker may often be combined with the roller to good advantage, as in Fig. 113. Ropes are secured about the cylinder at proper intervals, and these mark the rows. Knots may be placed in the ropes to indicate the places where plants are to be set or seeds dropped. An extension of the same idea is seen in Fig. 114, which shows iron or wooden pegs that make holes in which very small plants may be set. An L-shaped rod projects at one side to mark the place of the next row.

In most cases the best and most expeditious method of marking out the garden is by the use of the garden line, which is secured to a reel (Fig. 96), but various other devices are often useful. For very small beds, drills or furrows may be made by a simple marking-stick (Fig. 115). A handy marker is shown in Fig. 116. A marker can be rigged to a wheel-barrow, as in Fig. 117. A rod is secured underneath the front truss, and from its end an adjustable trailer, B, is hung. The wheel of the barrow marks the row, and the trailer indicates the place of the next row, thereby keeping the rows parallel. A hand sled-marker is shown in Fig. 118, and a similar device may be secured to the frame of a sulky cultivator (Fig. 119) or other wheel tool. A good adjustable sled-marker is outlined in Fig. 120.

Enriching the land.

Two problems are involved in the fertilizing of the land: the direct addition of plant-food, and the improvement of the physical structure of the soil. The latter office is often the more important.

Lands that, on the one hand, are very hard and solid, with a tendency to bake, and, on the other, that are loose and leachy, are very greatly benefited by the addition of organic matter. When this organic matter—as animal and plant remains—decays and becomes thoroughly incorporated with the soil, it forms what is called humus. The addition of this humus makes the land mellow, friable, retentive of moisture, and promotes the general chemical activities of the soil. It also puts the soil in the best physical condition for the comfort and well-being of the plants. Very many of the lands that are said to be exhausted of plant-food still contain enough potash, phosphoric acid, and lime, and other fertilizing elements, to produce good crops; but they have been greatly injured in their physical condition by long-continued cropping, injudicious tillage, and the withholding of vegetable matter. A part of the marked results secured from the plowing under of clover is due to the incorporation of vegetable matter, wholly aside from the addition of fertilizing material; and this is emphatically true of clover because its deep-growing roots penetrate and break up the subsoil.

Muck and leafmold are often very useful in ameliorating either very hard or very loose lands. Excellent humous material may be constantly at hand if the leaves, garden refuse, and some of the manure are piled and composted (p. 114). If the pile is turned several times a year, the material becomes fine and uniform in texture.

The various questions associated with the fertilizing of the land are too large to be considered in detail here. Persons who desire to familiarize themselves with the subject should consult recent books. It may be said, however, that, as a rule, most lands contain all the elements of plant-food in sufficient quantities except potash, phosphoric acid, and nitrogen. In many cases, lime is very beneficial to land, usually because it corrects acidity and has a mechanical effect in pulverizing and flocculating clay and in cementing sands.

The chief sources of commercial potash are muriate of potash, sulfate of potash, and wood ashes. For general purposes, the muriate of potash is now recommended, because it is comparatively cheap and the composition is uniform. A normal application of muriate of potash is 200 to 300 pounds to the acre; but on some lands, where the greatest results are demanded, sometimes as much as twice this application may be made.

Phosphoric acid is got in dissolved South Carolina and Florida rock and in various bone preparations. These materials are applied at the rate of 200 to 400 pounds to the acre.

Commercial nitrogen is secured chiefly in the form of animal refuse, as blood and tankage, and in nitrate of soda. It is more likely to be lost by leaching through the land than the mineral substances are, especially if the land lacks humus. Nitrate of soda is very soluble, and should be applied in small quantities at intervals. Nitrogen, being the element which is mostly conducive to vegetative growth, tends to delay the season of maturity if applied heavily or late in the season. From 100 to 300 pounds of nitrate of soda may be applied to the acre, but it is ordinarily better to make two or three applications at intervals of three to six weeks. Fertilizing materials may be applied either in fall or spring; but in the case of nitrate of soda it is usually better not to apply in the fall unless the land has plenty of humus to prevent leaching, or on plants that start very early in the spring.

Fertilizing material is sown broadcast, or it may be scattered lightly in furrows underneath the seeds, and then covered with earth. If sown broadcast, it may be applied either after the seeds are sown or before. It is usually better to apply it before, for although the rains carry it down, nevertheless the upward movement of water during the dry weather of the summer tends to bring it back to the surface. It is important that large lumps of fertilizer, especially muriate of potash and nitrate of soda, do not fall near the crowns of the plants; otherwise the plants may be seriously injured. It is a general principle, also, that it is best to use more sparingly of fertilizers than of tillage. The tendency is to make fertilizers do penance for the sins of neglect, but the results do not often meet one’s expectations.

If one has only a small garden or a home yard, it ordinarily will not pay him to buy the chemicals separately, as suggested above, but he may purchase a complete fertilizer that is sold under a trademark or brand, and has a guaranteed analysis. If one is raising plants chiefly for their foliage, as rhubarb and ornamental bushes, he should choose a fertilizer comparatively rich in nitrogen; but if he desires chiefly fruit and flowers, the mineral elements, as potash and phosphoric acid, should usually be high. If one uses the chemicals, it is not necessary that they be mixed before application; in fact, it is usually better not to mix them, because some plants and some soils need more of one element than of another. Just what materials, and how much, different soils and plants require must be determined by the grower himself by observation and experiment; and it is one of the satisfactions of gardening to arrive at discrimination in such matters.

Muriate of potash costs $40 and upwards per ton, sulfate about $48, dissolved boneblack about $24, ground bone about $30, kainit about $13, and nitrate of soda about 2-1/4 cents per pound. These prices vary, of course, with the composition or mechanical condition of materials, and with the state of the market. The average composition of unleached wood ashes in the market is about as follows: Potash, 5.2 per cent; phosphoric acid, 1.70 per cent; lime, 34 per cent; magnesia, 3.40 per cent. The average composition of kainit is 13.54 per cent potash, 1.15 per cent lime.

The fact that the soil itself is the greatest storehouse of plant-food is shown by the following average of thirty-five analyses of the total content of the first eight inches of surface soils, per acre: 3521 pounds of nitrogen, 4400 pounds of phosphoric acid, 19,836 pounds of potash. Much of this is unavailable, but good tillage, green-manuring, and proper management tend to unlock it and at the same time to save it from waste.

Every careful gardener will take satisfaction in saving leaves and trimmings and stable refuse and making compost of it to supplement the native supplies in the soil. Some out-of-the-way corner will be found for a permanent pile, with room for piling it over from time to time. The pile will be screened by his garden planting. (Figure 121 suggests a useful cart for collecting such materials.) He will also save the power of his land by changing his crops to other parts of the garden, year by year, not growing his China asters or his snap-dragons or his potatoes or strawberries continuously on the same area; and thus, also, will his garden have a new face every year.

Lest the reader may get the idea that there is no limit to be placed on the enriching of the soil, I will caution him at the end of my discussion that he may easily make the place so rich that some plants will overgrow and will not come into flowering or fruiting before frost, and flowers may lack brilliancy. On very rich land, scarlet sage will grow to great size but will not bloom in the northern season; sweet peas will run to vine; gaillardias and some other plants will break down; tomatoes and melons and peppers may be so late that the fruit will not ripen. Only experience and good judgment will safeguard the gardener as to how far he should or should not go.

CHAPTER V
THE HANDLING OF THE PLANTS

There is a knack in the successful handling of plants that it is impossible to describe in print. All persons can improve their practice through diligent reading of useful gardening literature, but no amount of reading and advice will make a good gardener of a person who does not love to dig in a garden or who does not have a care for plants just because they are plants.

To grow a plant well, one must learn its natural habits. Some persons learn this as if by intuition, acquiring the knowledge from close discrimination of the behavior of the plant. Often they are themselves unconscious of this knack of knowing what will make the plant to thrive; but it is not at all necessary to have such an intuitive judgment to enable one to be even more than a fairly good gardener. Diligent attention to the plant’s habits and requirements, and a real regard for the plant’s welfare, will make any person a successful plant-grower.

Some of the things that a person should know about any plant he would grow are these:—

• Whether the plant matures in the first, second, third, or subsequent years; and when it naturally begins to fail.
• The time of the year or season in which it normally grows, blooms, or fruits; and whether it can be forced at other seasons.
• Whether it prefers a situation dry or moist or wet, hot or cool, sunny or shady.
• Its preferences as to soil, whether very rich or only moderately rich, sand or loam, or peat or clay.
• Its hardiness as to frost, wind, drought, heat.
• Whether it has any special requirements as to germination, and whether it transplants well.
• Whether it is specially liable to attack by insects or disease.
• Whether it has a special inability to grow two years in succession on the same land.

Having suited the situation to the plant, and having prepared the ground well and made a resolution to keep it well, special attention must be given to such matters as these:—

• Guarding from all insects and diseases; and also from cats and chickens and dogs; and likewise from rabbits and mice.
• Protecting from weeds.
• Pruning, in the case of fruit trees and bushes, and also of ornamental woody plants on occasion, and sometimes even of annual herbs.
• Staking and tying, particularly of sprawly garden flowers.
• Persistent picking of seed pods or dead flowers from flower plants, in order to conserve the strength of the plant and to prolong its season of bloom.
• Watering in dry weather (but not sprinkling or dribbling).
• Thorough winter protecting of plants that need it.
• Removing dead leaves, broken branches, weak and sickly plants, and otherwise keeping the place tidy and trim.

Sowing the seeds.

Prepare the surface earth well, to make a good seed-bed. Plant when the ground is moist, if possible, and preferably just before a rain if the soil is of such character that it will not bake. For shallow-planted seeds, firm the earth above them by walking over the row or by patting it down with a hoe. Special care should be exercised not to sow very small and slow-germinating seeds, as celery, carrot, onion, in poorly prepared soil or in ground that bakes. With such seeds it is well to sow seeds of radish or turnip, for these germinate quickly and break the crust, and also mark the row so that tillage may be begun before the regular-crop seeds are up.

Land may be prevented from baking over the seeds by scattering a very thin layer of fine litter, as chaff, or of sifted moss or mold, over the row. A board is sometimes laid on the row to retain the moisture, but it must be lifted gradually just as soon as the plants begin to break the ground, or the plants will be greatly injured. Whenever practicable, seed-beds of celery and other slow-germinating seeds should be shaded. If the beds are watered, be careful that the soil is not packed by the force of the water or baked by the sun. In thickly sown seed-beds, thin or transplant the plants as soon as they have made their first true leaves.

For most home-grounds, seeds may be sown by hand, but for large areas of one crop, one of the many kinds of seed-sowers may be used. The particular methods of sowing seeds are usually specified in the seed catalogues, if other than ordinary treatment is required. The sled-markers (already described, p. 108) open a furrow of sufficient depth for the planting of most seeds. If marker furrows are not available, a furrow may be opened with a hoe for such deep-planted seeds as peas and sweet peas, or by a trowel or end of a rakestale for smaller seeds. In narrow beds or boxes, a stick or ruler (Fig. 115) may be used for opening creases to receive the seeds.

The depth at which seeds are to be planted varies with the kind, the soil and its preparation, the season, and whether they are planted in the open or in the house. In boxes and under glass, it is a good rule that the seed be sown at a depth equal to twice its own diameter, but deeper sowing is usually necessary out of doors, particularly in hot and dry weather. Strong and hardy seeds, as peas, sweet peas, large fruit-tree seeds, may be planted three to six inches deep. Tender seeds, that are injured by cold and wet, may be planted after the ground is settled and warm at a greater depth than before that season. As a rule, nothing is gained by sowing tender seeds before the weather is thoroughly settled and the ground warm.

Propagating by cuttings.

Many common plants are propagated by cuttings rather than by seeds, particularly when it is desired to increase a particular variety.

Cuttings are parts of plants inserted in soil or water with the intention that they shall grow and make new plants. They are of various kinds. They may be classified, with reference to the age of the wood or tissue, into two classes; viz. those made from perfectly hard or dormant wood (taken from the winter twigs of trees and bushes), and those made from more or less immature or growing wood. They may be classified again in respect to the part of the plants from which they are taken, as root-cuttings, tuber-cuttings (as the ordinary “seed” planted for potatoes), stem-cuttings, and leaf-cuttings.

Dormant stem-cuttings.

Dormant-wood cuttings are used for grapes (Fig. 122), currants, gooseberries, willows, poplars, and many other kinds of soft-wooded trees and shrubs. Such cuttings are ordinarily taken in fall or winter, but cut into the proper lengths and then buried in sand or moss where they do not freeze, in order that the lower end may heal over or callous. In the spring these cuttings are set in the ground, preferably in a rather sandy and well-drained place.

Usually, hardwood cuttings are made with two to four joints or buds, and when they are planted, only the upper bud projects above the ground. They may be planted erect, as Fig. 122 shows, or somewhat slanting. In order that the cutting may reach down to moist earth, it is desirable that it should not be less than 6 in. long; and it is sometimes better if it is 8 to 12 in. If the wood is short-jointed, there may be several buds on a cutting of this length; and in order to prevent too many shoots from arising from these buds the lowermost buds are often cut out. Roots will start as readily if the lower buds are removed, since the buds grow into shoots and not into roots.

Cuttings of currants, grapes, gooseberries, and the like may be set in rows that are far enough apart to admit of easy tillage either with horse or hand tools, and the cuttings may be placed 3 to 8 in. apart in the row. The English varieties of gooseberries, considerably grown in this country, do not propagate readily from cuttings.

After the cuttings have grown one season, the plants are usually transplanted and given more room for the second year’s growth, after which time they are ready to be set in permanent plantations. In some cases, the plants are set at the end of the first year; but two-year plants are stronger and usually preferable.

Cuttings of roots.

Root-cuttings are used for blackberries, raspberries, and a few other things. They are ordinarily made of roots from the size of a lead pencil to one’s little finger, and are cut in lengths from 3 to 5 in. long. The cuttings are stored the same as stem-cuttings and allowed to callous. In the spring they are planted in a horizontal or nearly horizontal position in moist sandy soil, being entirely covered to a depth of 1 or 2 in.

Green cuttings.

Softwood or greenwood cuttings are usually made of wood that is mature enough to break when it is bent sharply. When the wood is so soft that it will bend and not break, it is too immature, in the majority of plants, for the making of good cuttings.

One to two joints is the proper length of a greenwood cutting. If of two joints, the lower leaves should be cut off and the upper leaves cut in two so that they do not present their entire surface to the air and thereby evaporate the plant juices too rapidly. If the cutting is of only one joint, the lower end is usually cut just above a joint. In either case, the cuttings are usually inserted in sand or well-washed gravel, nearly or quite up to the leaves. Keep the bed uniformly moist throughout its depth, but avoid any soil which holds so much moisture that it becomes muddy and sour. These cuttings should be shaded until they begin to emit their roots. Coleus, geraniums, fuchsias, carnations, and nearly all the common greenhouse and house plants, are propagated by these cuttings or slips (Figs. 123, 124).

Cuttings of leaves.

Leaf-cuttings are often used for the fancy-leaved begonias, gloxinias, and a few other plants. The young plant usually arises most readily from the leaf-stalk or petiole. The leaf, therefore, is inserted into the ground much as a green cutting is. Begonia leaves will throw out young plants from the main ribs when these veins or ribs are cut. Therefore, well-grown and firm begonia leaves are sometimes laid flat on the sand and the main veins cut; then the leaf is weighted down with pebbles or pegs so that these cut surfaces come into intimate contact with the soil beneath. The usual way, however, is to cut a triangular piece of the leaf (Fig. 125) and insert the tip in sand. So long as the cutting is alive, do not be discouraged, even if it do not start.

VIII. A well-planted entrance. Common trees and bushes, with Boston ivy on the post, and Berberis Thunbergii in front.

General treatment of cuttings.

In the growing of all greenwood and leaf-cuttings, it is well to remember that they should have a gentle bottom heat; the soil should be such that it will hold moisture and yet not remain wet; the air about the tops should not become close and stagnant, else the plants will damp off; and the tops should be shaded for a time. In order to control all the conditions, such cuttings are grown under cover, as in a greenhouse, coldframe, or a box in the residence window.

An excellent method of starting cuttings in the living room is to make a double pot, as shown in Fig. 126. Inside a 6-in. pot set a 4-in. pot. Fill the bottom, a, with gravel or bits of brick, for drainage. Plug the hole in the inside pot. Fill the spaces between, c, with earth, and in this set the cuttings. Water may be poured into the inner pot, b, to supply the moisture.

Transplanting young seedlings.

In the transplanting of cabbages, tomatoes, flowers, and all plants recently started from seeds, it is important that the ground be thoroughly fined and compacted. Plants usually live better if transplanted into ground that has been freshly turned. If possible, transplant in cloudy or rainy weather, particularly if late in the season. Firm the earth snugly about the roots with the hands or feet, in order to bring up the soil moisture; but it is generally best to rake the surface in order to reëstablish the earth-mulch, unless the plants are so small that their roots cannot reach through the mulch (p. 98).

If the plants are taken from pots, water the pots some time in advance, and the ball of earth will fall out when the pot is inverted and tapped lightly. In taking up plants from the ground, it is advisable, also, to water them well some time before removing; the earth may then be held on the roots. See that the watering is done far enough in advance to allow the water to settle away and distribute itself; the earth should not be muddy when the plants are removed.

In order to reduce the evaporation from the plant, shingles may be stuck into the ground to shade the plant; or a screen may be improvised with pieces of paper (Fig. 122), tin cans, inverted flower-pots, coverings of brush, or other means.

It is nearly always advisable to remove some of the foliage, particularly if the plant has several leaves and if it has not been grown in a pot, and also if the transplanting is done in warm weather. Figure 128 shows a good treatment for transplanted plants. With the foliage all left on, the plants are likely to behave as in the upper row; but with most of it cut off, as in the lower row, there is little wilting, and new leaves soon start. Figure 129 also shows what part of the leaves may be cut off on transplanting. If the ground is freshly turned and the transplanting is well done, it rarely will be necessary to water the plants; but if watering is necessary, it should be done at nightfall, and the surface should be loosened the next morning or as soon as it becomes dry.

In the transplanting of young plants, some kind of a dibber should be used to make the holes. Dibbers make holes without removing any of the earth. A good form of dibber is shown in Fig. 130, which is like a flat or plane trowel. Many persons prefer a cylindrical and conical dibber, like that shown in Fig. 131. For hard soils and larger plants, a strong dibber may be made from a limb that has a right-angled branch to serve as a handle. This handle may be softened by slipping a piece of rubber hose on it (Fig. 132). A long iron dibber, which may also be used as a crow-bar, is shown in Fig. 133. In transplanting with the dibber, a hole is first made by a thrust of the tool, and the earth is then pressed against the root by means of the foot, hand, or the dibber itself (as in Fig. 131). The hole is not filled by putting in dirt at the top.

For large plants, a broader dibber may be used. An implement like that shown in Fig. 134 is useful for setting strawberries and other plants with large roots. It is made of two-inch plank, with a block on top to act as foot-rest and to prevent the blade from going too deep. In order to provide space for the foot and easily to direct the thrust, the handle may be placed at one side of the middle. For plunging pots, a dibber like that shown in Fig. 135 is useful, particularly when the soil is so hard that a long-pointed tool is necessary. The bottom of the hole may be filled with earth before the pot is inserted; but it is often advisable to leave the vacant space below (as in b) to provide drainage, to keep the plant from rooting, and to prevent earth-worms from entering the hole in the bottom of the pot. For smaller pots, the tool may be inserted a less depth (as at c).

Transplanting established plants and trees.

In setting potted plants out of doors, it is nearly always advisable to plunge them,—that is to set the pots into the earth,—unless the place is very wet. The pots are then watered by the rainfall, and demand little care. If the plants are to be returned to the house in the fall, they should not be allowed to root through the hole in the pot, and the rooting may be prevented by turning the pot around every few days. Large decorative plants may be made to look as if growing naturally in the lawn by sinking the pot or box just below the surface and rolling the sod over it, as suggested in Fig. 136. A space around and below the tub may be provided to insure drainage.

Tub-plants.

For the shifting of very large tub-plants, a box or tub with movable sides, as in Fig. 137, is handy and efficient. The plant-box recommended to parties who grew plants for exhibition at the World’s Fair is shown in Fig. 138. It is made of strong boards or planks. At A is shown the inside of one of two opposite sections or sides, four feet wide at top, three feet wide at bottom, and three feet high. The cleats are two-by-four scantlings, through which holes are bored to admit the bolts with which the box is to be held together. B is an outside view of one of the alternating sections, three feet four inches wide at top, two feet four inches at bottom, and three feet deep. A one-by-six strip is nailed through the center to give strength. C is an end view of A, showing the bolts and also a two-by-four cleat to which the bottom is to be nailed. This box was used mostly for transporting large growing stock to the exposition, the stock having been dug from the open and the box secured around the ball of earth.

When to transplant.

In general, it is best to set hardy plants in the fall, particularly if the ground is fairly dry and the exposure is not too bleak. To this class belong most of the fruit trees and ornamental trees and shrubs; also hardy herbs, as columbines, peonies, lilies, bleeding-hearts, and the like. They should be planted as soon as they are thoroughly mature, so that the leaves begin to fall naturally. If any leaves remain on the tree or bush at planting time, strip them off, unless the plant is an evergreen. It is generally best not to cut back fall-planted trees to the full extent desired, but to shorten them three-fourths of the required amount in the fall, and take off the remaining fourth in the spring, so that no dead or dry tips are left on the plant. Evergreens, as pines and spruces, are not headed-in much, and usually not at all.

All tender and very small plants should be set in the spring, in which case very early planting is desirable; and spring planting is always to be advised when the ground is not thoroughly drained and well prepared.

Depth to transplant.

In well-compacted land, trees and shrubs should be set at about the same depth as they stood in the nursery, but if the land has been deeply trenched or if it is loose from other causes, the plants should be set deeper, because the earth will probably settle. The hole should be filled with fine surface earth. It is generally not advisable to place manure in the hole, but if it is used, it should be of small amount and very thoroughly mixed with the earth, else it will cause the soil to dry out. In lawns and other places where surface tillage cannot be given, a light mulch of litter or manure may be placed about the plants; but the earth-mulch (page 98), when it can be secured, is much the best conserver of moisture.

Making the rows straight.

In order to set trees in rows, it is necessary to use a garden line (Fig. 96), or to mark out the ground with some of the devices already described (Figs. 113-120); or in large areas, the place may be staked out. In planting orchards, the area is laid out (preferably by a surveyor) with two or more rows of stakes so placed that a man may sight from one fixed point to another. Two or three men work to best advantage in such planting.

There are various devices for locating the place of the stake after the stake has been removed and the hole dug, in case the area is not regularly staked out in such a way that sighting across the area may be employed. One of the simplest is shown in Fig. 139. It is a narrow and thin board with a notch in the center and a peg in either end, one of the pegs being stationary. The implement is so placed that the notch meets the stake, then one end of it is thrown out of the way until the hole is dug. When the implement is brought again to its original position, the notch mark’s the place of the stake and the tree. Figure 140 is a device with a lid, in the end of which is a notch to mark the place of the stake. This lid is thrown back, as shown by the dotted lines, when the hole is being dug. Figure 141 shows a method of bringing trees in row by measuring from a line.

Cutting-back; filling.

In the planting of any tree or bush, the roots should be cut back beyond all breaks and serious bruises, and fine earth should be thoroughly filled in and firmed about them, as in Fig. 142. No implement is so good as the fingers for working the soil about the roots. If the tree has many roots, work it up and down slightly several times during the filling of the hole, to settle the earth in place. When the earth is thrown in carelessly, the roots are jammed together, and often an empty place is left beneath the crown, as in Fig. 143, which causes the roots to dry out.

The marks on the tops of these trees in Figs. 142 and 143 show where the branches may be cut. See also Fig. 152. Figures 144 and 145 show the tops of trees after pruning. Strong branchy trees, as apples, pears, and ornamental trees, are usually headed back in this way, upon planting. If the tree has one straight leader and many or several slender branches (Fig. 146), it is usually pruned, as in Fig. 147, each branch being cut back to one or two buds. If there are no branches, or very few of them,—in which case there will be good buds upon the main stem,—the leader may be cut back a third or half its length, to a mere whip. Ornamental bushes with long tops are usually cut back a third or a half when set, as shown in Fig. 45.

Always leave a little of the small bud-making growth. The practice of cutting back shade trees to mere long clubs, or poles, with no small twigs, is to be discouraged. The tree in such case is obliged to force out adventitious buds from the old wood, and it may not have vigor enough to do this; and the process may be so long delayed as to allow the tree to be overtaken by drought before it gets a start.

Removing very large trees.

Very large trees can often be moved with safety. It is essential that the transplanting be done when the trees are perfectly dormant,—winter being preferable,—that a large mass of earth and roots be taken with the tree, and that the top be vigorously cut back. Large trees are often moved in winter on a stone-boat, by securing a large ball of earth frozen about the roots. This frozen ball is secured by digging about the tree for several days in succession, so that the freezing progresses with the excavation. A good device for moving such trees is shown in Fig. 148. The trunk of the tree is securely wrapped with burlaps or other soft material, and a ring or chain is then secured about it. A long pole, b, is run over the truck of a wagon and the end of it is secured to the chain or ring upon the tree. This pole is a lever for raising the tree out of the ground. A team is hitched at a, and a man holds the pole b. Other and more elaborate devices are in use, but this explains the idea and is therefore sufficient for the present purpose; for when a person desires to remove a very large tree he should secure the services of an expert.

The following more explicit directions for moving large trees are by Edward Hicks, who has had much experience in the business, and who made this report to the press a few years ago: “In moving large trees, say those ten to twelve inches in diameter and twenty-five to thirty feet high, it is well to prepare them by trimming and cutting or sawing off the roots at a proper distance from the trunks, say six to eight feet, in June. The cut roots heal over and send out fibrous roots, which should not be injured more than is necessary in moving the trees next fall or spring. Young, thrifty maples and elms, originally from the nursery, do not need such preparation nearly as much as other and older trees. In moving a tree, we begin by digging a wide trench six to eight feet from it, leaving all possible roots fast to it. By digging under the tree in the wide trench, and working the soil out of the roots by means of round or dull-pointed sticks, the soil falls into the cavity made under the tree. Three or four men in as many hours could get so much of the soil away from the roots that it would be safe to attach a rope and tackle to the upper part of the trunk and to some adjoining post or tree for the purpose of pulling the tree over. A good quantity of bagging must be put around the tree under the rope to prevent injury, and care should be taken that the pulling of the rope does not split off or break a limb. A team is hitched to the end of the draft rope, and slowly driven in the proper direction to pull the tree over. If the tree does not readily tip over, dig under and cut off any fast root. While it is tipped over, work out more of the soil with the sticks. Now pass a large rope, double, around a few large roots close to the tree, leaving the ends of the rope turned up by the trunk to be used in lifting the tree at the proper time. Tip the tree in the opposite direction and put another large rope around the large roots close to the trunk; remove more soil and see that no roots are fast to the ground. Four guy-ropes attached to the upper parts of the tree, as shown in the cut (Fig. 149), should be put on properly and used to prevent the tree from tipping over too far as well as to keep it upright. A good deal of the soil can be put back in the hole without covering the roots to get it out of the way of the machine. The latter can now be placed about the tree by removing the front part, fastened by four bolts, placing the frame with the hind wheels around the tree and replacing the front parts. Two timbers, three-by-nine inches, and twenty feet long, are now placed on the ground under the hind wheels, and in front of them, parallel to each other for the purpose of keeping the hind wheels up out of the big hole when drawing the tree away; and they are also used while backing the hind wheels across the new hole in which the tree is to be planted. The machine (Figs. 149, 150) consists of a hind axle twelve feet long, and broad-tired wheels. The frame is made of spruce three-by-eight inches and twenty feet long. The braces are three-by-five inches and ten feet long, and upright three-by-nine inches and three feet high; these are bolted to the hind axle and main frame. The front axle has a set of blocks bolted together and of sufficient height to support the front end of the frame. Into the top timbers, three-by-six inches, hollows are cut at the proper distances to receive the ends of two locust rollers. A windlass or winch is put at each end of the frame, by which trees can easily and steadily be lifted and lowered, the large double ropes passing over the rollers to the windlasses. A locust boom is put across the machine under the frame and above the braces; iron pins hold it in place. The side guy-ropes are made fast to the ends of this boom. The other guy-ropes are made fast to the front and rear parts of the machine. Four rope loops are made fast inside of the frame, and are so placed that by passing a rope around the trunk of the tree and through the loops two or three times, a rope ring is made around the tree that will keep the trunk in the middle of the frame and not allow it to hit either the edges or the rollers—a very necessary safeguard. As the tree is slowly lifted by the windlasses, the guy-ropes are loosened, as needed. The tree will pass obstructions, such as trees by the roadside, but in doing so it is better to lean the tree backward. When the tree has arrived at its new place, the two timbers are placed along the opposite edges of the hole so that the hind wheels can be backed over it. The tree is then lowered to the proper depth, and made plumb by the guy-ropes, and good, mellow soil is thrown in and packed well into all the cavities under the roots. When the hole is half filled, several barrels of water should be poured in; this will wash the soil into the cavities under the center of the tree much better. When the water has settled away, fill in and pack the soil till the hole is little more than full. Leave a depression, so that all the rain that may fall will be retained. The tree should now be judiciously trimmed and the machine removed. Five men can take up, move, and plant a tree in a day, if the distance is short and the digging not too hard. The tree should be properly wired to stakes to prevent the wind from blowing it over. The front part of the machine is a part of our platform spring market-wagon, while the hind wheels are from a wood-axle wagon. A tree ten inches in diameter, with some dirt adhering to its roots, will weigh a ton or more.”

Winter protection of plants.

If the ground is not ready for planting in the fall, or if it is desired for any reason to delay until spring, the trees or bushes may be heeled-in, as illustrated in Fig. 151. The roots are laid in a furrow or trench, and are covered with well-firmed earth. Straw or manure may be thrown over the earth still further to protect the roots, but if it is thrown over the tops, mice may be attracted by it and the trees be girdled. Tender trees or bushes may be lightly covered to the tips with earth. Plants should be heeled-in only in loose, warm, loamy or sandy ground and in a well-drained place.

Fall-planted trees should generally be mounded up, sometimes even as high as shown in Fig. 152. This hilling holds the plant in position, carries off the water, prevents too deep freezing, and holds the earth from heaving. The mound is taken away in the spring. It is sometimes advisable to mound-up established trees in the fall, but on well-drained land the practice is usually not necessary. In hilling trees, pains should be taken not to leave deep holes, from which the earth was dug, close to the tree, for water collects in them. Roses and many other bushes may be mounded in the fall with profit.

It is always advisable to mulch plants that are set in the fall. Any loose and dry material—as straw, manure, leaves, leafmold, litter from yards and stables, pine boughs—may be used for this purpose. Very strong or compact manures, as those in which there is little straw or litter, should be avoided. The ground may be covered to a depth of five or six inches, or even a foot or more if the material is loose. Avoid throwing strong manure directly on the crown of the plants, especially of herbs, for the materials that leach from the manure sometimes injure the crown buds and the roots.

This protection may also be given to established plants, particularly to those which, like roses and herbaceous plants, are expected to give a profusion of bloom the following year. This mulch affords not only winter protection, but is an efficient means of fertilizing the land. A large part of the plant-food materials have leached out of the mulch by spring, and have become incorporated in the soil, where the plant makes ready use of them.

Mulches also serve a most useful purpose in preventing the ground from packing and baking by the weight of snows and rains, and the cementing action of too much water in the surface soil. In the spring, the coarser parts of the mulch may be removed, and the finer parts spaded or hoed into the ground.

Tender bushes and small trees may be wrapped with straw, hay, burlaps, or pieces of matting or carpet. Even rather large trees, as bearing peach trees, are often baled up in this way, or sometimes with corn fodder, although the results in the protection of fruit-buds are not often very satisfactory. It is important that no grain is left in the baling material, else mice may be attracted to it. (The danger of gnawing by mice that nest in winter coverings is always to be anticipated.) It should be known, too, that the object in tying up or baling plants is not so much to protect from direct cold as to mitigate the effects of alternate freezing and thawing, and to protect from drying winds. Plants may be wrapped so thick and tight as to injure them.

The labor of protecting large plants is often great and the results uncertain, and in most cases it is a question whether more satisfaction could not be attained by growing only hardy trees and shrubs.

The objection to covering tender woody plants cannot be urged with equal force against tender herbs or very low bushes, for these are protected with ease. Even the ordinary mulch may afford sufficient protection; and if the tops kill back, the plant quickly renews itself from near the base, and in many plants—as in most hybrid perpetual roses—the best bloom is on these new growths of the season. Old boxes or barrels may be used to protect tender low plants (Figs. 153, 154). The box is filled with leaves or dry straw and either left open on top or covered with boards, boughs, or even with burlaps (Fig. 154).

Connoisseurs of tender roses and other plants sometimes go to the pains of erecting a collapsible shed over the bush, and filling with leaves or straw. Whether this is worth while depends wholly on the degree of satisfaction that one derives from the growing of choice plants (see Roses, in Chap. VIII).

The tops of plants may be laid down for the winter. Figure 155 shows a method of laying down blackberries, as practiced in the Hudson River valley. The plants were tied to a trellis, as the method is in that country, two wires (a, b) having been run on either side of the row. The posts are hinged on a pivot to a short post (c), and are held in position by a brace (d). The entire trellis is then laid down on the approach of winter, as shown in the illustration. The blackberry tops are so strong that they hold the wires up from the ground, even when the trellis is laid down. To hold the wires close to the earth, stakes are thrust over them in a slanting position, as shown at n n. The snow that drifts through the plants ordinarily affords sufficient protection for plants which are as hardy as grapes and berries. In fact, the species may be uninjured even without cover, since, in their prostrate position, they escape the cold and drying winds.

In severe climates, or in the case of tender plants, the tops should be covered with straw, boughs, or litter, as recommended for regular mulch-covers. Sometimes a V-shaped trough made from two boards is placed over the stems of long or vine-like plants that have been laid down. All plants with slender or more or less pliant stems can be laid down with ease. With such protection, figs can be grown in the northern states. Peach and other fruit trees may be so trained as to be tipped over and covered.

Laid-down plants are often injured if the covering remains too late in the spring. The ground warms up early, and may start the buds on parts of the buried plants, and these tender buds may be broken when the plants are raised, or injured by sun, wind, or frost. The plants should be raised while the wood and buds are still hard and dormant.

Pruning.

Pruning is necessary to keep plants in shape, to make them more floriferous and fruitful, and to hold them within bounds.

Even annual plants often may be pruned to advantage. This is true of tomatoes, from which the superfluous or crowding shoots may be removed, especially if the land is so rich that they grow very luxuriantly; sometimes they are trained to a single stem and most of the side shoots are taken away as they appear. If plants of marigold, gaillardia, or other strong and spreading growers are held by stakes or wire-holders (a good practice), it may be advisable to remove the weak and sprawling shoots. Balsams give better results when side shoots are taken off. The removing of the old flowers, which is to be advised with flower-garden plants (page 116), is also a species of pruning.

Distinction should be made between pruning and shearing. Plants are sheared into given shapes. This may be necessary in bedding-plants, and occasionally when a formal effect is desired in shrubs and trees; but the best taste is displayed, in the vast majority of cases, in allowing the plants to assume their natural habits, merely keeping them shapely, cutting out old or dead wood, and, in some cases, preventing such crowding of shoots as will reduce the size of the bloom. The common practice of shearing shrubbery is very much to be reprehended; this subject is discussed from another point of view on page 24.

The pruner should know the flower-bearing habit of the plant that he prunes,—whether the bloom is on the shoots of last season or on the new wood of the present season, and whether the flower-buds of spring-blooming plants are separate from the leaf-buds. A very little careful observation will determine these points for any plant. (1) The spring-blooming woody plants usually produce their flowers from buds perfected the fall before and remaining dormant over winter. This is true of most fruit-trees, and such shrubs as lilac, forsythia, tree peony, wistaria, some spireas and viburnums, weigela, deutzia. Cutting back the shoots of these plants early in spring or late in fall, therefore, removes the bloom. The proper time to prune such plants (unless one intends to reduce or thin the bloom) is just after the flowering season. (2) The summer-blooming woody plants usually produce their flowers on shoots that grow early in the same season. This is true of grapes, quince, hybrid perpetual roses, shrubby hibiscus, crape myrtle, mock orange, hydrangea (paniculata), and others. Pruning in winter or early spring to secure strong new shoots is, therefore, the proper procedure in these cases.

Remarks on pruning may be found under the discussion of roses and other plants in subsequent chapters, when the plants need any special or peculiar attention.

Fruit-trees and shade-trees are usually pruned in winter, preferably late in winter, or in very early spring. However, there is usually no objection to moderate pruning at any time of the year; and moderate pruning every year, rather than violent pruning in occasional years, is to be advised. It is an old idea that summer pruning tends to favor the production of fruit-buds and therefore to make for fruitfulness; there is undoubtedly truth in this, but it must be remembered that fruitfulness is not the result of one treatment or condition, but of all the conditions under which the plant lives.

All limbs should be removed close to the branch or trunk from which they arise, and the surface of the wound should be practically parallel with such branch or trunk, rather than to be cut back to stubs. The stubs do not heal readily.

All wounds much above an inch across may be protected by a coat of good linseed-oil paint; but smaller wounds, if the tree is vigorous, usually require no protection. The object of the paint is to protect the wound from cracking and decay until the healing tissue covers it.

Superfluous and interfering branches should be removed from fruit-trees, so that the top will be fairly open to sun and to the pickers. Well-pruned trees allow of an even distribution and uniform development of the fruit. Watersprouts and suckers should be removed as soon as they are discovered. How open the top may be, will depend on the climate. In the West, open trees suffer from sun-scald.

The fruit-bearing habit of the fruit-tree must be considered in the pruning. The pruner should be able to distinguish fruit-buds from leaf-buds in such species as cherries, plums, apricot, peach, pear, apple, and so prune as to spare these buds or to thin them understandingly. The fruit-buds are distinguished by their position on the tree and by their size and shape. They may be on distinct “spurs” or short branches, in all the above fruits; or, as in the peach, they may be chiefly lateral on the new shoots (in the peach, the fruit-buds are usually two at a node and with a leaf-bud between them), or, as sometimes in apples and pears, they may be at the ends of last year’s growths. Fruit-buds are usually thicker, or “fatter,” than leaf-buds, and often fuzzy. Heading-back the tree of course tends to concentrate the fruit-buds and to keep them nearer the center of the tree-top; but heading-back must be combined with intelligent saving and thinning of the interior shoots. Heading-back of pears and peaches and plums is usually a very desirable practice.

Tree surgery and protection.

Aside from the regular pruning to develop the tree into its best form to enable it to do its best work, there are wounds and malformations to be treated. Recently, the treating of injured and decayed trees has received much attention, and “tree doctors” and “tree surgeons” have engaged in the business. If there are quacks among these people, there are also competent and reliable men who are doing useful service in saving and prolonging the life of trees; one should choose a tree doctor with the same care that he would choose any other doctor. The liability of injury to street trees in the modern city and the increasing regard for trees, render the services of good experts increasingly necessary.

Street trees are injured by many causes: as, starving because of poor soil and lack of water under pavements; smoke and dust; leakage from gas mains and from electric installation; gnawing by horses; butchering by persons stringing wires; carelessness of contractors and builders; wind and ice storms; overcrowding; and the blundering work of persons who think that they know how to prune. Well-enforced municipal regulations should be able to control most of these troubles.

Tree guards.

Along roadsides and other exposed places it is often necessary to protect newly set trees from horses, boys, and vehicles. There are various kinds of tree guards for this purpose. The best types are those that are more or less open, so as to allow the free passage of air and which are so far removed from the body of the tree that its trunk may expand without difficulty. If the guards are very tight, they may shade the trunk so much that the tree may suffer when the guard is removed, and they prevent the discovery of insects and injuries. It is important that the guard does not fill with litter in which insects may harbor. As soon as the tree is old enough to escape injury, the guards should be removed. A very good guard, made of laths held together with three strips of band-iron, and secured to iron posts, is shown in Fig. 156. Figure 157. shows a guard made by winding fencing wire upon three posts or stakes. When there is likely to be danger from too great shading of the trunk, this latter form of guard is one of the best. There are good forms of tree guards on the market. Of course hitching-posts should be provided, wherever horses are to stand, to remove the temptation of hitching to trees. Figure 158, however, shows a very good device when a hitching post is not wanted. A strong stick, four or five feet long, is secured to the tree by a staple and at the lower end of the stick is a short chain with a snap in the end. The snap is secured to the bridle, and the horse is not able to reach the tree.

Mice and rabbits.

Trees and bushes are often seriously injured by the gnawing of mice and rabbits. The best preventive is not to have the vermin. If there are no places in which rabbits and mice can burrow and breed, there will be little difficulty. At the approach of winter, if mice are feared, the dry litter should be removed from about the trees, or it should be packed down very firm, so that the mice cannot nest in it. If the rodents are very abundant, it may be advisable to wrap fine wire netting about the base of the tree. A boy who is fond of trapping or hunting will ordinarily solve the rabbit difficulty. Rags tied on sticks which are placed at intervals about the plantation will often frighten rabbits away.

Girdled trees.

Trees that are girdled by mice should be wrapped up as soon as discovered, so that the wood shall not become too dry. When warm weather approaches, shave off the edges of the girdle so that the healing tissue may grow freely, smear the whole surface with grafting-wax, or with clay, and bind the whole wound with strong cloths. Even though the tree is completely girdled for a distance of three or four inches, it usually may be saved by this treatment, unless the injury extends into the wood. The water from the roots rises through the soft wood and not between the bark and the wood, as commonly supposed. When this sap water has reached the foliage, it takes part in the elaboration of plant-food, and this food is distributed throughout the plant, the path of transfer being in the inner layers of bark. This food material, being distributed back to the girdle, will generally heal over the wound if the wood is not allowed to become dry.

In some cases, however, it is necessary to join the bark above and below the girdle by means of cions, which are whittled to a wedge-shape on either end, and inserted underneath the two edges of the bark (Fig. 159). The ends of the cions and the edges of the wound are held by a bandage of cloth, and the whole work is protected by melted grafting-wax poured upon it. [Footnote: A good grafting-wax is made as follows: Into a kettle place one part by weight of tallow, two parts of beeswax, four parts of rosin. When completely melted, pour into a tub or pail of cold water, then work it with the hands (which should be greased) until it develops a grain and becomes the color of taffy candy. The whole question of the propagation of plants is discussed in “The Nursery-Book.”]

Repairing street trees.

The following advice on “tree surgery” is by A.D. Taylor (Bulletin 256, Cornell University, from which the accompanying illustrations are adapted):—

“Tree surgery includes the intelligent protection of all mechanical injuries and cavities. Pruning requires a previous intimate knowledge of the habits of growth of trees; surgery, on the other hand, requires in addition a knowledge of the best methods for making cavities air-tight and preventing decay. The filling of cavities in trees has not been practiced sufficiently long to warrant making a definite statement as to the permanent success or failure of the operation; the work is still in an experimental stage. The caring for cavities in trees must be urged as the only means of preserving affected specimens, and the preservation of many noble specimens has been at least temporarily assured through the efforts of those practicing this kind of work.

“Successful operation depends on two important factors: first, that all decayed parts of the cavity be wholly removed and the exposed surface thoroughly washed with an antiseptic; second, that the cavity, when filled, must be air tight and hermetically sealed if possible. Trees are treated as follows: The cavity is thoroughly cleaned by removing all decayed wood and washing the interior surface with a solution of copper sulfate and lime, in order to destroy any fungi that may remain. The edges of the cavity are cut smooth in order to allow free growth of the cambium after the cavity is filled. Any antiseptic, such as corrosive sublimate, creosote, or even paint, may answer the purpose; creosote, however, possesses the most penetrating powers of any. The method of filling the cavities depends to a great extent on their size and form. Very large cavities with great openings are generally bricked on the outside, over the opening, and filled on the inside with concrete, the brick serving the purpose of a retaining wall to hold the concrete in place. Concrete used for the main filling is usually made in the proportion of one part good Portland cement, two parts sand, and four parts crushed stone, the consistency of the mixture being such that it may be poured into the cavity and require little or no tamping to make the mass solid. (Fig. 160.)

“Fillings thus made are considered by expert tree surgeons to be a permanent preventive of decay. The outside of the filling is always coated with a thin covering of concrete, consisting of one part cement to two parts fine sand. Cavities resulting from freezing, and which, though large on the inside, show only a long narrow crack on the outside, are most easily filled by placing a form against the entire length of the opening, having a space at the top through which the cement may be poured (Fig. 161). Another method of retaining the concrete is to reinforce it from the outside by driving rows of spikes along the inner surface of either side of the cavity and lacing a stout wire across the face of the cavity. For best results, all fillings must come flush with the inner bark when finished. During the first year, this growing tissue will spread over the outer edge of the filling, thus forming an hermetically sealed cavity. In the course of time, the outside of small or narrow openings should be completely covered with tissue, which buries the filling from view.

“It has been found that there is a tendency for portland cement to contract from the wood after it dries, leaving a space between the wood and the cement through which water and germs of decay may enter. A remedy for this defect has been suggested in the use of a thick coat of tar, or an elastic cement which might be spread over the surface of the cavity before filling. The cracking of portland cement on the surface of long cavities is caused by the swaying of trees during heavy storms, and should not occur if the filling is correctly done.

“In addition to the preservation of decayed specimens by filling the cavities, as above outlined, it has been proposed to strengthen the tree by treating it as shown in Fig. 162. Young saplings of the same species, after having become established as shown, are grafted by approach to the mature specimen.

“Injury frequently results from error in the method of attempting to save broken, or to strengthen and support weak branches that are otherwise healthy. The means used for supporting cracked, wind-racked, and overladen branches which show a tendency to split at the forks are bolting and chaining. The practice of placing iron bands around large branches in order to protect them has resulted in much harm; as the tree grows and expands, such bands tighten, causing the bark to be broken and resulting after a few years in a partial girdling (Fig. 163).

“To bolt a tree correctly is comparatively inexpensive. The safest method consists in passing a strong bolt through a hole bored in the branch for this purpose, and fastening it on the outside by means of a washer and a nut. Generally the washer has been placed against the bark and the nut then holds it in place. A better method of bolting, and one which insures a neat appearance of the branch in addition to serving as the most certain safeguard against the entrance of disease, is to counter-sink the nut in the bark and imbed it in portland cement. The hole for the sinking of the nut and washer is thickly coated with lead paint and then with a layer of cement, on which are placed the nut and washer, both of which are then imbedded in cement. If the outer surface of the nut be flush with the plane of the bark, within a few years it will be covered by the growing tissue.

“The inner ends of the rods in the two branches may be connected by a rod or chain. The preference for the chain over the rod attachment is based on the compressive and tensile stresses which come on the connection during wind storms. Rod connections are preferred, however, when rigidity is required, as in unions made close to the crotch; but for tying two branches together before they have shown signs of weakening at the fork, the chain may best be used, as the point of attachment may be placed some distance from the crotch, where the flexibility factor will be important and the strain comparatively small. Elms in an advanced stage of maturity, if subjected to severe climatic conditions, often show this tendency to split. These trees, especially, should be carefully inspected and means taken to preserve them, by bolting if necessary.”

The illustrations, Figs. 164-173, are self-explanatory, and show poor practice and good practice in the care of trees.

IX. A rocky bank covered with permanent informal planting.

The grafting of plants.

Grafting is the operation of inserting a piece of a plant into another plant with the intention that it shall grow. It differs from the making of cuttings in the fact that the severed part grows in another plant rather than in the soil.

There are two general kinds of grafting—one of which inserts a piece of branch in the stock (grafting proper), and one which inserts only a bud with little or no wood attached (budding). In both cases the success of the operation depends on the growing together of the cambium of the cion (or cutting) and that of the stock. The cambium is the new and growing tissue lying underneath the bark and on the outside of the growing wood. Therefore, the line of demarcation between the bark and the wood should coincide when the cion and stock are joined.

The plant on which the severed piece is set is called the stock. The part which is removed and set into the stock is called a cion if it is a piece of a branch, or a “bud” if it is only a single bud with a bit of tissue attached.

The greater part of grafting and budding is performed when the cion or bud is nearly or quite dormant. That is, grafting is usually done late in winter and early in spring, and budding may be performed then, or late in summer, when the buds have nearly or quite matured.

The chief object of grafting is to perpetuate a kind of plant which will not reproduce itself from seed, or of which seed is very difficult to obtain. Cions or buds are therefore taken from this plant and set into whatever kind of plant is obtainable on which they will grow. Thus, if one wants to propagate the Baldwin apple, he does not for that purpose sow seeds thereof, but takes cions or buds from a Baldwin tree and grafts them into some other apple tree. The stocks are usually obtained from seeds. In the case of the apple, young plants are raised from seeds which are secured mostly from cider factories, without reference to the variety from which they came. When the seedlings have grown to a certain age, they are budded or grafted, the grafted part making the entire top of the tree; and the top bears fruit like that of the tree from which the cions were taken.

There are many ways in which the union between cion and stock is made. Budding may be first discussed. It consists in inserting a bud underneath the bark of the stock, and the commonest practice is that which is shown in the illustrations. Budding is mostly performed in July, August, and early September, when the bark is still loose or in condition to peel. Twigs are cut from the tree which it is desired to propagate, and the buds are cut off with a sharp knife, a shield-shaped bit of bark (with possibly a little wood) being left with them (Fig. 174). The bud is then shoved into a slit made in the stock, and it is held in place by tying with a soft strand. In two or three weeks the bud will have “stuck” (that is, it will have grown fast to the stock), and the strand is cut to prevent its strangling the stock. Ordinarily the bud does not grow until the following spring, at which time the entire stock or branch in which the bud is inserted is cut off an inch above the bud; and the bud thereby receives all the energy of the stock. Budding is the commonest grafting operation in nurseries. Seeds of peaches may be sown in spring, and the plants which result will be ready for budding that same August. The following spring, or a year from the planting of the seed, the stock is cut off just above the bud (which is inserted near the ground), and in the fall of that year the tree is ready for sale; that is, the top is one season old and the root is two seasons old, but in the trade it is known as a one-year-old tree. In the South, the peach stock may be budded in June or early July of the year in which the seed is planted, and the bud grows into a saleable tree the same year: this is known as June budding. In apples and pears the stock is usually two years old before it is budded, and the tree is not sold until the top has grown two or three years. Budding may be performed also in the spring, in which case the bud will grow the same season. Budding is always done on young growths, preferably on those not more than one year old.

Grafting is the insertion of a small branch (or cion), usually bearing more than one bud. If grafting is employed on small stocks, it is customary to employ the whip-graft (Fig. 175). Both stock and cion are cut across diagonally, and a split made in each, so that one fits into the other. The graft is tied securely with a string, and then, if it is above ground, it is also waxed carefully.

In larger limbs or stocks, the common method is to employ the cleft-graft (Fig. 176). This consists in cutting off the stock, splitting it, and inserting a wedge-shaped cion in one or both sides of the split, taking care that the cambium layer of the cion matches that of the stock. The exposed surfaces are then securely covered with wax.

Grafting is usually performed early in the spring, just before the buds swell. The cions should have been cut before this time, when they were perfectly dormant. Cions may be stored in sand in the cellar or in the ice-house, or they may be buried in the field. The object is to keep them fresh and dormant until they are wanted.

If it is desired to change the top of an old plum, apple, or pear tree to some other variety, it is usually accomplished by means of the cleft-graft. If the tree is very young, budding or whip-grafting may be employed. On an old top the cions should begin to bear when three to four years old. All the main limbs should be grafted. It is important to keep down the suckers or watersprouts from around the grafts, and part of the remaining top should be cut away each year until the top is entirely changed over (which will result in two to four years).

A good wax for covering the exposed parts is described in the footnote on page 145.

Keeping records of the plantation.

If one has a large and valuable collection of fruit or ornamental plants, it is desirable that he have some permanent record of them. The most satisfactory method is to label the plants, and then to make a chart or map on which the various plants are indicated in their proper positions. The labels are always liable to be lost and to become illegible, and they are often misplaced by careless workmen or mischievous boys.

For vegetables, annuals, and other temporary plants, the best labels are simple stakes, like that shown in Fig. 177. Garden stakes a foot long, an inch wide, and three-eighths inch thick may be bought of label manufacturers for three to five dollars a thousand. These take a soft pencil very readily, and if the labels are taken up in the fall and stored in a dry place, they will last two or three years.

For more permanent herbaceous plants, as rhubarb and asparagus, or even for bushes, a stake that is sawed from clear pine or cypress, eighteen inches long, three inches wide, and an inch or more thick, affords a most excellent label. The lower end of the stake is sawed to a point, and is dipped in coal tar or creosote, or other preservative. The top of the stake is painted white, and the legend is written with a large and soft pencil. When the writing becomes illegible or the stake is needed for other plants, a shaving is taken off the face of the label with a plane, a fresh coat of paint added, and the label is as good as ever. These labels are strong enough to withstand shocks from whiffletrees and tools, and should last ten years.

Whenever a legend is written with a lead pencil, it is advisable to use the pencil when the paint (which should be white lead) is still fresh or soft. Figure 178 shows a very good device for preserving the writing on the face of the label. A block of wood is secured to the label by means of a screw, covering the legend completely and protecting it from the weather.

If more ornamental stake labels are desired, various types can be bought in the market, or one can be made after the fashion of Fig. 179. This is a zinc plate that can be painted black, on which the name is written with white paint. Many persons, however, prefer to paint the zinc white, and write or stamp the label with black ink or black type. Two strong wire legs are soldered to the label, and these prevent it from turning around. These labels are, of course, much more expensive than the ordinary stake labels, and are usually not so satisfactory, although more attractive.

For labeling trees, various kinds of zinc tallies are in common use, as shown in Figs. 180 and 181. Fresh zinc takes a lead pencil readily, and the writing often becomes more legible as it becomes older, and it will usually remain three or four years. These labels are attached either by wires, as a, b, Fig. 180, or they are wound about the limb as shown in c, d, and e, in Fig. 180. The type of zinc label most in use is a simple strip of zinc, as shown in Fig. 181, wrapped about the limb. The metal is so flexible that it expands readily with the growth of the branch. While these zinc labels are durable, they are very inconspicuous because of their neutral color, and it is often difficult to find them in dense masses of foliage.

The common wooden label of the nurserymen (Fig. 182) is perhaps as useful as any for general purposes. If the label has had a light coat of thin white lead, and the legend has been made with a soft lead pencil, the writing should remain legible four or five years. Fig. 183 shows another type of label that is more durable, since the wire is stiff and large, and is secured around the limb by means of pincers. The large loop allows the limb to expand, and the stiff wire prevents the misplacing of the label by winds and workmen. The tally itself is what is known as the “package label” of the nurserymen, being six inches long, one and one-fourth inches wide, and costing (painted) less than one and one-half dollars a thousand. The legend is made with a lead pencil when the paint is fresh, and sometimes the label is dipped in thin white lead after the writing is made, so that the paint covers the writing with a very thin protecting coat. A similar label is shown in Fig. 184., which has a large wire loop, with a coil, to allow the expansion of the limb. The tallies of this type are often made of glass, or porcelain with the name indelibly printed in them. Figure 185. shows a zinc tally, which is secured to the tree by means of a sharp and pointed wire driven into the wood. Some prefer to have two arms to this wire, driving one point on either side of the tree. If galvanized wire is used, these labels will last for many years.

It is very important, when adjusting labels to trees, to be sure that the wire is not twisted tight against the wood. Figure 186 shows the injury that is likely to result from label wires. When a tree is constricted or girdled, it is very liable to be broken off by winds. It should be a rule to attach the label to a limb of minor importance, so that if the wire should injure the part, the loss will not be serious. When the label, Fig. 182, is applied, only the tips of the wire should be twisted together, leaving a large loop for the expansion of the limb.

The storing of fruits and vegetables.

The principles involved in the storing of perishable products, as fruits and vegetables, differ with the different commodities. All the root-crops, and most fruits, need to be kept in a cool, moist, and uniform temperature if they are to be preserved a great length of time. Squashes, sweet-potatoes, and some other things need to be kept in an intermediate and what might be called a high temperature; and the atmosphere should be drier than for most other products. The low temperature has the effect of arresting decomposition and the work of fungi and bacteria. The moist atmosphere has the effect of preventing too great evaporation and the consequent shriveling.

In the storing of any commodity, it is very important that the product is in proper condition for keeping. Discard all specimens that are bruised or are likely to decay. Much of the decay of fruits and vegetables in storage is not the fault of the storage process, but is really the work of diseases with which the materials are infected before they are put into storage. For example, if potatoes and cabbages are affected with the rot, it is practically impossible to keep them any length of time.

Apples, winter pears, and all roots, should be kept at a temperature somewhat near the freezing point. It should not rise above 40° F. for best results. Apples can be kept even at one or two degrees below the freezing point if the temperature is uniform. Cellars in which there are heaters are likely to be too dry and the temperature too high. In such places it is well to keep fresh vegetables and fruits in tight receptacles, and pack the roots in sand or moss in order to prevent shriveling. In these places, apples usually keep better if headed up in barrels than if kept on racks or shelves. In moist and cool cellars, however, it is preferable for the home supply to place them on shelves, not piling them more than five or six inches deep, for then they can be sorted over as occasion requires. In case of fruits, be sure that the specimens are not over-ripe when placed in storage. If apples are allowed to lie in the sun for a few days before being packed, they will ripen so much that it is very difficult to keep them.

Cabbages should be kept at a low and uniform temperature, and water should be drained away from them. They are stored in many ways in the field, but success depends so much on the season, particular variety, ripeness, and the freedom from injuries by fungi and insects, that uniform results are rarely secured by any one method. The best results are to be expected when they can be kept in a house built for the purpose, in which the temperature is uniform and the air fairly moist. When stored out of doors, they are likely to freeze and thaw alternately; and if the water runs into the heads, mischief results. Sometimes they are easily stored by being piled into a conical heap on well-drained soil and covered with dry straw, and the straw covered with boards. It does not matter if they are frosted, provided they do not thaw out frequently. Sometimes cabbages are laid head down in a shallow furrow plowed in well-drained land, and over them is thrown straw, the stumps being allowed to project through the cover. It is only in winters of rather uniform temperature that good results are to be expected from such methods. These are some of the main considerations involved in the storing of such things as cabbage; the subject is mentioned again in the discussion of cabbage in Chapter X.

In the storing of all products, especially those which have soft and green matter, as cabbages, it is well to provide against the heating of the produce. If the things are buried out of doors, it is important to put on a very light cover at first so that the heat may escape. Cover them gradually as the cold weather comes on. This is important with all vegetables that are placed in pits, as potatoes, beets, and the like. If covered deeply at once, they are likely to heat and rot. All pits made out of doors should be on well-drained and preferably sandy land.

When vegetables are wanted at intervals during the winter from pits, it is well to make compartment pits, each compartment holding a wagon load or whatever quantity will be likely to be wanted at each time. These pits are sunk in well-drained land, and between each of the two pits is left a wall of earth about a foot thick. One pit can then be emptied in cold weather without interfering with the others.

An outside cellar is better than a house cellar in which there is a heater, but it is not so handy. If it is near the house, it need not be inconvenient, however. A house is usually healthier if the cellar is not used for storage. House cellars used for storage should have a ventilating shaft.

Some of the principles involved in an ice-cooled storage house are explained in the diagram, Fig. 189. If the reader desires to make a careful study of storage and storage structures, he should consult cyclopedias and special articles.

The forcing of plants.

There are three general means (aside from greenhouses) of forcing plants ahead of their season in the early spring—by means of forcing-hills and hand-boxes, by coldframes, and by hotbeds.

The forcing-hill is an arrangement by means of which a single plant or a single “hill” of plants may be forced where it permanently stands. This type of forcing may be applied to perennial plants, as rhubarb and asparagus, or to annuals, as melons and cucumbers.

In Fig. 190 is illustrated a common method of hastening the growth of rhubarb in the spring. A box with four removable sides, two of which are shown in end section in the figure, is placed around the plant in the fall. The inside of the box is filled with straw or litter, and the outside is banked thoroughly with any refuse, to prevent the ground from freezing. When it is desired to start the plants, the covering is removed from both the inside and outside of the box and hot manure is piled around the box to its top.

If the weather is yet cold, dry light leaves or straw may be placed inside the box; or a pane or sash of glass may be placed on top of the box, when it will become a coldframe. Rhubarb, asparagus, sea-kale, and similar plants may be advanced two or four weeks by means of this method of forcing. Some gardeners use old barrels or half-barrels in place of the box. The box, however, is better and handier, and the sides can be stored for future use.

Plants that require a long season in which to mature, and which do not transplant readily, as melons and cucumbers, may be planted in forcing-hills in the field. One of these hills is shown in Fig. 191. The frame or mold is shown at the left. This mold is a box with flaring sides and no top or bottom, and provided with a handle. This frame is placed with the small end down at the point where the seeds are to be planted, and the earth is hilled up about it and firmly packed with the feet. The mold is then withdrawn, and a pane of glass is laid upon the top of the mound to concentrate the sun’s rays, and to prevent the bank from washing down with the rains. A clod of earth or a stone may be placed upon the pane to hold it down. Sometimes a brick is used as a mold. This type of forcing-hill is not much used, because the bank of earth is liable to be washed away, and heavy rain coming when the glass is off will fill the hill with water and drown the plant. However, it can be used to very good advantage when the gardener can give it close attention.

A forcing-hill is sometimes made by digging a hole in the ground and planting the seeds in the bottom of it, placing the pane of glass upon a slight ridge or mound which is made on the surface of the ground. This method is less desirable than the other, because the seeds are placed in the poorest and coldest soil, and the hole is very likely to fill with water in the early days of spring.

An excellent type of forcing-hill is made by the use of the hand-box, as shown in Fig. 192. This is a rectangular box, without top or bottom, and a pane of glass is slipped into a groove at the top. It is really a miniature coldframe. The earth is banked up slightly about the box, in order to hold it against winds and to prevent the water from running into it. If these boxes are made of good lumber and painted, they will last for many years. Any size of glass may be used which is desired, but a ten-by-twelve pane is as good as any for general purposes.

After the plants are thoroughly established in these forcing-hills, and the weather is settled, the protection is wholly removed, and the plants grow normally in the open.

A very good temporary protection may be given to tender plants by using four panes of glass, as explained in Fig. 193, the two inner panes being held together at the top by a block of wood through which four nails are driven. Plants are more likely to burn in these glass frames than in the hand-boxes, and such frames are not so well adapted to the protection of plants in very early spring; but they are often useful for special purposes.

In all forcing-hills, as in coldframes and hotbeds, it is exceedingly important that the plants receive plenty of air on bright days. Plants that are kept too close become weak or “drawn”, and lose the ability to withstand changes of weather when the protection is removed. Even though the wind is cold and raw, the plants inside the frames ordinarily will not suffer if the glass is taken off when the sun is shining.

Coldframes.

A coldframe is nothing more than an enlarged hand-box; that is, instead of protecting but a single plant or a single hill with a single pane of glass, the frame is covered with sash, and is large enough to accommodate many plants.

There are three general purposes for which a coldframe is used: For the starting of plants early in spring; for receiving partially hardened plants that have been started earlier in hotbeds and forcing-houses; for wintering young cabbages, lettuce, and other hardy plants that are sown in the fall.

Coldframes are ordinarily placed near the buildings, and the plants are transplanted into the field when settled weather comes. Sometimes, however, they are made directly in the field where the plants are to remain, and the frames, and not the plants, are removed. When used for this latter purpose, the frames are made very cheap by running two rows of parallel planks through the field at a distance apart of six feet. The plank on the north is ordinarily ten to twelve inches wide, and that on the south eight to ten inches. These planks are held in place by stakes, and the sashes are laid across them. Seeds of radishes, beets, lettuce, and the like, are then sown beneath the sash, and when settled weather arrives, the sash and planks are removed and the plants are growing naturally in the field. Half-hardy plants, as those mentioned, may be started fully two or three weeks in advance of the normal season by this means.

One of the simplest types of coldframes is shown in Fig. 194, which is a lean-to against the foundation of a house. A sill is run just above the surface of the ground, and the sashes, shown at D, are laid on rafters which run from this sill to the sill of the house, A. If this frame is on the south side of the building, plants may be started even as early as a month before the opening of the season. Such lean-to frames are sometimes made against greenhouses or warm cellars, and heat is supplied to them by the opening of a door in the wall, as at B. In frames that are in such sunny positions as these, it is exceedingly important that care be taken to remove the sash, or at least to give ample ventilation, in all sunny days.

A different type of lean-to structure is shown in Fig. 195. This may be either a temporary or permanent building, and it is generally used for the protection of half-hardy plants that are grown in pots and tubs. It may be used, however, for the purpose of forwarding pot-plants early in the spring and for protection of peaches, grapes, oranges, or other fruits in tubs or boxes. If it is desired merely to protect the plants through the winter, it is best to have the structure on the north side of the building, in order that the sun may not force the plants into activity.

Another structure that may be used both to carry half-hardy plants over winter and for starting plants early in spring is shown in Fig. 196. It is really a miniature greenhouse without heat. It is well adapted for mild climates. The picture was made from a structure in the coast region of North Carolina.

The common type of coldframe is shown in Fig. 197. It is twelve feet long and six feet wide, and is covered with four three-by-six sash. It is made of ordinary lumber loosely nailed together. If one expects to use coldframes or hotbeds every year, however, it is advisable to make the frames of two-inch stuff, well painted, and to join the parts by bolts and tenons, so that they may be taken apart and stored until needed for the next year’s crop. Figure 198 suggests a method of making frames so that they may be taken apart.

It is always advisable to place coldframes and hotbeds in a protected place, and particularly to protect them from cold north winds. Buildings afford excellent protection, but the sun is sometimes too hot on the south side of large and light-colored buildings. One of the best means of protection is to plant a hedge of evergreens, as shown in Fig. 199. It is always desirable, also to place all the coldframes and hotbeds close together, for the purpose of economizing time and labor. A regular area or yard may be set aside for this purpose.

Various small and portable coldframes may be used about the garden for the protection of tender plants or to start them early in the spring. Pansies, daisies, and border carnations, for example, may be brought on very early by setting such frames over them or by planting them under the frames in the fall. These frames may be of any size desired, and the sash may be either removable, or, in case of small frames, they may be hinged at the top. Figs. 200-203 illustrate various types.

Hotbeds.

A hotbed differs from a coldframe in being provided with bottom heat. This heat is ordinarily supplied by means of fermenting manure, but it may be obtained from other fermenting material, as tanbark or leaves, or from artificial heat, as flues, steam pipes, or water pipes.

The hotbed is used for the very early starting of plants; and when the plants have outgrown the bed, or have become too thick, they are transplanted into cooler hotbeds or into coldframes. There are some crops, however, that are carried to full maturity in the hotbed itself, as radishes and lettuce.

The date at which the hotbed may be started with safety depends almost entirely on the means at command of heating it and on the skill of the operator. In the northern states, where outdoor gardening does not begin until the first or the last of May, hotbeds are sometimes started as early as January; but they are ordinarily delayed until early in March.

The heat for hotbeds is commonly supplied by the fermentation of horse manure. It is important that the manure be as uniform as possible in composition and texture, that it come from highly fed horses, and is practically of the same age. The best results are usually secured with manure from livery stables, from which it can be obtained in large quantities in a short space of time. Perhaps as much as one half of the whole material should be of litter or straw that has been used in the bedding.

The manure is placed in a long and shallow square-topped pile, not more than four or six feet high, as a rule, and is then allowed to ferment. Better results are generally obtained if the manure is piled under cover. If the weather is cold and fermentation does not start readily, wetting the pile with hot water may start it. The first fermentation is nearly always irregular; that is, it begins unequally in several places in the pile. In order to make the fermentation uniform, the pile must be turned occasionally, taking care to break up all hard lumps and to distribute the hot manure throughout the mass. It is sometimes necessary to turn the pile five or six times before it is finally used, although half this number of turnings is ordinarily sufficient. When the pile is steaming uniformly throughout, it is placed in the hotbed, and is covered with the earth in which the plants are to be grown.

Hotbed frames are sometimes set on top of the pile of fermenting manure, as shown in Fig. 204. The manure should extend some distance beyond the edges of the frame; otherwise the frame will become too cold about the outside, and the plants will suffer.

It is preferable, however, to have a pit beneath the frame in which the manure is placed. If the bed is to be started in midwinter or very early in the spring, it is advisable to make this pit in the fall and to fill it with straw or other litter to prevent the earth from freezing deep. When it is time to make the bed, the litter is thrown out, and the ground is warm and ready to receive the fermenting manure. The pit should be a foot wider on either side than the width of the frame. Fig. 205 is a cross-section of such a hotbed pit. Upon the ground a layer of an inch or two of any coarse material is placed to keep the manure off the cold earth. Upon this, from twelve to thirty inches of manure is placed. Above the manure is a thin layer of leafmold or some porous material, that will serve as a distributor of the heat, and above this is four or five inches of soft garden loam, in which the plants are to be grown.

It is advisable to place the manure in the pit in layers, each stratum to be thoroughly trodden down before another one is put in. These layers should be four to eight inches in thickness. By this means the mass is easily made uniform in consistency. Manure that has too much straw for the best results, and which will therefore soon part with its heat, will spring up quickly when the pressure of the feet is removed. Manure that has too little straw, and which therefore will not heat well or will spend its heat quickly, will pack down into a soggy mass underneath the feet. When the manure has sufficient litter, it will give a springy feeling to the feet as a person walks over it, but will not fluff up when the pressure is removed. The quantity of manure to be used will depend on its quality, and also on the season in which the hotbed is made. The earlier the bed is made, the larger should be the quantity of manure. Hotbeds that are intended to hold for two months should have about two feet of manure, as a rule.

The manure will ordinarily heat very vigorously for a few days after it is placed in the bed. A soil thermometer should be thrust through the earth down to the manure, and the frame kept tightly closed. When the temperature is passing below 90°, seeds of the warm plants, like tomatoes, may be sown, and when it passes below 80° or 70°, the seeds of cooler plants may be sown.

If hotbeds are to be used every year, permanent pits should be provided for them. Pits are made from two to three feet deep, preferably the former depth, and are walled up with stone or brick. It is important that they be given good drainage from below. In the summer-time, after the sash are stripped, the old beds may be used for the growing of various delicate crops, as melons or half-hardy flowers. In this position, the plants can be protected in the fall. As already suggested, the pits should be cleaned out in the fall and filled with litter to facilitate the work of making the new bed in the winter or spring.

Various modifications of the common type of hotbed will suggest themselves to the operator. The frames should ordinarily run in parallel rows, so that a man walking between them can attend to the ventilation of two rows of sash at once. Fig. 206 shows a different arrangement. There are two parallel runs, with walks on the outside, and between them are racks to receive the sash from the adjacent frames. The sash from the left-hand bed are run to the right, and those from the right-hand bed are run to the left. Running on racks, the operator does not need to handle them, and the breakage of glass is therefore less; but this system is little used because of the difficulty of reaching the farther side of the bed from the single walk.

If the hotbed were high enough and broad enough to allow a man to work inside, we should have a forcing-house. Such a structure is shown in Fig. 207, upon one side of which the manure and soil are already in place. These manure-heated houses are often very efficient, and are a good make-shift until such time as the gardener can afford to put in flue or pipe heat.

Hotbeds may be heated by means of steam or hot water. They can be piped from the heater in a dwelling-house or greenhouse. Fig. 208 shows a hotbed with two pipes, in the positions 7, 7 beneath the bed. The earth is shown at 4, and the plants (which, in this case, are vines) are growing upon a rack, at 6. There are doors in the end of the house, shown in 2, 2, which may be used for ventilation or for admitting air underneath the beds. The pipes should not be surrounded by earth, but should run through a free air space.

It would scarcely pay to put in a hot water or steam heater for the express purpose of heating hotbeds, for if such an expense were incurred, it would be better to make a forcing-house. Hotbeds may be heated, however, with hot-air flues with very good results. A home-made brick furnace may be constructed in a pit at one end of the run and underneath a shed, and the smoke and hot air, instead of being carried directly upwards, is carried through a slightly rising horizontal pipe that runs underneath the beds. For some distance from the furnace, this flue may be made of brick or unvitrified sewer pipe, but stove-pipe may be used for the greater part of the run. The chimney is ordinarily at the farther end of the run of beds. It should be high, in order to provide a good draft. If the run of beds is long, there should be a rise in the underlying pipe of at least one foot in twenty-five. The greater the rise in this pipe, the more perfect will be the draft. If the runs are not too long, the underlying pipe may return underneath the beds and enter a chimney directly over the back end of the furnace, and such a chimney, being warmed from the furnace, will ordinarily have an excellent draft. The underlying pipe should occupy a free space or pit beneath the beds, and whenever it lies near to the floor of the bed or is very hot, it should be covered with asbestos cloth. While such flue-heated hotbeds may be eminently successful with a grower or builder of experience, it may nevertheless be said, as a general statement, that whenever such trouble and expense are incurred, it is better to make a forcing-house. The subject of forcing-houses and greenhouses is not discussed in this book.

The most satisfactory material for use in hotbed and cold-frame sash is double-thick, second-quality glass; and panes twelve inches wide are ordinarily broad enough, and they suffer comparatively little in breakage. For coldframes, however, various oiled papers and waterproof cloths may be used, particularly for plants that are started little in advance of the opening of the season. When these materials are used, it is not necessary to have expensive sash, but rectangular frames are made from strips of pine seven-eighths inch thick and two and one-half inches wide, halved together at the corners and each corner reënforced by a square carriage-corner, such as is used by carriage-makers to secure the corners of buggy boxes. These corners can be bought by the pound at hardware stores.

Management of hotbeds.

Close attention is required in the management of hotbeds, to insure that they do not become too hot when the sun comes out suddenly, and to give plenty of fresh air.

Ventilation is usually effected by raising the sash at the upper end and letting it rest upon a block. Whenever the temperature is above freezing point, it is generally advisable to take the sash off part way, as shown in the central part of Fig. 199, or even to strip it off entirely, as shown in Fig. 197.

Care should be taken not to water the plants at nightfall, especially in dull and cold weather, but to give them water in the morning, when the sun will soon bring the temperature up to its normal state. Skill and judgment in watering are of the greatest importance in the management of hotbeds; but this skill comes only from thoughtful practice. The satisfaction and effectiveness of the work are greatly increased by good hose connections and good watering-pots (Fig. 209).

Some protection, other than the glass, must be given to hotbeds. They need covering on every cold night, and sometimes during the entire day in very severe weather. Very good material for covering the sash is matting, such as is used for covering floors. Old pieces of carpet may also be used. Various hotbed mattings are sold by dealers in gardeners’ supplies.

Gardeners often make mats of rye straw, although the price of good straw and the excellence of manufactured materials make this home-made matting less desirable than formerly. Such mats are thick and durable, and are rolled up in the morning, as shown in Fig. 199. There are various methods of making these straw mats, but Fig. 210 illustrates one of the best. A frame is made after the manner of a saw-horse, with a double top, and tarred or marline twine is used for securing the strands of straw. It is customary to use six runs of this warp. Twelve spools of string are provided, six hanging on either side. Some persons wind the cord upon two twenty-penny nails, as shown in the figure, these nails being held together at one end by wire which is secured in notches filed into them. The other ends of the spikes are free, and allow the string to be caught between them, thus preventing the balls from unwinding as they hang upon the frame. Two wisps of straight rye straw are secured and laid upon the frame, with the butt ends outward and the heads overlapping. Two opposite spools are then brought up, and a hard knot is tied at each point. The projecting butts of the straw are then cut off with a hatchet, and the mat is allowed to drop through to receive the next pair of wisps. In making these mats, it is essential that the rye contains no ripe grain; otherwise it attracts the mice. It is best to grow rye for this especial purpose, and to cut it before the grain is in the milk, so that the straw does not need to be threshed.

In addition to these coverings of straw or matting, it is sometimes necessary to provide board shutters to protect the beds, particularly if the plants are started very early in the season. These shutters are made of half-inch or five-eighths-inch pine lumber, and are the same size as the sash—three by six feet. They may be placed upon the sash underneath the matting, or they may be used above the matting. In some cases they are used without any matting.

In the growing of plants in hotbeds, every effort should be made to prevent the plants from growing spindling, or becoming “drawn.” To make stocky plants, it is necessary to give room to each plant, to be sure that the distance from the plants to the glass is not great, to provide not too much water in dull and cold weather, and particularly to give abundance of air.

CHAPTER VI
PROTECTING PLANTS FROM THINGS THAT PREY ON THEM

Plants are preyed on by insects and fungi; and they are subject to various kinds of disease that, for the most part, are not yet understood. They are often injured also by mice and rabbits (p. 144), by moles, dogs, cats, and chickens; and fruit is eaten by birds. Moles may be troublesome on sandy land; they heave the ground by their burrowing and may often be killed by stamping when the burrow is being raised; there are mole traps that are more or less successful. Dogs and cats work injury mostly by walking across newly made gardens or lying in them. These animals, as well as chickens, should be kept within their proper place (p. 160); or if they roam at will, the garden must be inclosed in a tight wire fence or the beds protected by brush laid closely over them.

The insects and diseases that attack garden plants are legion; and yet, for the most part, they are not very difficult to combat if one is timely and thorough in his operations. These difficulties may be divided into three great categories: the injuries wrought by insects; the injuries of parasitic fungi; the various types of so-called constitutional diseases, some of which are caused by germs or bacteria, and many of which have not yet been worked out by investigators.

The diseases caused by parasitic fungi are usually distinguished by distinct marks, spots or blisters on the leaves or stems, and the gradual weakening or death of the part; and, in many cases, the leaves drop bodily. For the most part, these spots on the leaves or stems sooner or later exhibit a mildew-like or rusty appearance, due to the development of the spores or fruiting bodies. Fig. 211 illustrates the ravages of one of the parasitic fungi, the shot-hole fungus of the plum. Each spot probably represents a distinct attack of the fungus, and in this particular disease these injured parts of tissue are liable to fall out, leaving holes in the leaf. Plum leaves that are attacked early in the season by this disease usually drop prematurely; but sometimes the leaves persist, being riddled by holes at the close of the season. Fig. 212 is the rust of the hollyhock. In this case the pustules of the fungus are very definite on the under side of the leaf. The blisters of leaf-curl are shown in Fig. 213. The ragged work of apple scab fungus is shown in Fig. 214.

The constitutional and bacterial diseases usually affect the whole plant, or at least large portions of it; and the seat of attack is commonly not so much in the individual leaves as in the stems, the sources of food supply being thereby cut off from the foliage. The symptoms of this class of diseases are general weakening of plant when the disease affects the plant as a whole or when it attacks large branches; or sometimes the leaves shrivel and die about the edges or in large irregular discolored spots, but without the distinct pustular marks of the parasitic fungi. There is a general tendency for the foliage on plants affected with such diseases to shrivel and to hang on the stem for a time. One of the best illustrations of this type of disease is the pear-blight. Sometimes the plant gives rise to abnormal growths, as in the “willow shoots” of peaches affected with yellows (Fig. 215).

Another class of diseases are the root-galls. They are of various kinds. The root-gall of raspberries, crown-gall of peaches, apples, and other trees, is the most popularly recognized of this class of troubles (Fig. 216). It has long been known as a disease of nursery stock. Many states have laws against the sale of trees showing this disease. Its cause was unknown, until in 1907 Smith and Townsend, of the Bureau of Plant Industry, United States Department of Agriculture, undertook an investigation. They proved that it is a bacterial disease (caused by Bacterium tumefaciens); but just how the bacteria gain entrance to the root is not known. The same bacterium may cause galls on the stems of other plants, as, for example, on certain of the daisies. The “hairy-root” of apples, and certain galls that often appear on the limbs of large apple-trees, are also known to be caused by this same bacterium. The disease seems to be most serious and destructive on the raspberry, particularly the Cuthbert variety. The best thing to be done when the raspberry patch becomes infested is to root out the plants and destroy them, planting a new patch with clean stock on land that has not grown berries for some time. Notwithstanding the laws that have been made against the distribution of root-gall from nurseries, the evidence seems to show that it is not a serious disease of apples or peaches, at least not in the northeastern United States. It is not determined how far it may injure such trees.

Of obvious insect injuries, there are two general types,—those wrought by insects that bite or chew their food, as the ordinary beetles and worms, and those wrought by insects that puncture the surface of the plant and derive their food by sucking the juices, as scale-insects and plant-lice. The canker-worm (Fig. 217) is a notable example of the former class; and many of these insects may be dispatched by the application of poison to the parts that they eat. It is apparent, however, that insects which suck the juice of the plant are not poisoned by any liquid that may be applied to the surface. They may be killed by various materials that act upon them externally, as the soap washes, miscible oils, kerosene emulsions, lime-and-sulfur sprays, and the like.

There has been much activity in recent years in the identification and study of insects, fungi, and microorganisms that injure plants; and great numbers of bulletins and monographs have been published; and yet the gardener who has tried assiduously to follow these investigations is likely to go to his garden any morning and find troubles that he cannot identify and which perhaps even an investigator himself might not understand. It is important, therefore, that the gardener inform himself not only on particular kinds of insects and diseases, but that he develop a resourcefulness of his own. He should be able to do something, even if he does not know a complete remedy or specific. Some of the procedure, preventive and remedial, that needs always to be considered, is as follows:—

Keep the place clean, and free from infection. Next to keeping the plants vigorous and strong, this is the first and best means of averting trouble from insects and fungi. Rubbish and all places in which the insects can hibernate and the fungi can propagate should be done away with. All fallen leaves from plants that have been attacked by fungi should be raked up and burned, and in the fall all diseased wood should be cut out and destroyed. It is important that diseased plants are not thrown on the manure heap, to be distributed through the garden the following season.

Practice a rotation or alternation of crops (p. 114). Some of the diseases remain in the soil and attack the plant year after year. Whenever any crop shows signs of root disease, or soil disease, it is particularly important that another crop be grown on the place.

See that the disease or insect is not bred on weeds or other plants that are botanically related to the crop you grow. If the wild mallow, or plant known to children as “cheeses” (Malva rotundifolia), is destroyed, there will be much less difficulty with hollyhock rust. Do not let the cabbage club-root disease breed on wild turnips and other mustards, or black-knot on plum sprouts and wild cherries, or tent-caterpillars on wild cherries and other trees.

Always be ready to resort to hand-picking. We have grown so accustomed to killing insects by other means that we have almost forgotten that hand-picking is often the surest and sometimes even the most expeditious means of checking an invasion in a home garden. Many insects can be jarred off early in the morning. Egg-masses on leaves and stems may be removed. Cutworms may be dug out. Diseased leaves may be picked off and burned; this will do much to combat the hollyhock rust, aster rust, and other infections.

Keep close watch on the plants, and be prepared to strike quickly. It should be a matter of pride to a gardener to have in his workhouse a supply of the common insecticides and fungicides (Paris green or arsenate of lead, some of the tobacco preparations, white hellebore, whale-oil soap, bordeaux mixture, flowers of sulfur, carbonate of Copper for solution in ammonia), and also a good hand syringe (Fig. 218), a knapsack pump (Figs. 219, 220), a bucket pump (Figs. 221, 222), a hand bellows or powder gun, perhaps a barrow outfit (Figs. 223, 224, 225), and if the plantation is large enough, some kind of a force pump (Figs. 226, 227, 228). If one is always ready, there is little danger from any insect or disease that is controllable by spraying.

Screens and covers.

There are various ways of keeping insects away from plants. One of the best is to cover the plants with fine mosquito-netting or to grow them in hand-frames, or to use a wire-covered box like that shown in Fig. 229. In growing plants under such covers, care must be taken that the plants are not kept too close or confined; and in cases in which the insects hibernate in the soil, these boxes, by keeping the soil warm, may cause the insects to hatch all the sooner. In most cases, however, these covers are very efficient, especially for keeping the striped bugs off young plants of melons and cucumbers.

Cut-worms may be kept away from plants by placing sheets of tin or of heavy glazed paper about the stem of the plant, as shown in Fig. 230. Climbing cut-worms are kept off young trees by the means shown in Fig. 231. Or a roll of cotton may be placed about the trunk of the tree, a string being tied on the lower edge of the roll and the upper edge of the cotton turned down like the top of a boot; the insects cannot crawl over this obstruction (p. 203).

The maggots that attack the roots of cabbages and cauliflowers may be kept from the plant by pieces of tarred paper, which are placed close about the stem upon the surface of the ground. Fig. 232 illustrates a hexagon of paper, and also shows a tool used for cutting it. This means of preventing the attacks of the cabbage maggot is described in detail by the late Professor Goff (for another method of controlling cabbage maggot see p. 201):—

“The cards are cut in a hexagonal form, in order better to economize the material, and a thinner grade of tarred paper than the ordinary roofing felt is used, as it is not only cheaper, but being more flexible, the cards made from it are more readily placed about the plant without being torn. The blade of the tool, which should be made by an expert blacksmith, is formed from a band of steel, bent in the form of a half hexagon, and then taking an acute angle, reaches nearly to the center, as shown in Fig. 232. The part making the star-shaped cut is formed from a separate piece of steel, so attached to the handle as to make a close joint with the blade. The latter is beveled from the outside all round, so that by removing the part making the star-shaped cut, the edge may be ground on a grindstone. It is important that the angles in the blade be made perfect, and that its outline represents an exact half hexagon. To use the tool, place the tarred paper on the end of a section of a log or piece of timber and first cut the lower edge into notches, as indicated at a, Fig. 232, using only one angle of the tool. Then commence at the left side and place the blade as indicated by the dotted lines, and strike at the end of the handle with a light mallet, and a complete card is made. Continue in this manner across the paper. The first cut of every alternate course will make an imperfect card, and the last cut in any course may be imperfect, but the other cuts will make perfect cards if the tool is correctly made, and properly used. The cards should be placed about the plants at the time of transplanting. To place the card, bend it slightly to open the slit, then slip it on to the center, the stem entering the slit, after which spread the card out flat, and press the points formed by the star-shaped cut snugly around the stem.”

Fumigating.

An effective means of destroying insects in glass houses is by fumigating with various kinds of smoke or vapors. The best material to use for general purposes is some form of tobacco or tobacco compounds. The old method of fumigating with tobacco is to burn slowly slightly dampened tobacco stems in a kettle or scuttle, allowing the house to be filled with the pungent smoke. Lately, however, fluid extracts and other preparations of tobacco have been brought into use, and these are so effective that the tobacco-stem method is becoming obsolete. The use of hydrocyanic acid gas in greenhouses is now coming to be common, for plant-lice, white-fly, and other insects. It is also used to fumigate nursery stock for San José scale, and mills and dwellings for such pests and vermin as become established in them. The following directions are from Cornell Bulletin 252 (from which the formulas in the succeeding pages, and most of the advice, are also taken):—

“No general formula can be given for fumigating the different kinds of plants grown in greenhouses, as the species and varieties differ greatly in their ability to withstand the effects of the gas. Ferns and roses are very susceptible to injury, and fumigation if attempted at all should be performed with great caution. Fumigation will not kill insect eggs and thus must be repeated when the new brood appears. Fumigate only at night when there is no wind. Have the house as dry as possible and the temperature as near 60° as practicable.

“Hydrocyanic acid gas is a deadly poison, and the greatest care is required in its use. Always use 98 to 100 per cent pure potassium cyanide and a good grade of commercial sulfuric acid. The chemicals are always combined in the following proportion: Potassium cyanide, 1 oz.; sulfuric acid, 2 fluid oz.; water, 4 fluid oz. Always use an earthen dish, pour in the water first, and add the sulfuric acid to it. Put the required amount of cyanide in a thin paper bag and when all is ready, drop it into the liquid and leave the room immediately. For mills and dwellings, use 1 oz. of cyanide for every 100 cu. ft. of space. Make the doors and windows as tight as possible by pasting strips of paper over the cracks. Remove the silverware and food, and if brass and nickel work cannot be removed, cover with vaseline. Place the proper amount of the acid and water for every room in 2-gal. jars. Use two or more in large rooms or halls. Weigh out the potassium cyanide in paper bags, and place them near the jars. When all is ready, drop the cyanide into the jars, beginning on the top floors, since the fumes are lighter than air. In large buildings, it is frequently necessary to suspend the bags of cyanide over the jars by cords running through screw eyes and all leading to a place near the door. By cutting all the cords at once the cyanide will be lowered into the jars and the operator may escape without injury. Let the fumigation continue all night, locking all outside doors and placing danger signs on the house.”

In greenhouses, the white-fly on cucumbers and tomatoes may be killed by overnight fumigation with 1 oz. of potassium cyanide to every 1000 cu. ft. of space; or with a kerosene emulsion spray or whale-oil soap, on plants not injured by these materials.

The green aphis is dispatched in houses by fumigation with any of the tobacco preparations; on violets, by fumigation with 1/2 to 3/4 oz. potassium cyanide for every 1000 cu. ft. of space, leaving the gas in from 1/2 to 1 hr.

The black aphis is more difficult to kill than the green aphis, but may be controlled by the same methods thoroughly used.

Soaking tubers and seeds.

Potato scab may be prevented, so far as planting infected “seed” is concerned, by soaking the seed tubers for half an hour in 30 gal. of water containing 1 pt. of commercial (about 40 per cent) formalin. Oats and wheat, when attacked by certain kinds of smut, may be rendered safe to sow by soaking for ten minutes in a similar solution. It is probable that some other tubers and seeds can be similarly treated with good results.

Potatoes may also be soaked (for scab) one and one-half hours in a solution of corrosive sublimate, 1 oz. to 7 gal. of water.

Spraying.

The most effective means of destroying insects and fungi however, in any general or large way, is by the use of various sprays. The two general types of insecticides have already been mentioned—those that kill by poisoning, and those that kill by destroying the body of the insect. Of the former, there are three materials in common use—Paris green, arsenate of lead, and hellebore. Of the latter, the most usual at present are kerosene emulsion, miscible oils, and the lime-sulfur wash.

Sprays for fungi usually depend for their efficiency on some form of copper or sulfur, or both. For surface mildews, as grape mildew, dusting flowers of sulfur on the foliage is a protection. In most cases, however, it is necessary to apply materials in liquid form, because they can be more thoroughly and economically distributed, and they adhere to the foliage better. The best general fungicide is the bordeaux mixture. It is generally, however, not advisable to use the bordeaux mixture on ornamental plants, because it discolors the foliage and makes the plants look very untidy. In such cases it is best to use the ammoniacal copper solution, which leaves no stain.

In all spraying operations it is especially important that the applications be made the very moment the insect or disease is discovered, or in the case of fungous diseases, if one is expecting an attack, it is well to make an application of bordeaux mixture even before the disease appears. When the fungus once gets inside the plant tissue, it is very difficult to destroy it, inasmuch as fungicides act on these deep-seated fungi very largely by preventing their fruiting and their further spread on the surface of the leaf. For ordinary conditions, from two to four sprayings are necessary to dispatch the enemy. In spraying for insects in home gardens, it is often advisable to make a second application the day following the first one in order to destroy the remaining insects before they recover from the first treatment.

There are many kinds of machines and devices for the application of sprays to plants. For a few individual specimens, the spray may be applied with a whisk, or with a common garden syringe. If one has a few trees to treat, however, it is best to have some kind of bucket pump like those shown in Figs. 221, 222. On a lawn or in a small garden a tank on wheels (Figs. 223, 224, 225) is handy and efficient. In such cases, or even for larger areas, some of the knapsack pumps (Figs. 219, 220) are very desirable. These machines are always serviceable, because the operator stands so near to his work; but as they carry a comparatively small quantity of liquid and do not throw it rapidly, they are expensive when much work is to be done. Yet, in ordinary home grounds, the knapsack pump or compressed-air pump is one of the most efficient and practicable of all the spraying devices.

For large areas, as for small orchards and fields, a barrel pump mounted on a wagon is best. Common types of barrel pumps are shown in Figs. 226, 227, 228. Commercial plantations are now sprayed by power machines. There are many good patterns of spraying machines, and the intending purchaser should send for catalogues to the various manufacturers. The addresses may be found in the advertising pages of rural papers.

As to nozzles for spraying it may be said that there is no one pattern that is best for all purposes. For most uses in home grounds the cyclone or vermorel type (Fig. 233) will give best satisfaction. The pump manufacturers supply special nozzles for their machines.

Insecticide spraying formulas.

The two classes of insecticides are here described,—the poisons (arsenites and white hellebore) for chewing insects, as the beetles and all kinds of worms; the contact insecticides, as kerosene, oils, soap, tobacco, lime-sulfur, for plant-lice, scale, and insects in such position that the material cannot be fed to them (as maggots in the underground parts).

Paris green.—The standard insecticidal poison. This is used in varying strengths, depending on the insect to be controlled and the kind of plant treated. Mix the Paris green into a paste and then add to the water. Keep the mixture thoroughly agitated while spraying. If for use on fruit trees, add 1 lb. of quick lime for every pound of Paris green to prevent burning the foliage. For potatoes it is frequently used alone, but it is much safer to use the lime. Paris green and bordeaux mixture may be combined without lessening the value of either, and the caustic action of the arsenic is prevented. The proportion of the poison to use is given under the various insects discussed in the succeeding pages.

Arsenate of lead.—This can be applied in a stronger mixture than other arsenical poisons without injuring the foliage. It is, therefore, much used against beetles and other insects that are hard to poison, as elm-leaf beetle and canker-worm. It comes in the form of a paste and should be mixed thoroughly with a small quantity of water before placing in the sprayer, else the nozzles will clog. Arsenate of lead and bordeaux mixture can be combined without lessening the value of either. It is used in strengths varying from 4 to 10 lb. per 100 gal., depending on the kind of insect to be killed.

Arsenite of soda and arsenite of lime are sometimes used with bordeaux mixture.

White Hellebore.—For wet application, use fresh white hellebore, 4 oz.; water, 2 or 3 gal. For dry application, use hellebore, 1 lb.; flour or air-slaked lime, 5 lb. This is a white, yellowish powder made from the roots of the white hellebore plant. It loses its strength after a time and should be used fresh. It is used as a substitute for the arsenical poisons on plants or fruits soon to be eaten, as on currants and gooseberries for the currant-worm.

Tobacco.—This is a valuable insecticide and is used in several forms. As a dust it is used extensively in greenhouses for plant-lice, and in nurseries and about apple trees for the woolly aphis. Tobacco decoction is made by steeping or soaking the stems in water. It is often used as a spray against plant-lice. Tobacco in the form of extracts, punks, and powders is sold under various trade names for use in fumigating greenhouses. (See page 188.)

Kerosene emulsion.—Hard, soft, or whale-oil soap, 1/2 lb.; water, 1 gal.; kerosene, 2 gal. Dissolve the soap in hot water; remove from the fire and while still hot add the kerosene. Pump the liquid back into itself for five or ten minutes or until it becomes a creamy mass. If properly made, the oil will not separate out on cooling.

For use on dormant trees, dilute with 5 to 7 parts of water. For killing plant-lice on foliage dilute with 10 to 15 parts of water. Crude oil emulsion is made in the same way by substituting crude oil in place of kerosene. The strength of oil emulsions is frequently indicated by the percentage of oil in the diluted liquid:—

For a 10% emulsion add 17 gal. of water to 3 gal. stock emulsion.
For a 15% emulsion add 10 1/3 gal. of water to 3 gal. stock emulsion.
For a 20% emulsion add 7 gal. of water to 3 gal. stock emulsion.
For a 25% emulsion add 5 gal. of water to 3 gal. stock emulsion.

Carbolic acid emulsion.—Soap, 1 lb.; water, 1 gal.; crude carbolic acid, 1 pt. Dissolve the soap in hot water, add the carbolic acid, and agitate into an emulsion. For use against root-maggots, dilute with 30 parts of water.

Soaps.—An effective insecticide for plant-lice is whale-oil soap. Dissolve in hot water and dilute so as to obtain one pound of soap to every five or seven gallons of water. This strength is effective against plant-lice. It should be applied in stronger solutions, however, for scale insects. Home-made soaps and good laundry soaps, like Ivory soap, are often as effective as whale-oil soap.

Miscible oils.—There are now on the market a number of preparations of petroleum and other oils intended primarily for use against the San José scale. They mix readily with cold water and are immediately ready for use. While quickly prepared, easily applied, and generally effective, they cost considerably more than lime-sulfur wash. They are, however, less corrosive to the pumps and more agreeable to use. They are especially valuable to the man with only a few trees or shrubs who would not care to go to the trouble and expense to make up the lime-sulfur wash. They should be diluted with not more than 10 or 12 parts of water. Use only on dormant trees.

Lime and sulfur wash.—Quicklime, 20 lb.; flowers of sulfur, 15 lb.; water, 50 gal. The lime and sulfur must be thoroughly boiled. An iron kettle is often convenient for the work. Proceed as follows: Place the lime in the kettle. Add hot water gradually in sufficient quantity to produce the most rapid slaking of the lime. When the lime begins to slake, add the sulfur and stir together. If convenient, keep the mixture covered with burlap to save the heat. After slaking has ceased, add more water and boil the mixture one hour. As the sulfur goes into solution, a rich orange-red or dark green color will appear. After boiling sufficiently, add water to the required amount and strain into the spray tank. The wash is most effective when applied warm, but may be applied cold. If one has access to a steam boiler, boiling with steam is more convenient and satisfactory. Barrels may be used for holding the mixture, and the steam applied by running a pipe or rubber hose into the mixture. Proceed in the same way until the lime is slaked, when the steam may be turned on. Continue boiling for 45 min. to an hour, or until sulfur is dissolved.

This strength can be applied safely only when the trees are dormant. It is mainly an insecticide for San José scale, although it has considerable value as a fungicide.

Lime-sulfur mixtures and solutions for summer spraying are now coming to take the place of bordeaux in many cases. Scott’s self-boiled lime-sulfur mixture, described in U. S. D. A. Bureau Plant Industry Circ. 27 is now a standard fungicide for brown-rot and black-spot or scab of the peach. Concentrated lime-sulfur solutions, either home boiled or commercial, are effective against apple scab and have the advantage of not russeting the fruit. Such concentrates, testing 32° Baume, should be diluted at about 1 gal. to 30 of water. Apply at same time as with bordeaux. Add arsenate of lead as with bordeaux.

Fungicide spraying formulas.

The standard fungicide is bordeaux mixture, made in several forms. The second most important fungicide for the home gardener is ammoniacal copper carbonate. Sulfur dust (flowers of sulfur) and liver of sulfur (potassium sulfide) are also useful in dry or wet sprays for surface mildews. The lime-sulfur wash, primarily an insecticide, also has fungicidal property.

Bordeaux mixture.—Copper sulfate, 5 lb.; stone lime or quicklime (unslaked), 5 lb.; water, 50 gal. This formula is the strength usually recommended. Stock mixtures of copper sulfate and lime are desirable. They are prepared in the following way:—

(1) Dissolve the required amount of copper sulfate in water in the proportion of one pound to one gallon several hours before the solution is needed, the copper sulfate crystals being suspended in a sack near the top of the water. A solution of copper sulfate is heavier than water. As soon then, as the crystals begin to dissolve the solution will sink, keeping water in contact with the crystals. In this way, the crystals will dissolve much sooner than if placed in the bottom of the barrel of water. In case large quantities of stock solution are needed, two pounds of copper sulfate may be dissolved in one gallon of water.

(2) Slake the required amount of lime in a tub or trough. Add the water slowly at first, so that the lime crumbles into a fine powder. If small quantities of lime are used, hot water is preferred. When completely slaked, or entirely powdered, add more water. When the lime has slaked sufficiently, add water to bring it to a thick milk, or to a certain number of gallons. The amount required for each tank of spray mixture can be secured approximately from this stock mixture, which should not be allowed to dry out.

(3) Use five gallons of stock solution of copper sulfate for every fifty gallons of bordeaux required. Pour this into the tank. Add water until the tank is about two-thirds full. From the stock lime mixture take the required amount. Knowing the number of pounds of lime in the stock mixture and the volume of that mixture, one can take out approximately the number of pounds required. Dilute this a little by adding water, and strain into the tank. Stir the mixture, and add water to make the required amount. Experiment stations often recommend the diluting of both the copper sulfate solution and the lime mixture to one-half the required amount before pouring together. This is not necessary, and is often impracticable for commercial work. It is preferable to dilute the copper sulfate solution. Never pour together the strong stock mixtures and dilute afterward. Bordeaux mixture of other strengths, as recommended, is made in the same way, except that the amounts of copper sulfate and lime are varied.

(4) It is not necessary to weigh the lime in making bordeaux mixture, for a simple test can be used to determine when enough of a stock lime mixture has been added. Dissolve an ounce of yellow prussiate of potash in a pint of water and label it “poison.” Cut a V-shaped slit in one side of the cork so that the liquid may be poured out in drops. Add the lime mixture to the diluted copper sulfate solution until the ferro-cyanide (or prussiate) test solution will not turn brown when dropped from the bottle into the mixture. It is always best to add a considerable excess of lime.

“Sticker” or adhesive for bordeaux mixture.—Resin, 2 lb.; sal soda (crystals), 1 lb.; water, 1 gal. Boil until of a clear brown color—one to one and one-half hours. Cook in iron kettle in the open. Add this amount to each fifty gallons of bordeaux for onions and cabbage. For other plants difficult to wet, add this amount to every one hundred gallons of the mixture. This mixture will prevent the bordeaux from being washed off by the heaviest rains.

Ammoniacal copper carbonate.—Copper carbonate, 5 oz.; ammonia, 3 pt.; water, 50 gal. Dilute the ammonia in seven or eight parts of water. Make a paste of the copper carbonate with a little water. Add the paste to the diluted ammonia, and stir until dissolved. Add enough water to make fifty gallons. This mixture loses strength on standing, and therefore should be made as required. It is used in place of bordeaux when one wishes to avoid the coloring of maturing fruits or ornamental plants. Not as effective as bordeaux.

Potassium sulfide.—Potassium sulfide (liver of sulfur), 3 oz.; water, 10 gal. As this mixture loses strength on standing, it should be made just before using. It is particularly valuable for the powdery mildew of many plants, especially gooseberry, carnation rust, rose mildew, etc.

Sulfur.—Sulfur has been found to possess considerable value as a fungicide. The flowers of sulfur may be sprinkled over the plants, particularly when they are wet. It is most effective in hot, dry weather. In rose houses it is mixed with half its bulk of lime, and made into a paste with water. This is painted on the steam pipes. The fumes destroy mildew on the roses. Mixed with lime, it has proved effective in the control of onion smut when drilled into the rows with the seed. Sulfur is not effective against black-rot of grapes.

Treatment for some of the common insects.

The most approved preventive and remedial treatments for such insect pests as are most likely to menace home grounds and plantations are here briefly discussed. In case of any unusual difficulty that he cannot control, the home-maker should take it up with the agricultural experiment station in the state, sending good specimens of the insect for identification. He should also have the publications of the station.

The statements that are here made are intended as advice rather than as directions. They are chosen from good authorities (mostly from Slingerland and Crosby in this case); but the reader must, of course, assume his own risk in applying them. The effectiveness of any recommended treatment depends very largely on the care, thoroughness, and timeliness with which the work is done; and new methods and practices are constantly appearing as the result of new investigations. The dates given in these directions are for New York.

Aphis or plant-louse.—The stock remedies for aphides or plant-lice are kerosene emulsion and the tobacco preparations. Whale-oil soap is also good. The tobacco may be applied as a spray, or in the house as fumigation; the commercial forms of nicotine are excellent. (See page 194.) Be sure to apply the remedy before the leaves have curled and afford protection for the lice; be sure, also, to hit the underside of the leaves, where the lice usually are. The presence of lice on trees is sometimes first discovered from the honey-dew that drops on walks.

Usually the emulsion is diluted with 10-15 parts of water for plant-lice (see formula, page 194); but some of the species (as the dark brown cherry-leaf louse) require a stronger emulsion, about 6 parts of water.

The lady-birds (one of which is shown in Fig. 234) destroy great numbers of plant-lice, and their presence should therefore be encouraged.

Apple-maggot or “railroad-worm.”—The small white maggots make brownish winding burrows in the flesh of the fruit, particularly in summer and early fall varieties. This insect cannot be reached by a spray as the parent fly inserts her eggs under the skin of the apple. When full-grown, the maggot leaves the fruit, passes into the ground, and there transforms inside a tough, leathery case. Tillage has been found to be of no value as a means of control. The only effective treatment is to pick up all windfalls every two or three days, and either to feed them out or to bury them deeply, thus killing the maggots.

Asparagus beetle.—Clean cultural methods are usually sufficient to prevent the asparagus beetle’s seriously injuring well-established beds. Young plants require more or less protection. A good grade of arsenate of lead, 1 lb. to 25 gal. of water, will quickly destroy the grubs on the foliage of either young or old plants. Apply it with an ordinary sprinkling can, or better, use one of the numerous spraying devices now on the market. The necessity for treatment must be determined by the abundance of the pests. They should not be permitted to become abundant in midsummer or the over-wintering beetles may injure the shoots in the spring.

Blister-mite on apple and pear.—The presence of this minute mite is indicated by small irregular brownish blisters on the leaves. Spray in late fall or early spring with the lime-sulfur wash, with kerosene emulsion, diluted with 5 parts of water, or miscible oil, 1 gal. in 10 gal. of water.

Borers.—The only certain remedy for borers is to dig them out, or to punch them out with a wire. Keep the space about the base of the tree clean, and watch closely for any sign of borers. The flat-headed borer of the apple works under the bark on the trunk and larger branches, particularly where much exposed to sun. The dead and sunken appearance of the bark indicates its presence. The round-headed borer works in the wood of apples, quinces, and other trees; it should be hunted for every spring and fall. On hard land, it is well to dig the earth away from the base of the tree and fill the space with coal ashes; this will make the work of examination much easier.

The peach and apricot borer is the larva of a clear-wing moth. The larva burrows just under the bark near or beneath the surface of the ground; its presence is indicated by a gummy mass at the base of the tree. Dig out the borers in June and mound up the trees. At the same time, apply gas-tar or coal-tar to the trunk from the roots to a foot or more above the surface of the ground.

The bronze birch borer is destroying many fine white birch trees in some parts of the country. Its presence is known by the dying of the top of the tree. There yet is no known way of preventing this borer from attacking white birches, and the only practicable and effective method so far found for checking its ravages is promptly to cut and burn the infested trees in autumn, in winter, or before May 1. There is no probability of saving a tree when the top branches are dead, although cutting out the dead parts may stay the trouble temporarily. Cut and burn such trees at once and thus prevent the spread of the insect.

Bud-moth on apple.—The small brown caterpillars with black heads devour the tender leaves and flowers of the opening apple buds in early spring. Make two applications of either 1 lb. Paris green or 4 lb. arsenate of lead in 100 gal. of water; the first when the leaf-tips appear and the second just before the blossoms open. If necessary, spray again after the blossoms fall.

Cabbage and cauliflower insects.—The green caterpillars that eat cabbage leaves and heads hatch from eggs laid by the common white butterfly (Fig. 295). There are several broods every season. If plants are not heading, spray with kerosene emulsion or with Paris green to which the sticker has been added. If heading, apply hellebore.

The cabbage aphides, small mealy plant-lice, are especially troublesome during cool, dry seasons when their natural enemies are less active. Before the plants begin to head, spray with kerosene emulsion diluted with 6 parts of water, or whale-oil soap, 1 lb. in 6 gal. of water.

The white maggots that feed on the roots hatch from eggs laid near the plant at the surface of the ground by a small fly somewhat resembling the common house fly. Hollow out the earth slightly around every plant and freely apply carbolic acid emulsion diluted with 30 parts of water. Begin the treatment early, a day or two after the plants are up or the next day after they are set out. Repeat the application every 7 to 10 days until the latter part of May. It has also been found to be practicable to protect the plants by the use of tightly fitting cards cut from tarred paper. (See page 187.)

Canker-worms.—These caterpillars are small measuring-worms or loopers that defoliate apple trees in May and June (Fig. 217). The female moths are wingless, and in late fall or early spring crawl up the trunks of the trees to lay their eggs on the branches. Spray thoroughly once or twice, before the blossoms open, with 1 lb. Paris green or 4 lb. arsenate of lead in 100 gal. of water. Repeat the application after the blossoms fall. Prevent the ascent of the wingless females by means of sticky bands or wire-screen traps.

Case-bearers on apple.—The small caterpillars live in pistol-shaped or cigar-shaped cases, about 1/4 in. long. They appear in spring on the opening buds at the same time as the bud-moth and may be controlled by the same means.

Codlin-moth.—The codlin-moth lays the eggs that produce the pinkish caterpillar which causes a large proportion of wormy apples and pears. The eggs are laid by a small moth on the leaves and on the skin of the fruit. Most of the caterpillars enter the apple at the blossom end. When the petals fall, the calyx is open and this is the time to spray. The calyx soon closes and keeps the poison inside ready for the young caterpillar’s first meal. After the calyx has closed, it is too late to spray effectively. The caterpillars become full grown in July and August, leave the fruit, crawl down on the trunk, and there most of them spin cocoons under the loose bark. In most parts of the country there are two broods annually. Immediately after the blossoms fall, spray with 1 lb. Paris green or 4 lb. arsenate of lead in 100 gal. of water. Repeat the application 7 to 10 days later. Use burlap bands on trunks, killing all caterpillars under them every ten days from July 1 to August 1, and once later before winter.

Cucurbit (cucumber, melon, and squash) insects.—Yellow, black-striped beetles appear in numbers and attack the plants as soon as they are up. Plant early squashes as a trap-crop around the field. Protect the vines with screens (Fig. 229) until they begin to run, or keep them covered with bordeaux mixture, thus making them distasteful to the beetles.

Squash vines are frequently killed by a white caterpillar that burrows in the stem near the base of the plant. Plant a few early squashes between the rows of the late varieties as a trap-crop. As soon as the early crop is harvested, remove and burn the vines. When the vines are long enough, cover them at the joints with earth in order to develop secondary root systems for the plant in case the main stem is injured.

Dark green plant-lice feed on the under sides of squash leaves, causing them to curl and wither. Spray with kerosene emulsion diluted with 6 parts of water. It is necessary thoroughly to cover the under side of the leaves; the sprayer, therefore, must be fitted with an upturned nozzle. Burn the vines as soon as the crop is harvested and keep down all weeds.

The stink-bug is very troublesome to squashes. The rusty-black adult emerges from hibernation in spring and lays its eggs on the under side of the leaves. The nymphs suck the sap from the leaves and stalks, causing serious injury. Trap the adults under boards in the spring. Examine the leaves for the smooth shining brownish eggs and destroy them. The young nymphs may be killed with kerosene emulsion.

Curculio.—The adult curculio of the plum and peach is a small snout-beetle that inserts its eggs under the skin of the fruit and then makes a characteristic crescent-shaped cut beneath it. The grub feeds within the fruit and causes it to drop. When full grown, it enters the ground, changes in late summer to the beetle, which finally goes into hibernation in sheltered places. Spray plums just after blossoms fall with arsenate of lead, 6 to 8 lb. in 100 gal. of water, and repeat the application in about a week. After the fruit has set, jar the trees daily over a sheet or curculio-catcher and destroy the beetles; this is practically the only procedure for peaches, for they cannot be sprayed.

The quince curculio is somewhat larger than that infesting the plum and differs in its life-history. The grubs leave the fruits in the fall and enter the ground, where they hibernate and transform to adults the next May, June, or July, depending on the season. When the adults appear, jar them from the tree on sheets or curculio-catchers and destroy them. To determine when they appear, jar a few trees daily, beginning the latter part of May in New York.

Currant-worm.—In the spring the small green, black-spotted larvae feed on the foliage of currants and gooseberries, beginning their work on the lower leaves. A second brood occurs in early summer. When worms first appear, spray with 1 lb. Paris green or 4 lb. arsenate of lead in 100 gal. of water. Ordinarily the poison should be combined with bordeaux (for leaf-spot).

Cut-worms.—Probably the remedy for cut-worms most often practiced in gardens, and which cannot fail to be effective when faithfully carried out, is hand-picking with lanterns at night or digging them out from around the base of the infested plants during the day. Bushels of cut-worms have been gathered in this way, and with profit. When from some cause success does not attend the use of the poisoned baits, to be discussed next, hand-picking is the only other method yet recommended that can be relied upon to check cut-worm depredations.

The best methods yet devised for killing cut-worms in any situation are the poisoned baits, using Paris green or arsenate of lead for the purpose. Poisoned bunches of clover or weeds have been thoroughly tested, even by the wagon-load, over large areas, and nearly all have reported them very effective; lamb’s quarters (pigweed), pepper-grass, and mullein are among the weeds especially attractive to cutworms. On small areas the making of the baits is done by hand, but they have been prepared on a large scale by spraying the plants in the field, cutting them with a scythe or machine, and pitching them from wagons in small bunches wherever desired. Distributed a few feet apart, between rows of garden plants at nightfall, they have attracted and killed enough cut-worms often to save a large proportion of the crop; if the bunches can be covered with a shingle, they will keep fresher much longer. The fresher the baits, and the more thoroughly the baiting is done, the more cut-worms one can destroy. However, it may sometimes happen that a sufficient quantity of such green succulent plants cannot be obtained early enough in the season in some localities. In this case, and we are not sure but in all cases, the poisoned bran mash can be used to the best advantage. It is easily made and applied at any time, is not expensive, and thus far the results show that it is a very attractive and effective bait. A tablespoonful can be quickly dropped around the base of each cabbage or tomato plant; small amounts may be easily scattered along the rows of onions and turnips, or a little dropped on a hill of corn or cucumbers.

The best time to apply these poisoned baits is two or three days before any plants have come up or been set out in the garden. If the ground has been properly prepared, the worms will have had but little to eat for several days and they will thus seize the first opportunity to appease their hunger upon the baits, and wholesale destruction will result. The baits should always be applied at this time wherever cut-worms are expected. But it is not too late usually to save most of a crop after the pests have made their presence known by cutting off some of the plants. Act promptly and use the baits freely.

For mechanical means of protecting from cut-worms, see pp. 186-7.

Elm-leaf beetle.—Generally speaking one thorough and timely spraying is ample to control the elm-leaf beetle (Fig. 235). Use arsenate of lead, 1 lb. to 25 gal., and make the application to the under side of the leaves the latter part of May or very early in June in New York. Occasionally, when the beetle is very abundant, due in all probability to no spraying in earlier years, it may be advisable to make a second application, and the same may be true when conditions necessitate the application earlier than when it will be most efficacious. This latter condition is likely to obtain wherever a large number of trees must be treated with inadequate outfit.

Oyster-shell scale.—This is an elongate scale or bark-louse, 1/8 in. in length, resembling an oyster shell in shape and often incrusting the bark of apple twigs. It hibernates as minute white eggs under the old scales. The eggs hatch during the latter part of May or in June, the date depending on the season. After they hatch, the young may be seen as tiny whitish lice crawling about on the bark. When these young appear, spray with kerosene emulsion, diluted with 6 parts of water, or whale-oil or any good soap, 1 lb. in 4 or 5 gal. of water.

Pear insects.—The psylla is one of the most serious insects affecting the pear tree. It is a minute, yellowish, flat-bodied, sucking insect often found in the axils of the leaves and fruit early in the season. They develop into minute cicada-like jumping-lice. The young psyllas secrete a large quantity of honey-dew in which a peculiar black fungus grows, giving the bark a characteristic sooty appearance. There may be four broods annually and the trees are often seriously injured. After the blossoms fall, spray with kerosene emulsion, diluted with 6 parts of water, or whale-oil soap, 1 lb. in 4 or 5 gal. of water. Repeat the application at intervals of 3 to 7 days until the insects are under control.

The pear slug is a small, slimy, dark green larva which skeletonizes the leaves in June, and a second brood appears in August. Spray thoroughly with 1 lb. Paris green, or 4 lb. arsenate of lead, in 100 gal. of water.

Potato insects.—The Colorado potato beetle, or potato-bug, emerges from hibernation in the spring and lays masses of orange eggs on the under side of the leaves. The larvae are known as “slugs” and “soft-shells” and cause most of the injury to the vines. Spray with Paris green, 2 lb. in 100 gal. of water, or arsenite of soda combined with bordeaux mixture. It may sometimes be necessary to use a greater strength of the poison, particularly on the older “slugs.”

The small black flea-beetles riddle the leaves with holes and cause the foliage to die. Bordeaux mixture as applied for potato blight protects the plants by making them repellent to the beetles.

Raspberry, blackberry, and dewberry insects.—The greenish, spiny larvae of the saw-fly feed on the tender leaves in spring. Spray with Paris green or arsenate of lead, or apply hellebore.

The cane-borer is a grub that burrows down through the canes, causing them to die. In laying her eggs, the adult beetle girdles the tip of the cane with a ring of punctures, causing it to wither and droop. In midsummer, cut off and destroy the drooping tips.

Red spider.—Minute reddish mites on the under sides of leaves in greenhouses and sometimes out of doors in dry weather. Syringe off the plants with clear water two or three times a week, taking care not to drench the beds.

Rose insects.—The green plant-lice usually work on the buds, and the yellow leaf-hoppers feed on the leaves. Spray, whenever necessary, with kerosene emulsion, diluted with 6 parts of water, or whale-oil or any good soap, 1 lb. in 5 or 6 gal. of water.

The rose-chafer is often a most pernicious pest on roses, grapes, and other plants. The ungainly, long-legged, grayish beetles occur in sandy regions and often swarm into vineyards and destroy the blossoms and foliage. Spray thoroughly with arsenate of lead, 10 lb. in 100 gal. of water. Repeat the application if necessary. (See under Rose in Chap. VIII.)

San José scale.—This pernicious scale is nearly circular in outline and about the size of a small pin head, with a raised center. When abundant, it forms a crust on the branches and causes small red spots on the fruit. It multiplies with marvelous rapidity, there being three or four broods annually in New York, and each mother scale may give birth to several hundred young. The young are born alive, and breeding continues until late autumn when all stages are killed by the cold weather except the tiny half-grown black scales, many of which hibernate safely. Spray thoroughly in the fall after the leaves drop, or early in the spring before growth begins, with lime-sulfur wash, or miscible oil 1 gal. in 10 gal. of water. When badly infested, make two applications, one in the fall and another in the spring. In case of large old trees, 25 per cent crude oil emulsion should be applied just as the buds are swelling.

In nurseries, after the trees are dug, fumigate with hydrocyanic acid gas, using 1 oz. of potassium cyanide for every 100 cu. ft. of space. Continue the fumigation from one-half to three-quarters of an hour. Do not fumigate the trees when they are wet, since the presence of moisture renders them liable to injury.

Tent-caterpillar.—The insect hibernates in the egg stage. The eggs are glued in ring-like brownish masses around the smaller twigs, where they may be easily found and destroyed. The caterpillars appear in early spring, devour the tender leaves, and build unsightly nests on the smaller branches. This pest is usually controlled by the treatment recommended for the codlin-moth. Destroy the nests by burning or by wiping out when small. Often a bad pest on apple trees.

Violet gall-fly.—Violets grown under glass are often greatly injured by a very small maggot, which causes the edges of the leaves to curl, turn yellowish, and die. The adult is a very minute fly resembling a mosquito. Pick off and destroy infested leaves as soon as discovered. Fumigation is not advised for this insect or for red-spider.

White-fly.—The minute white-flies are common on greenhouse plants and often in summer on plants about gardens near greenhouses. The nymphs are small greenish, scale-like insects found on the under side of the leaves; the adults are minute, white, mealy-winged flies. Spray with kerosene emulsion or whale-oil soap; or if infesting cucumbers or tomatoes, fumigate over night with hydrocyanic acid gas, using 1 oz. of potassium cyanide to each 1000 cu. ft. of space. (See page 188.)

White grubs.—The large curved white grubs that are so troublesome in lawns and strawberry fields are the larvae of the common June beetles. They live in the ground, feeding on the roots of grasses and weeds. Dig out grubs from beneath infested plants. Thorough early fall cultivation of land intended for strawberries will destroy many of the pupae. In lawns, remove the sod, destroy the grubs, and make new sward, when the infestation is bad.

Treatment for some of the common plant diseases.

The following advice (mostly adapted from Whetzel and Stewart) covers the most frequent types of fungous disease appearing to the home gardener. Many other kinds, however, will almost certainly attract his attention the first season if he looks closely. The standard remedy is bordeaux mixture; but because this material discolors the foliage the carbonate of copper is sometimes used instead. The treatments here recommended are for New York; but it should not be difficult to apply the dates elsewhere. The gardener must supplement all advice of this character with his own judgment and experience, and take his own risks.

Apple scab.—Usually most evident on the fruit, forming blotches and scabs. Spray with bordeaux, 5-5-50 or 3-3-50; first, just before the blossoms open; second, just as the blossoms fall; third, 10 to 14 days after the blossoms fall. The second spraying seems to be the most important. Always apply before rains, not after.

Asparagus rust.—The most common and destructive disease of asparagus, producing reddish or black pustules on the stems and branches. Late in the fall, burn all affected plants. Fertilize liberally and cultivate thoroughly. During the cutting season, permit no plants to mature and cut all wild asparagus plants in vicinity once a week. Rust may be partially controlled by spraying with bordeaux, 5-5-50, containing a sticker of resin-sal-soda soap, but it is a difficult and expensive operation and probably not profitable except on large acreage. Begin spraying after cutting as soon as new shoots are 8 to 10 in. high and repeat once or twice a week until about September 15. Dusting with sulfur has proved effective in California.

Cabbage and cauliflower diseases.—Black-rot is a bacterial disease; the plants drop their leaves and fail to head. Practice crop rotation; soak seed 15 min. in a solution made by dissolving one corrosive sublimate tablet in a pint of water. Tablets may be bought at drug stores.

Club-root or club-foot is a well-known disease. The parasite lives in the soil. Practice crop rotation. Set only healthy plants. Do not use manure containing cabbage refuse. If necessary to use infested land, apply good stone lime, 2 to 5 tons per acre. Apply at least as early as the autumn before planting; two to four years is better. Lime the seed-bed in same way.

Carnation rust.—This disease may be recognized by the brown, powdery pustules on the stem and leaves. Plant only the varieties least affected by it. Take cuttings only from healthy plants. Spray (in the field, once a week; in the greenhouse, once in two weeks) with copper sulfate, 1 lb. to 20 gal. of water. Keep the greenhouse air as dry and cool as is compatible with good growth. Keep the foliage free from moisture. Train the plants so as to secure a free circulation of air among them.

Chestnut.—The bark disease of chestnut has become very serious in southeastern New York, causing the bark to sink and die and killing the tree. Cutting out the diseased places and treating aseptically may be useful in light cases, but badly infected trees are incurable, in the present state of our knowledge. Inspection of nursery stock and burning of affected trees is the only procedure now to be recommended. The disease is reported in New England and western New York.

Chrysanthemum leaf-spot.—Spray with bordeaux, 5-5-50, every ten days or often enough to protect new foliage. Ammoniacal copper carbonate may be used, but it is not so effective.

Cucumber diseases.—“Wilt” is a disease caused by bacteria that are distributed chiefly by striped cucumber beetles. Destroy the beetles or drive them away by thorough spraying with bordeaux, 5-5-50. Gather and destroy all wilted leaves and plants. The most that can be expected is that the loss may be slightly reduced.

Downy mildew is a serious fungous disease of the cucumber known among growers as “the blight.” The leaves become mottled with yellow, show dead spots, and then dry up. Spray with bordeaux, 5-5-50. Begin spraying when the plants begin to run, and repeat every 10 to 14 days throughout the season.

Currant diseases.—Leaf-spots and anthracnose are caused by two or three different fungi. The leaves become spotted, turn yellow, and fall prematurely. They may be controlled by three to five sprayings with bordeaux, 5-5-50, but it is doubtful whether the diseases are sufficiently destructive on the average to warrant so much expense.

Gooseberry powdery mildew.—The fruit and leaves are covered with a dirty white growth of fungus. In setting a new plantation, choose a site where the land is well underdrained and where there is a good circulation of air. Cut away drooping branches. Keep the ground underneath free from weeds. Spray with potassium sulfide, 1 oz. to 2 gal.; begin when the buds are breaking and repeat every 7 to 10 days until the fruit is gathered. Powdery mildew is very destructive to the European varieties.

Grape black-rot.—Remove all “mummies” that cling to the arms at trimming time. Plow early, turning under all old mummies and diseased leaves. Rake all refuse under the vine into the last furrow and cover with the grape hoe. This cannot be too thoroughly done. The disease is favored by wet weather and weeds or grass in the vineyard. Use surface cultivation and keep down all weeds and grass. Keep the vines well sprouted; if necessary sprout twice. Spray with bordeaux mixture, 5-5-50, until the middle of July, after that with ammoniacal copper carbonate. The number of sprayings will vary with the season. Make the first application when the third leaf shows. Infections take place with each rain, and occur throughout the growing season. The foliage should be protected by a coating of the spray before every rain. The new growth especially should be well sprayed.

Hollyhock rust.—Fig. 212. Eradicate the wild mallow (Malva rotundifolia). Remove all hollyhock leaves as soon as they show signs of rust. Spray several times with bordeaux mixture, taking care to cover both sides of leaves.

Lettuce drop or rot.—This is a fungous disease often destructive in greenhouses, discovered by the sudden wilting of the plants. It is completely controlled by steam sterilization of the soil to the depth of two inches or more. If it is not feasible to sterilize the soil, use fresh soil for every crop of lettuce.

Muskmelon diseases.—“Blight” is a very troublesome disease. The leaves show angular dead-brown spots, then dry up and die; the fruit often fails to ripen and lacks flavor. It is caused by the same fungus as is the downy mildew of cucumbers. While bordeaux has proved effective in controlling the downy mildew on cucumbers, it seems to be of little value in lessening the same disease on melons.

“Wilt” is the same as the wilt of cucumbers; same treatment is given.

Peach diseases.—Brown-rot is difficult to control. Plant resistant varieties. Prune the trees so as to let in sunlight and air. Thin the fruit well. As often as possible pick and destroy all rotten fruits. In the fall destroy all remaining fruits. Spray with bordeaux mixture before the buds break, or self-boiled lime-sulfur.

Leaf-curl is a disease in which the leaves become swollen and distorted in spring and drop during June and July (Fig. 213). Elberta is an especially susceptible variety. Easily and completely controlled by spraying the trees once, before the buds swell, with bordeaux, 5-5-50, or with the lime-sulfur mixtures used for San José scale.

Black-spot or scab often proves troublesome in wet seasons and particularly in damp or sheltered situations. While this disease attacks the twigs and leaves, it is most conspicuous and injurious on the fruit, where it appears as dark spots or blotches. In severe attacks the fruit cracks. In the treatment of this disease it is of prime importance to secure a free circulation of air about the fruit. Accomplish this by avoiding low sites, by pruning, and by removal of windbreaks. Spray as for leaf-curl and follow with two applications of potassium sulfide, 1 oz. to 3 gal., the first being made soon after the fruit is set and the second when the fruit is half grown.

Yellows is a so-called “physiological disease.” Cause unknown. Contagious, and serious in some localities. Known by the premature ripening of the fruit, by red streaks and spots in the flesh, and by the peculiar clusters of sickly, yellowish shoots that appear on the limbs here and there (Fig. 215). Dig out and burn diseased trees as soon as discovered.

Pear diseases.—Fire-blight kills the twigs and branches, on which the leaves suddenly blacken and die but do not fall. It also produces cankers on the trunk and large limbs. Prune out blighted branches as soon as discovered, cutting 6 to 8 in. below the lowest evidences of the disease. Clean out limb and body cankers. Disinfect all large wounds with corrosive sublimate solution, 1 to 1000, and cover with coat of paint. Avoid forcing a rapid, succulent growth. Plant the varieties least affected.

Pear scab is very similar to apple scab. It is very destructive to some varieties, as, for example, Flemish Beauty and Seckel. Spray three times with bordeaux, as for apple scab.

Plum and cherry diseases.—Black-knot is a fungus, the spores of which are carried from tree to tree by the wind and thus spread the infection. Cut out and burn all knots as soon as discovered. See that the knots are removed from all plum and cherry trees in the neighborhood.

Leaf-spot is a disease in which the leaves become covered with reddish or brown spots and fall prematurely (Fig. 211); badly affected trees winterkill. Often, the dead spots drop out, leaving clear-cut holes. Spray with bordeaux, 5-5-50. For cherries, make four applications: first, just before blossoms open; second, when fruit is free from calyx; third, two weeks later; fourth, two weeks after third. In plums it may be controlled by two or three applications of bordeaux, 5-5-50. Make the first one about ten days after the blossoms fall and the others at intervals of about three weeks. This applies to European varieties. Japan plums should not be sprayed with bordeaux.

Potato diseases.—There are different kinds of potato blight and rot. The most important are early blight and late blight—both fungous diseases. Early blight affects only the foliage. Late blight kills the foliage and often rots the tubers. Two serious troubles often mistaken for blight are: (1) Tip burn, the browning of the tips and margins of the leaves due to dry weather; and (2) flea-beetle injury, in which the leaves show numerous small holes and then dry up. The loss from blight and flea-beetles is enormous—often, one-fourth to one-half the crop. For blight-rot and flea-beetles spray with bordeaux, 5-5-50. Begin when the plants are 6 to 8 in. high and repeat every 10 to 14 days during the season, making 5 to 7 applications in all. Use 40 to 100 gal. per acre at each application. Under conditions exceptionally favorable to blight it will pay to spray as often as once a week.

Scab is caused by a fungus that attacks the surface of the tubers. It is carried over on diseased tubers and in the soil. In general, when land becomes badly infested with scab, it is best to plant it with other crops for several years. (See page 190.)

Raspberry diseases.—Anthracnose is very destructive to black raspberries, but not often injurious to the red varieties. It is detected by the circular or elliptical gray scab-like spots on the canes. Avoid taking young plants from diseased plantations. Remove all old canes and badly diseased new ones as soon as the fruit is gathered. Although spraying with bordeaux, 5-5-50, will control the malady, the treatment may not be profitable. If spraying seems advisable, make the first application when the new canes are 6 to 8 in. high and follow with two more at intervals of 10 to 14 days.

Cane-blight or wilt is a destructive disease affecting both red and black varieties. Fruiting canes suddenly wilt and die. It is caused by a fungus which attacks the cane at some point and kills the bark and wood, thereby causing the parts above to die. No successful treatment is known. In making new settings, use only plants from healthy plantations. Remove the fruiting canes as soon as the fruit is gathered.

Red-rust is often serious on black varieties, but does not affect red ones. It is the same as red rust of blackberry. Dig up and destroy affected plants.

Rose diseases.—Black leaf-spot is one of the commonest diseases of the rose. It causes the leaves to fall prematurely. Spray with bordeaux, 5-5-50, beginning as soon as the first spots appear on the leaves. Two or three applications at intervals of ten days will very largely control the disease. Ammoniacal copper carbonate may be used on roses grown under glass. Apply once a week until disease is under control.

For mildew on greenhouse roses, keep the steam pipes painted with a paste made of equal parts lime and sulfur mixed up with water. The mildew is a surface-feeding fungus and is killed by the fumes of the sulfur. Outdoor roses that become infested with the mildew may be dusted with sulfur, or sprayed with a solution of potassium sulfide, 1 oz. to 3 gal. water. Spray or dust with the sulfur two or three times at intervals of a week or ten days.

Strawberry leaf-spot.—The most common and serious fungous disease of the strawberry; also called rust and leaf-blight. The leaves show spots which at first are of a deep purple color, but later enlarge and the center becomes gray or nearly white. The fungus passes the winter in the old diseased leaves that fall to the ground. In setting new plantations, remove all diseased leaves from the plants before they are taken to the field. Soon after growth begins, spray the newly set plants with bordeaux, 5-5-50. Make three or four additional sprayings during the season. The following spring, spray just before blossoming and again 10 to 14 days later. If the bed is to be fruited a second time, mow the plants and burn over the beds as soon as the fruit is gathered. Plant resistant varieties.

Tomato leaf-spot.—The distinguishing character of this disease is that it begins on the lower leaves and works towards the top, killing the foliage as it goes. It is controlled with difficulty because it is carried over winter in the diseased leaves and tops that fall to the ground. When setting out plants, pinch off all the lower leaves that touch the ground; also any leaves that show suspicious-looking dead-spots. The trouble often starts in the seed-bed. Spray plants very thoroughly with bordeaux, 5-5-50, beginning as soon as the plants are set out. Stake and tie up for greater convenience in spraying. Spray under side of the leaves. Spray every week or ten days.

CHAPTER VII
THE GROWING OF THE ORNAMENTAL PLANTS—THE CLASSES OF PLANTS, AND LISTS

In choosing the kinds of plants for the main grounds the gardener should carefully distinguish two categories,—those plants to compose the structural masses and design of the place, and those that are to be used for mere ornament. The chief merits to be sought in the former are good foliage, pleasing form and habit, shades of green, and color of winter twigs. The merits of the latter lie chiefly in flowers or colored foliage.

Each of these categories should be again divided. Of plants for the main design, there might be discussion of trees for a windbreak, of trees for shade; of shrubs for screens or heavy plantings, for the lighter side plantings, and for incidental masses about the buildings or on the lawn; and perhaps also of vines for porches and arbors, of evergreens, of hedges, and of the heavier herbaceous masses.

Plants used for mere embellishment or ornamentation may be ranged again into categories for permanent herbaceous borders, for display beds, ribbon edgings, annuals for temporary effects, foliage beds, plants for adding color and emphasis to the shrubbery masses, plants desired to be grown as single specimens or as curiosities, and plants for porch-boxes and window-gardens.

Having now briefly suggested the uses of the plants, we shall proceed to discuss them in reference to the making of home grounds. This chapter contains a brief consideration of:

• Planting for immediate effect,
• The use of “foliage” trees and shrubs,
• Windbreaks and screens,
• The making of hedges,
• The borders,
• The flower-beds,
• Aquatic and bog plants,
• Rockeries and alpine plants;

and then it runs into nine sub-chapters, as follows:—

• 1. Plants for carpet-beds, p. 234;
• 2. The annual plants, p. 241;
• 3. Hardy herbaceous perennials, p. 260;
• 4. Bulbs and tubers, p. 281;
• 5. The shrubbery, p. 290;
• 6. Climbing plants, p. 307;
• 7. Trees for lawns and streets, p. 319;
• 8. Coniferous evergreen trees and shrubs, p. 331;
• 9. Window-gardens, p. 336.

And then, in Chapter VIII, the particular cultures of plants needing special care are briefly discussed.

Planting for immediate effect.

It is always legitimate, and, in fact, desirable, to plant for immediate effect. One may plant very thickly of rapid-growing trees and shrubs for this purpose. It is a fact, however, that very rapid-growing trees usually lack strong or artistic character. Other and better trees should be planted with them and the featureless kinds be gradually removed. (Page 41.)

The effect of a new place may be greatly heightened by a dexterous use of annuals and other herbaceous stuff in the shrub plantations. Until the shrubbery covers the ground, temporary plants may be grown among them. Subtropical beds may give a very desirable temporary finish to places that are pretentious enough to make them seem in keeping.

Very rough, hard, sterile, and stony banks may sometimes be covered with coltsfoot (Tussilago Farfara), sacaline, Rubus cratœgifotius, comfrey, and various wild growths that persist in similar places in the neighborhood.

However much the planter may plan for immediate effects, the beauty of trees and shrubs comes with maturity and age, and this beauty is often delayed, or even obliterated, by shearing and excessive heading-back. At first, bushes are stiff and erect, but when they attain their full character, they usually droop or roll over to meet the sward. Some bushes make mounds of green much sooner than others that may even be closely related. Thus the common yellow-bell (Forsythia virdissima) remains stiff and hard for some years, whereas F. suspensa makes a rolling heap of green in two or three years. Quick informal effects can also be secured by the use of Hall’s Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera Halliana of nurserymen), an evergreen in the South, and holding its leaves until midwinter or later in the North. It may be used for covering a rock, a pile of rubbish, a stump (Fig. 236), to fill a corner against a foundation, or it may be trained on a porch or arbor. There is a form with yellow-veined leaves. Rosa Wichuraiana and some of the dewberries are useful for covering rough places.

Many vines that are commonly used for porches and arbors may be employed also for the borders of shrub-plantations and for covering rough banks and rocks, quickly giving a finish to the cruder parts of the place. Such vines, among others, are various kinds of clematis, Virginia creeper, actinidia, akebia, trumpet creeper, periploca, bitter-sweet (Solanum Dulcamara), wax-work (Celastrus scandens).

Of course, very good immediate effects may be secured by very close planting (page 222), but the homesteader must not neglect to thin out these plantations when the time comes.

The use of “foliage” trees and shrubs.

There is always a temptation to use too freely of the trees and shrubs that are characterized by abnormal or striking foliage. The subject is discussed in its artistic bearings on pages 40 and 41.

As a rule, the yellow-leaved, spotted-leaved, variegated, and other abnormal “foliage” plants are less hardy and less reliable than the green-leaved or “natural” forms. They usually require more care, if they are kept in vigorous and seemly condition. Some marked exceptions to this are noted in the lists of trees and shrubs.

There are some plants of striking foliage, however, that are perfectly reliable, but they are usually not of the “horticultural variety” class, their characteristics being normal to the species. Some of the silver or white-leaved poplars, for example, produce the most striking contrasts of foliage, particularly if set near darker trees, and for this reason they are much desired by many planters. Bolle’s poplar (Populus Bolleana of the nurseries) is one of the best of these trees. Its habit is something like that of the Lombardy. The upper surface of the deeply lobed leaves is dark dull green, while the under surface is almost snowy white. Such emphatic trees as this should generally be partially obscured by planting them amongst other trees, so that they appear to mix with the other foliage; or else they should be seen at some distance. Other varieties of the common white poplar or abele are occasionally useful, although most of them sprout badly and may become a nuisance. But the planting of these immodest trees is so likely to be overdone that one scarcely dare recommend them, although, when skillfully used, they may be made to produce most excellent effects. If any reader has a particular fondness for trees of this class (or any others with woolly-white foliage) and if he has only an ordinary city lot or farm-yard to ornament, let him reduce his desires to a single tree, and then if that tree is planted in the interior of a group of other trees, no harm can result.

Windbreaks and screens.

A shelter-belt for the home grounds is often placed at the extreme edge of the home yard, toward the heaviest or prevailing wind. It may be a dense plantation of evergreens. If so, the Norway spruce is one of the best for general purposes in the northeastern states. For a lower belt the arbor vitae is excellent. Some of the pines, as the Scotch or Austrian, and the native white pine, are also to be advised, particularly if the belt is at some distance from the residence. As a rule, the coarser the tree the farther it should be placed from the house.

The common deciduous trees of the region (as elm, maple, box-elder) may be planted in a row or rows for windbreaks. Good temporary shelter belts are secured by poplars and large willows. On the prairies and far north the laurel willow (Salix laurifolia of the trade) is excellent. Where snow blows very badly, two lines of breaks may be planted three to six rods apart, so that the inclosed lane may catch the drift; this method is employed in prairie regions.

Persons may desire to use the break as a screen to hide undesirable objects. If these objects are of a permanent character, as a barn or an unkempt property, evergreen trees should be used. For temporary screens, any of the very large-growing herbaceous plants may be employed. Very excellent subjects are sunflowers, the large-growing nicotianas, castor beans, large varieties of Indian corn, and plants of like growth. Excellent screens are sometimes made with vines on a trellis.

Very efficient summer screens may be made with ailanthus, paulownia, basswood, sumac, and other plants that tend to throw up very vigorous shoots from the base. After these plants have been set a year or two, they are cut back nearly to the ground in winter or spring, and strong shoots are thrown up with great luxuriance during the summer, giving a dense screen and presenting a semi-tropical effect. For such purposes, the roots should be planted only two or three feet apart. If, after a time, the roots become so crowded that the shoots are weak, some of the plants may be removed. Top-dressing the area every fall with manure will tend to make the ground rich enough to afford a very heavy summer growth. (See Fig. 50.)

The making of hedges.

Hedges are much less used in this country than in Europe, and for several reasons. Our climate is dry, and most hedges do not thrive so well here as there; labor is high-priced, and the trimming is therefore likely to be neglected; our farms are so large that much fencing is required; timber and wire are cheaper than live hedges.

However, hedges are used with good effect about the home grounds. In order to secure a good ornamental hedge, it is necessary to have a thoroughly well-prepared deep soil, to set the plants close, and to shear them at least twice every year. For evergreen hedges the most serviceable plant in general is the arbor vitae. The plants may be set at distances of 1 to 2-1/2 feet apart. For coarser hedges, the Norway spruce is used; and for still coarser ones, the Scotch and Austrian pines. In California the staple conifer hedge is made of Monterey cypress. For choice evergreen hedges about the grounds, particularly outside the northern states, some of the retinosporas are very useful. One of the most satisfactory of all coniferous plants for hedges is the common hemlock, which stands shearing well and makes a very soft and pleasing mass. The plants may be set from 2 to 4 feet apart.

Other plants that hold their leaves and are good for hedges are the common box and the privets. Box hedges are the best for very low borders about walks and flower-beds. The dwarf variety can be kept down to a height of 6 inches to a foot for any number of years. The larger-growing varieties make excellent hedges 3, 4, and 5 feet high. The ordinary privet or prim holds its leaves well into winter in the North. The so-called Californian privet holds its leaves rather longer and stands better along the seashore. The mahonia makes a low, loose hedge or edging in locations where it will thrive. Pyracantha is also to be recommended where hardy. In the southern states, nothing is better than Citrus trifoliata. This is hardy even farther north than Washington in very favored localities. In the South, Prunus Caroliniana is also used for hedges. Saltbush hedges are frequent in California.

For hedges of deciduous plants, the most common species are the buckthorn, Japan quince, the European hawthorn and other thorns, tamarix, osage orange, honey locust, and various kinds of roses. Osage orange has been the most used for farm hedges. For home grounds, Berberis Thunbergii makes an excellent free hedge; also Spiræa Thunbergii and other spireas. The common Rosa rugosa makes an attractive free hedge.

Hedges should be trimmed the year after they are set, although they should not be sheared very closely until they reach the desired or permanent height. Thereafter they should be cut into the desired form in spring or fall, or both. If the plants are allowed to grow for a year or two without trimming, they lose their lower leaves and become open and straggly. Osage orange and some other plants are plashed; that is, the plants are set at an angle rather than perpendicularly, and they are wired together obliquely in such a way that they make an impenetrable barrier just above the surface of the ground.

For closely clipped or sheared hedges, the best plants are arbor vitae, retinospora, hemlock, Norway spruce, privet, buckthorn, box, osage orange, pyracantha, Citrus trifoliata. The pyracantha (Pyracantha coccinea) is an evergreen shrub allied to cratægus, of which it is sometimes considered to be a species. It is also sometimes referred to cotoneaster. Although hardy in protected places in the North, it is essentially a bush of the middle and southern latitudes, and of California. It has persistent foliage and red berries. Var. Lalandi has orange-red berries.

The borders.

The word “border” is used to designate the heavy or continuous planting about the boundaries of a place, or along the walks and drives, or against the buildings, in distinction from planting on the lawn or in the interior spaces. A border receives different designations, depending on the kinds of plants that are grown therein: it may be a shrub-border, a flower-border, a hardy border for native and other plants, a vine-border, and the like.

There are three rules for the choosing of plants for a hardy border: choose (1) those that you like best, (2) those that are adapted to the climate and soil, (3) those that are in place or in keeping with that part of the grounds.

The earth for the border should be fertile. The whole ground should be plowed or spaded and the plants set irregularly in the space; or the back row may be set in a line. If the border is composed of shrubs, and is large, a horse cultivator may be run in and out between the plants for the first two or three years, since the shrubs will be set 2 to 4 feet apart. Ordinarily, however, the tilling is done with hand tools. After the plants are once established and the border is filled, it is best to dig up as little as possible, for the digging disturbs the roots and breaks the crowns. It is usually best to pull out the weeds and give the border a top-dressing each fall of well-rotted manure. If the ground is not very rich, an application of ashes or some commercial fertilizer may be given from time to time.

The border should be planted so thick as to allow the plants to run together, thereby giving one continuous effect. Most shrubs should be set 3 feet apart. Things as large as lilacs may go 4 feet and sometimes even more. Common herbaceous perennials, as bleeding heart, delphiniums, hollyhocks, and the like, should go from 12 to 18 inches. On the front edge of the border is a very excellent place for annual and tender flowering plants. Here, for example, one may make a fringe of asters, geraniums, coleus, or anything else he may choose. (Chap. II.)

Into the heavy borders about the boundaries of the place the autumn leaves will drift and afford an excellent mulch. If these borders are planted with shrubs, the leaves may be left there to decay, and not be raked off in the spring.

The general outline of the border facing the lawn should be more or less wavy or irregular, particularly if it is on the boundary of the place. Alongside a walk or drive the margins may follow the general directions of the walk or drive.

In making borders of perennial flowers the most satisfactory results are secured if a large clump of each kind or variety is grown. The herbaceous border is one of the most flexible parts of grounds, since it has no regular or formal design. Allow ample space for each perennial root,—often as much as three or four square feet,—and then if the space is not filled the first year or two, scatter over the area seeds of poppies, sweet peas, asters, gilias, alyssum, or other annuals. Figures 237-239, from Long (“Popular Gardening,” i., 17, 18), suggest methods of making such borders. They are on a scale of ten feet to the inch. The entire surface is tilled, and the irregular diagrams designate the sizes of the clumps. The diagrams containing no names are to be filled with bulbs, annuals, and tender plants, if desired.

It must not be supposed, however, that one cannot have a border unless he has wide marginal spaces about his grounds. It is surprising how many things one can grow in an old fence. Perennials that grow in fence-rows in fields ought also to grow in similar boundaries on the home grounds. Some of garden annuals will thrive alongside a fence, particularly if the fence does not shut off too much light; and many vines (both perennial and annual) will cover it effectively. Among annuals, the large-seeded, quick-germinating, rapid-growing kinds will do best. Sunflower, sweet pea, morning glory, Japanese hop, zinnia, marigold, amaranths, four o’clock, are some of the kinds that will hold their own. If the effort is made to grow plants in such places, it is important to give them all the advantage possible early in the season, so that they will get well ahead of the grass and weeds. Spade up the ground all you can. Add a little quick-acting fertilizer. It is best to start the plants in pots or small boxes, so that they will be in advance of the weeds when they are set out.

The flower-beds.

We must remember to distinguish two uses of flowers,—their part in a landscape design or picture, and their part in a bed or separate garden for bloom. We now consider the flower-bed proper; and we include in the flower-bed such “foliage” plants as coleus, celosia, croton, and canna, although the main object of the flower-bed is to produce an abundance of flowers.

In making a flower-bed, see that the ground is well drained; that the subsoil is deep; that the land is in a mellow and friable condition, and that it is fertile. Each fall it may have a mulch of rotted manure or of leafmold, which may be spaded under deeply in the spring; or the land may be spaded and left rough in the fall, which is a good practice when the soil has much clay. Make the flower-beds as broad as possible, so that the roots of the grass running in from either side will not meet beneath the flowers and rob the beds of food and moisture. It is well to add a little commercial fertilizer each fall or spring.

Although it is well to emphasize making the ground fertile, it must be remembered (as indicated at the close of Chap. IV) that it can easily be made too rich for such plants as we desire to keep within certain stature and for those from which we wish an abundance of bloom in a short season. In over-rich ground, nasturtiums and some other plants not only “run to vine,” but the bloom lacks brilliancy. When it is the leaf and vegetation that is wanted, there is little danger of making the ground too rich, although it is possible to make the plant so succulent and sappy that it becomes sprawly or breaks down; and other plants may be crippled and crowded out.

There are various styles of flower-planting. The mixed border, planted with various hardy plants, and extending along either side of the garden-walk, was popular years ago; and, with modifications in position, form, and extent, has been a popular attachment to home grounds during the past few years. To produce the best effects the plants should be set close enough to cover the ground; and the selection should be such as to afford a continuity of bloom.

The mixed flower-bed may contain only tender summer-blooming plants, in which case the bed, made up mostly of annuals, does not purport to express the entire season.

In distinction from the mixed or non-homogeneous flowerbed are the various forms of “bedding,” in which plants are massed for the purpose of making a connected and homogeneous bold display of form or color. The bedding may be for the purpose of producing a strong effect of white, of blue, or of red; or of ribbon-like lines and edgings; or of luxurious and tropical expression; or to display boldly the features of a particular plant, as the tulip, the hyacinth, the chrysanthemum.

In ribbon-bedding, flowering or foliage plants are arranged in ribbon-like lines of harmoniously contrasting colors, commonly accompanying walks or drives, but also suitable for marking limits, or for the side borders. In such beds, as well as the others, the tallest plants will be placed at the back, if the bed is to be seen from one side only, and the lowest at the front. If it is to be seen from both sides, then the tallest will stand in the center.

A modification of the ribbon-line, bringing the contrasting colors together into masses forming circles or other patterns, is known as “massing,” or “massing in color,” and sometimes is spoken of as “carpet-bedding.”

Carpet-bedding, however, belongs more properly to a style of bedding in which plants of dense, low, spreading habit—chiefly foliage plants, with leaves of different forms and colors—are planted in patterns not unlike carpets or rugs. It is often necessary to keep the plants sheared into limits. Carpet-bedding is such a specialized form of plant-growing that we shall treat of it separately.

Beds containing the large foliage plants, for producing tropical effects, are composed, in the main, of subjects that are allowed to develop naturally. In the lower and more orderly massing, the plants are arranged not only in circles and patterns according to habit and height, but the selection is such that some or all may be kept within proper limits by pinching or trimming. Circles or masses composed of flowering plants usually cannot be cut back at the top, so that the habit of the plants must be known before planting; and the plants must be placed in parts of the bed where trimming will not be necessary. They may be clipped at the sides, however, in case the branches or leaves of one mass or line in the pattern grow beyond their proper bounds.

The numbers of good annuals and perennials that may be used in flower-beds are now very large, and one may have a wide choice. Various lists from which one may choose are given at the end of this chapter; but special comment may be made on those most suitable for bedding, and in its modification in ribbon-work and sub-tropical massing.

Bedding effects.

Bedding is ordinarily a temporary species of planting; that is, the bed is filled anew each year. However, the term may be used to designate a permanent plantation in which the plants are heavily massed so as to give one continuous or emphatic display of form or color. Some of the best permanent bedding masses are made of the various hardy ornamental grasses, as eulalias, arundo, and the like. The color effects in bedding may be secured with flowers or with foliage.

Summer bedding is often made by perennial plants that are carried over from the preceding year, or better, that are propagated for that particular purpose in February and March. Such plants as geranium, coleus, alyssum, scarlet salvia, ageratum, and heliotrope may be used for these beds. It is a common practice to use geranium plants which are in bloom during the winter for bedding out during the summer, but such plants are tall and ungainly in form and have expended the greater part of their energies. It is better to propagate new plants by taking cuttings or slips late in the winter and setting out young fresh vigorous subjects. (Page 30.)

Some bedding is very temporary in its effect. Especially is this true of spring bedding, in which the subjects are tulips, hyacinths, crocuses, or other early-flowering bulbous plants. In this case, the ground is usually occupied later in the season by other plants. These later plants are commonly annuals, the seeds of which are sown amongst the bulbs as soon as the season is far enough advanced; or the annuals may be started in boxes and the plants transplanted amongst the bulbs as soon as the weather is fit.

Many of the low-growing and compact continuous-flowering annuals are excellent for summer bedding effects. There is a list of some useful material for this purpose on page 249.

Plants for subtropical effects (Plates IV and V).

The number of plants suitable to produce a semitropical mass or for the center or back of a group, which may be readily grown from seed, is limited. Some of the best kinds, are included below.

It will often be worth while to supplement these with others, to be had at the florists, such as caladiums, screw pines, Ficus elastica, araucarias, Musa Ensete, palms, dracenas, crotons, and others. Dahlias and tuberous begonias are also useful. About a pond the papyrus and lotus may be used.

Practically all the plants used for this style of gardening are liable to injury from winds, and therefore the beds should be placed in a protected situation. The palms and some other greenhouse stuff do better if partially shaded.

In the use of such plants, there are opportunities for the exercise of the nicest taste. A gross feeder, as the ricinus, in the midst of a bed of delicate annuals, is quite out of place; and a stately, royal-looking plant among humbler kinds often makes the latter look common, when if headed with a chief of their own rank all would appear to the best advantage.

Some of the plants much used for subtropical bedding, and often started for that purpose in a greenhouse or coldframe, are:—

Acalypha.
Amarantus.
Aralia Sieboldii (properly Fatsia Japonica).
Bamboos.
Caladium and colocasia.
Canna.
Coxcomb, particularly the new “foliage” kinds.
Grasses, as eulalias, pampas-grass, pennisetums.
Gunnera.
Maize, the striped form.
Ricinus or castor bean.
Scarlet sage.
Wigandia.

Aquatic and bog plants.

Some of the most interesting and ornamental of all plants grow in water and in wet places. It is possible to make an aquatic flower-garden, and also to use water and bog plants as a part of the landscape work.

The essential consideration in the growing of aquatics is the making of the pond. It is possible to grow water-lilies in tubs and half barrels; but this does not provide sufficient room, and the plant-food is likely soon to be exhausted and the plants to fail. The small quantity of water is likely also to become foul.

The best ponds are those made by good mason work, for the water does not become muddy by working among the plants. In cement ponds it is best to plant the roots of water-lilies in shallow boxes of earth (1 foot deep and 3 or 4 feet square), or to hold the earth in mason-work compartments.

X: A shallow lawn pond, containing water-lilies, variegated sweet flag, iris, and subtropical bedding at the rear; fountain covered with parrot’s feather (Myriophyllum proserpinacoides).

Usually the ponds or tanks are not cement lined. In some soils a simple excavation will hold water, but it is usually necessary to give the tank some kind of lining. Clay is often used. The bottom and sides of the tank are pounded firm, and then covered with 3 to 6 in. of clay, which has been kneaded in the hands, or pounded and worked in a box. Handfuls or shovelfuls of the material are thrown forcibly upon the earth, the operator being careful not to walk upon the work. The clay is smoothed by means of a spade or maul, and it is then sanded.

The water for the lily pond may be derived from a brook, spring, well, or a city water supply. The plants will thrive in any water that is used for domestic purposes. It is important that the water does not become stagnant and a breeding place for mosquitoes. There should be an outlet in the nature of a stand-pipe, that will control the depth of water. It is not necessary that the water run through the pond or tank rapidly, but only that a slow change take place. Sometimes the water is allowed to enter through a fountain-vase, in which water plants (such as parrot’s feather) may be grown (Plate X).

In all ponds, a foot or 15 in. is sufficient depth of water to stand above the crowns of the plants; and the greatest depth of water should not be more than 3 ft. for all kinds of water-lilies. Half this depth is often sufficient. The soil should be 1 to 2 ft. deep, and very rich. Old cow manure may be mixed with rich loam. For the nympheas or water-lilies, 9 to 12 in. of soil is sufficient. Most of the foreign water-lilies are not hardy, but some of them may be grown with ease if the pond is covered in winter.

Roots of hardy water-lilies may be planted as soon as the pond is clear of frost, but the tender kinds (which are also to be taken up in the fall) should not be planted till it is time to plant out geraniums. Sink the roots into the mud so that they are just buried, and weight them down with a stone or clod. The nelumbium, or so-called Egyptian lotus, should not be transplanted till growth begins to show in the roots in the spring. The roots are cleaned of decayed parts and covered with about 3 in. of soil. A foot or so of water is sufficient for lotus ponds. The roots of Egyptian lotus must not freeze. The roots of all water-lily-like plants should be frequently divided and renewed.

With hardy aquatics, the water and roots are allowed to remain naturally over winter. In very cold climates, the pond is protected by throwing boards over it and covering with hay, straw, or evergreen boughs. It is well to supply an additional depth of water as a further protection.

As a landscape feature, the pond should have a background, or setting, and its edges should be relieved, at least on sides and back, by plantings of bog plants. In permanent ponds of large size, plantings of willows, osiers, and other shrubbery may set off the area to advantage. Many of the wild marsh and pond plants are excellent for marginal plantings, as sedges, cat-tail, sweet-flag (there is a striped-leaved form), and some of the marsh grasses. Japanese iris makes an excellent effect in such places. For summer planting in or near ponds, caladium, umbrella-plant, and papyrus are good.

If there is a stream, “branch,” or “run” through the place, it may often be made one of the most attractive parts of the premises by colonizing bog plants along it.

Rockeries, and alpine plants.

A rockery is a part of the place in which plants are grown in pockets between rocks. It is a flower-garden conception rather than a landscape feature, and therefore should be at one side or in the rear of the premises. Primarily, the object of using the rocks is to provide better conditions in which certain plants may grow; sometimes the rocks are employed to hold a springy or sloughing bank and the plants are used to cover the rocks; now and then a person wants a rock or a pile of stones in his yard, as another person would want a piece of statuary or a sheared evergreen. Sometimes the rocks are natural to the place and cannot well be removed; in this case the planning and planting should be such as to make them part of the picture.

The real rock-garden, however, is a place in which to grow plants. The rocks are secondary. The rocks should not appear to be placed for display. If one is making a collection of rocks, he is pursuing geology rather than gardening.