| "Japanese Dwarf
Trees" (1900):
MR. D. G. MITCHELL, once writing of these,
well said: "Japanese trees seem under the wings of Japanese buildings,
quaint pygmies not 3 feet high, are yet over seventy years old. They
are gnarled and twisted, as if they had fought the the [sic]
winds and caught their picturesqueness of form -- as old Oaks catch theirs
-- by battling with tempests and wintry storms upon the hills. By
examining closely the specimens in Japanese grounds one may see traces
of the dwarfing process. The leading shoots have been clipped or
bent downward; the lateral branches turned in and tied back; lusty limbs
twisted and wrenched into quaint postures; marks of the torturing pins
[sic],
and bands and cuts are still observable; it is a crippled dwarf of a tree
made quaint and picturesque by years of struggle. Is there a compensating
beauty in them? Not surely as we reckon the beauty of plant growth.
But consider that the Japanese, in their horticultural system, have offices
for such dwarf trees. With them no homestead is complete without
its garden; a few square rods may be all at command, but this area must
have its garden treatment, and the gardens are modeled after nature.
'San sui' (mountain and water) is the term which in Japanese describes
the cultivator's work. The aim is -- within however a limited an
area -- top present a complete landscape, with rock, valley, plain, water,
and mountain. Under such miniature presentment trees and plants must
be dwarfed to bear proper relations to the dwarfed valleys and rocks.
To such an extent is this copying of nature in miniature carried out that
a rocky landscape, with its heights and level spaces and trees, is wrought
out, with close attention to proportions within the limits of a great bronze
basin. We doubt if cultivators of the West will emulate them in their
mimicry of Nature; but they may well emulate the painstaking skill which
makes such small successes possible, and the assiduous care and the close
study of plant life which are enforced by such arts."
The daimios of Yokohama and Nagasaki
are not content with the countless beautiful gems of the plant world with
which their favored islands are studded, but they must also have dwarfs
and monsters of the vegetable kingdom. They must have pine trees
with the best part of their roots leaping up into the air several feet
higher than their topmost twigs, or Kakis with their branches so contorted
as to resemble tangled masses of cordage instead of the graceful trees
which we know them to be. By training their shoots and branches with
the utmost patience they are able to produce the most monstrous forms,
while by limiting the amount of nourishment which the plants receive within
the narrowest possible mark they become dwarfs. Hence, by adopting
the latter method of checking their growth, they succeed in producing plants
which, although they may be over a century old, are still small enough
to live and thrive in a medium-sized flower pot. We must also remember
that the climate of Japan is peculiarly favorable to this description of
horticulture, and it is doubtful whether this kind of culture could be
carried out in hot, dry, sunshiny countries [sic].
Of all hardy subjects the Conifers seem to have produced the most successful
specimens of dwarf and monsters, either because they are more fitted for
this mode of treatment, or because they are more in favor in Japanese gardens.
Among the Conifers, again, pines seem to produce the happiest results,
and the stem, which is reduced to its very simplest expression, grows at
a distance from the surface of the soil, and is supported by a number of
simple or branched roots supported by sticks, which float about in the
air as if they belonged to it. This system of culture seems to be
very widespread throughout Japan, and must be practised by a large number
of persons, for such specimens are exhibited by hundreds. Worried
literally half out of their lives by ill treatment and starvation, it is
not to be wondered as if the size of some of these unhappy victims is wholly
out of proportion to their age. It is evident that some means are
taken to draw the roots out of the soil gradually, without in any way damaging
the rootlets, so as to expose all their rammifications [sic] to the air,
leaving only a small portion of their extremities in the soil. -- C. W.
Q.
The illustration shows a particularly
fine specimen of the double-flowered weeping plum (Shidare-ume), evidently
an old and well grown tree. I saw some of them in Japan, but none
so evenly flowered as this one. It is not a common plant; the weeping
cherry, which I never saw in England, is much commoner. The plums
seem to take very kindly to this kind of cultivation. I dined at
a house in Kobe where the only table decoration was an old tree in a square
pot, with one long branch covered with flowers. -- Alfred Parsons.
THE DOUBLE-FLOWERING PLUM (SHIDARE-
UME) AS GROWN BY THE JAPANESE
DWARF CHERRY TREES IN JAPAN.
These grow well in pots. Repotting,
if necessary, should be done when the leaves fall off, being careful not
to disturb the roots. If the soil is poor, use a little oil cake
and loam, well mixed together. In any case it is as well to apply
this mixture when the leaves drop off at the end of October or beginning
of November, so that the mixture is, well decayed by the spring, when the
tree starts into growth. In spring or summer it can be manured again,
but the manure must be well decayed by being watered and put in the sun,
so as to be well rotted. In January or February, when the trees are
coming into bloom, soak some lentils in water for about a week. When
thoroughly soaked, crush them well up, place in a linen bag, together with
the liquid drained from them, then squeeze the bag, when there should be
a milky substance from same. Remove the earth all round the edge
of the pot, and pour a little of this liquid all round. When the
tree starts into growth in the spring, if small branches grow out from
the other branches, these should be nipped off. Only those which
grow from the main stem should remain. These trees are best kept
outdoors. -- S. Eida, in Gardening Illustrated. 1 |