the arbor
and tied up as before. If there is a prospect of cold weather let the
vines lie upon the ground, as they will be less liable to "bleed," or to
suffer from the cold. This is the simplest way we know of to trim grape
vines, and any amateur gardener can do it if he tries this manner.
Walking a little further, we come upon some rose bushes: there are too
many branches among them, and too much old wood, and some that is
entirely dead. With our knife we will remove at least one half of this
excess of wood, leaving as much young wood of the previous season's
growth as possible by thinning out the old limbs and dead wood severely.
Here is one Moss Rose bush, the stems appear as brown and looking as
seared as a berry; it is apparently winter killed, and by cutting into
it we find that to be the case; the roots are in all probability sound,
and we will cut the stems down to the ground and cover the place with a
forkful of stable manure; if the roots are alive it will grow and bloom
the coming summer. Here is a large standard Rose with a fine top, we
will head this back short, cutting each stem to an eye or two of the
bottom. Proceeding to the lawn we run across some weeping deciduous
trees, among them is a large Kilmarnock Weeping Willow, its beautiful
pendant branches fairly reach the ground, and switch the snow as they
sway to and fro. Nothing more beautiful could be imagined. We would head
this back close, and it should be done every spring and most of the old
wood thinned out. This large climbing Rose that clings so close to the
piazza, should be trimmed about in the same way as we did the grape
vine, and also this large Clematis Jackmanii should be cut to the ground
and allowed to start up anew in the spring. Here is a clump of shrubbery
among which we see the _Weigela_, _Spiraeas_, _Purple Fringe_, _Deutzia
crenata_, _Hydrangea paniculata grandiflora_, the Syringa, and a number
of other favorite shrubs. These will all need more or less cutting back
and trimming, and now is a good time to do it. We know one gentleman who
boasted the finest display of Roses in his county, who was in the habit
of cutting his Rose bushes down to the ground every spring, and when
they began to grow he had dug in around each one an abundance of well
rotted compost, "and," said he, "I have never seen the day, from June
to October, that I could not pluck a large bouquet of the choicest
Hybrid Perpetual roses, while my next door neighbor, wh