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Show BACK YARDJftRMER! Interesting Pointers on Gardening Garden-ing for the City Man or Suburbanite. WHAT TO PLANT AND WHEN Advice by an Expert on Agricultural Matters Vines and Climbers When to Plant Shrubs Raspberries By PROF. JOHN WILLARD BOLTE. The function of vines and climbing plants In landscape art Is to screen and soften mechanical features, to hide unsightly objects, to blend together Into a harmonious whole, various discordant dis-cordant elements. Varieties are a matter of taste, and f you will leave to your wife the question ques-tion of proper location for vines, you will not go far wrong, from an artistic ar-tistic standpoint. The truth Is that good vines are almost always In harmony, har-mony, no matter where they are placed. Use them freely where you have a bare place. Many an untidy fence can be made into a bower of delight by properly placed vines. The honeysuckles, wood bine from the deep woods, Kudzu vine, wild grape, clematis paniculata, and many others, can be secured at a trifling tri-fling expense, grow quickly, and are hardy. In the more southern states, Smith's hybrid moon-vine is particularly delightful. de-lightful. Tie jewel of porch climbers is the Jackmanii type of clematis. White, lavander and pink, the blossoms come In reckless profusion, and if you are careful to get strong pot-grown plants, plant them in a rich, deep earth, without disturbing the roots, and do your transplanting about June I, you will almost certainly succeed. Be sure to plant in a sunny spot, where water from the eaves will not compact the earth. Water well until the plant gets a good start. A fast growing, pleasant vine for the new porch is the Japanese Ivy. A few plants put in the soil alongside the porch in the sun will rapidly spread by way of the roots, and will form a thick, fragrant curtain of light green, clear to the top of the porch by the middle of summer. This plant Increases In-creases so rapidly that one must be careful to prevent its crowding out other less aggressive neighbors. Scarlet runner beans are a great favorite fa-vorite in northern climes for yearly planting, as are the wild cucumbers with their tracery leaves and tendrils and their cool prickly fruit pods. Of course where climbing roses can be successfully grown, there is absolutely abso-lutely nothing to compare with them In their gorgeous magnificence They call for the same soil conditions and care as bush roses, but they are less hardy as a rule In the inland and northern states. In the eastern states and anywhere that cool, moist summer and even winter temperature prevails, the English Eng-lish Ivy grows in profusion. Nothing can be more satisfactory, particularly in connection with stone or brick structures of massive appearance. It seems to live forever in hospitable environments, and it will frequently cover an entire house, even to the chimney top. It is well to prevent it from covering wooden surfaces, however, how-ever, as its thick foliage holds moisture moist-ure and hastens the decay of the wood, the rusting of nails, etc. Many ways of supporting vines are used, from strings to graceful wooden trellises. Chicken wire may be used to advantage, and will last a number of years. Planting Shrubs. Spring is the favorite season for shrub planting. Not that most shrubs cannot be transplanted at almost any season of the year, but we all feel more interested In outdoor things when the robins first come back. Shrubbery about the house is a constant con-stant joy to all who behold It. Breaking Break-ing up harsh lines and joining together to-gether the more antagonistic featuren, it gives a finish and an air of permanency per-manency to any place. In choosing varieties for special uses, particular attention should be given to the form, color and charac-. ter of blossoms, and foliage, together with blooming period and general ap-, pearance of the shrub. Tall, straggling shrubs, like some of the lilacs and azaleas, give better effects when placed at a distance, and either massed mass-ed or planted against buildings, fences, etc. More symmetrical shrubs and the smaller varieties can be planted singly or grouped in beds in the foreground. fore-ground. For planting about porches, nothing noth-ing is more handsome or more graceful grace-ful than bridal wreath. It can well bo supplanted with several other shrubs which bloom at dlffei-ent time, however. The hardy snowball Is tnore satls- factory planted alone In an expanw of green lawn. This Is also the cast with any of the larger symmetrical shrubs. For hedges, probably nothing will give better results than California Privet or Arbor Vitae. Barberry, Japanese Jap-anese Quinces, Sweet Briar and many others are frequently used for lower and less compact hedges, road borders, bor-ders, etc. Where it Is desired to conceal buildings, nothing is better than lilacs, sumach, and some of the dwarf evergreens. ever-greens. In preparing to plant shrubs, dig the holes or trenches a foot deeper than necessary, and fill in that foot with rich earth over six inches of stable manure, leaving the earth rather rath-er loose. Trim off all broken, rotten, or diseased dis-eased roots, spread the roots well and' set the plant In the hole so that It will be an inch or two deeper than It was before. Fill the hole half-way with fine rich earth, mix in a quarter of a pound of some complete fertilizer, soak the earth with water and then fill up the rest of the hole. Tramp the earth down firmly and heap It up . to take care of settling later on. The branches should be trimmed In proportion to the root trimming, or the plant will die through lack of food. Keep unplanted shrubs moist and cool. If necessary to delay planting, plant-ing, lay them slantingly in a trench, cover the roots with moist earth and keep them watered. Raising Raspberries. There is no fruit more desirable or more easily grown than the red or black raspberries. The plants cost little and one can get them for nothing by making cuttings from wild bushes, They are much more easily grown than strawberries, and are much less trouble. The strawberry bed must be hoed, trimmed and weeded regularly or it will be completely covered up, but the raspberry will produce luxuriantly luxuri-antly under adverse conditions and even downright neglect. Two thirty-foot rows, one of a good red and one a black variety, will furnish fur-nish abundant fruit for the average family and the entire cost of having all the raspberries you want for a month's time every year need not exceed ex-ceed the cost of a little fertilizer and a little Bordeaux mixture. A raspberry patch will bear soma fruit the second year and it will carry a heavy crop thereafter, for as much as ten years. They will grow well In any well-drained, well-drained, fertile soil and the black varieties require a little richer soil than the reds. Neither will, do as-well as-well as the blackberry on sandy or poor soils. Buy your plants from a nursery man and put them Into a well prepared seed bed in the spring. Plant in rows, having the plants about two and one-half one-half feet apart. Set the plants a little lit-tle deeper than they were at the- nursery, firm the soil well and water occasionally for a week or two. The ground should have a liberal covering of stable manure before turning turn-ing over, and it will be well to work into the soil around each plant about one-fourth of a pound of a mixture of bone meal, three parts and muriate of potash one part. Fertilize In this pro portion each year, keep the ground cultivated and you should have heavy crops of large, Juicy berries every year. Beds located In exposed positions la very cold climates will need to have the canes laid down and covered with earth and straw during the winter. When the bushes are properly pruned and fertilized, it will not be-necessary be-necessary to support them, but there are many advantages in tying the canes up to wire supports. Be careful In the pruning. After the first year cut all of the old canes out as soon as they have fruited. At the same time cut out surplus and feeble canes. In the early spring cut out all canes which have been winter killed and trim all remaining stalks about a third. Rust and anthracnose are the most common diseases. Spray with Bor-deaux Bor-deaux for the first one and cutout and burn the diseased canes if rust appears. ap-pears. Slugs or worms can be killed1 by spraying with bt.lebore or arsenate of lead. Raspberries frequently produce 2,500 quarts of fruit per acre In a single year. |