1893. 



GARDENING. 



^37 



half hardy roses, etc., in another hardy 

 annuals, in another half hardy annuals, 

 in another hardy perennials, in another 

 liardy shrubbery, showing the various 

 hcifjhts and habits of bushes all arranged 

 with a view to proper succession. Then 

 allow city florists to lay out lots twenty- 

 five, fifty, one hundred feet front, one 

 acre and five acre plots, and there show- 

 their ideals— how n eitv or country lot 

 should be laid out and p'lantcd. All" lots 

 or plots sliould be plainly marked, stat- 

 ing "this lot contains nothing but hardy 

 perennials," "this lot has nothing but 

 half hardy perennials requiring slight 

 winter protection," and so on, so that 

 the public would have object lessons and 

 know what they wanted without having 

 to try discouraging experiments. In this 

 way I think Mr. Shaw's intentions would 

 be furthered, our parks could be made 

 educational institutions, a great impetus 

 would be given towards "Old Gardens" 

 with their happy homes, industrious 

 children and generous rivalry among 

 neighbors; and when this became know'n 

 throughout the country, this portion of 

 the park would be sought out by all vis- 

 itors, and florists would be overrun with 

 orders for flowers. 



KEEPING SEEDS. 



I am now putting away seeds in cocoa 

 cans, partly because they are safe from 

 the depredations of mice and it is also a 

 convenient method of storing, but aside 

 from this I have some theoretical reason 

 forthinking they will keep longer in this 

 way if properly dried before putting into 

 the boxes. I am satisfied, in comparing 

 my experience in keeping peas and beans 

 for seed here, with my recollections of 

 keeping them in Massachusetts, that they 

 will retain their vitalitj' there much 

 longerthan here and I attributeit to dry- 

 ing out more in our comparatively warm 

 and dry climate. Enclosing in air tight 

 boxes and keeping in a cool place would 

 prevent this, and in theory I cannot see 

 that it will injure them . I kept some cen tro- 

 sema seed in a cocoa box in a cool and 

 rather dry cellar last winter and found it 

 to swell in hot water a great deal more 

 promptly than seed kept 'u paper bags 

 has done in previous years. It did not 

 come up very well, but the weather was 

 extremely unfavorable and undt r the cir- 

 cumstances I had no reason to expect it. 

 Can you or your correspondents throw- 

 any light upon this subject? 



Hammonton, N. J. \Vm. F. B.\ssett. 



Will some of our readers please give us 

 their experience in keeping seeds m air 

 tight boxes? About the centrosema seed 

 not germinating evenly, it is a curious 

 fact that several other of our native 

 leguminous plants behave in the same 

 way. Take Tliermopsis Caroliniana for 

 instance, we have gathered seed from one 

 plant, sown it, and found that while some 

 germinated in a few weeks, others took 

 months and some did not appear till the 

 next spring. 



flSflES- JOURNAL. 



G. C, N. J., asks: (1 ) what is the best 

 thing to do with coal and wood ashes? 

 (21 Where he can get ihe Journal of Hor- 

 ticulture, nnd the pnce, (3) and encloses 

 some small bits of leaves for name. 



1. We use coal ashes for mending roads 

 or paths, making beds of to stand pot 

 pl:ints on out of doors in summer, or in 

 frames or the greenhouse at any time, to 

 mix with clav soil, to bank .uound cold 



frames in winter, to pack in the holes 

 around fence posts in clay land where 

 gravel isn't handy, and many other jobs. 

 Florists sometimes sift tiiem to mix with 

 their potting soil for stock roses, but 

 never for shipping roses. The roots of 

 plants take to them kindly as you may 

 have noticed in the case of pot plants 

 rooting through when set on beds of 

 ashes. Wood ashes are i)articidarly val-' 

 uablc for use on lawns, or in the fruit 

 garden— for strawberry and bush fruits, 

 also for fruit trees of all kinds. 



2. The Journal of Horticulture is a 

 weekly paper published in London, price 

 6 cents a cop3', which is $3.12 a year 

 exclusive of postage. You can order it 

 through this office. 



3. We can not name plants from so 

 little material. Send at least one full, 

 perfect leaf of each kind, and a blossom if 

 practicable. 



HOW TO MAKE fl CONCRETE WALK. 



Mark out the place where the walk is 

 intended to be; if near or along side of a 

 building mark the upper side first if 

 straight, with a line: if curved with the 

 point of a pick or other suitable instru- 

 ment. Next pick a little trench on the in- 

 side of the line about four or five inches 

 deep, and dig out with a spade. Take 

 spruce boards 1x4 inches and put them 

 into the trench and have the outside cor- 

 ner correspond with the line. For curved 

 parts, the boards will have to be sawed 

 to make them bend. These incisions 

 should be at equal distances apart, or the 

 board will not bend even. How far apart 

 depends on the shape of the curve, from 

 one to six or seven inches. Cut almost 

 through the board and try the cuts by 

 bending the board to see whetherit bends 

 to satisfaction. After the board isdepos- 

 ited, pack the earth around it, firming it 

 well with the feet, letting the earth come 

 to the top of the board. If not perfectly 

 straight, straighten out with a crowbar. 

 Now drive stakes down at the joints and 

 middle of the boards to nail the latter to. 

 Always drive the stakes at the outside, 

 never a: the inside, forthe irost will heave 

 up the boards and with them the stakes, 

 and a piece of your walk too if the stakes 

 are driven at the insides. .A.fter the upper 

 board is all satisfactory, put down the 

 other side in the same manner, giving 

 about one-half inch pitch to the foot; 

 that is if for instance your walk is to be 

 four feet wide the side farthest away 

 from the building shoidd be two inches 

 lower to carry off all water. If 

 no building is near, both sides should 

 be even high of course. If the walk 

 runs on level ground or nearly so elevate 

 the middle a trifle. When both boards 

 are down, the ground between them must 

 be graded. Remove all earth to the depth 

 of about three inches or more if you like, 

 but it is not necessary, and might be less. 

 This space is to be filled with small cob- 

 ble stones from the size of a walnut to a 

 small hen's egg; which have previously 

 been tarred. Fill to the top of the boards, 

 then with a heavy stone roller roll them 

 rioviMi to a smooth surface. Many places 

 cannot be reached with the roller. These 

 are treated with a maul, generally a block 

 of timber with a handle on top and side 

 and heav3' iron shoe at bottom which 

 projects a little on one side to get under 

 doorsteps with. The bed for your walk 

 is now finished, and there should be about 

 one inch space between the top of the 

 boards and the gravel bed, and the latter 

 be perfectly even. 



All this "is to give shape to the walk, 

 but the most important part, the prepar- 



ing of the concrete, is to follow. The 

 requisites are: Good live sand such as 

 builders use, but not beach sand, coal 

 tar, asphalt, coal ashes, a large iron box 

 about 4x8 feet 10 inches high, two iron 

 kettles, square mouthed shovels, a dipper, 

 and iron rake. The pan (heatei) must be 

 so arranged that a large wood fire can be 

 built under it and also the kettles. Fill 

 the i)an with sand and mix it one-fourth 

 of its bulk with coal ashes, both well 

 screened. Fill one kettle with tar and put 

 a quantity of asphalt, well broken up, 

 into the other. Kindle a good fire under 

 the latter as it takes a good while to 

 melt the asphalt. Have a good fire under 

 the heater and keej) shovelling the sand 

 over back and forth until it is hot and 

 drj-. When this is the case, your tar hot 

 and liquid and the asphalt melted, put 

 molten asphalt into the tar, in proportion 

 to about one part of the former to ten of 

 the latter. The asphalt tends to hasten the 

 hardening of the walk, and the quantity 

 maj' be increased in very hot weather. 

 Stir the mixture well with the dijjper un- 

 til it is well mixed. Next shovel the sand 

 awaj' from one end of your pan, but 

 leave some at the bottom. Pourtar into 

 this hollow about a dipper full (mine 

 holds two gallons) shovel hot sand on 

 this, more tar and more sand and so on. 

 How much tar to put with the sand can- 

 not be well explained, it must be learned 

 by experience, and much depends on the 

 quahty of the sand; some requires more 

 some less. I should say an average quan- 

 tity would be a gallon of tar to a cubit- 

 foot of sand. W'hile putting in the tar 

 don't let any go to the bottom of the pan 

 as it might burn, that is while shovelling 

 the sand over the tar, don't go quite to 

 the bottom. When you think there is tar 

 enough with the sand, draw the fire from 

 under the pan, for now j'ou must shovel 

 clear to the bottom. Let two men shovel 

 one end clear, then begin turning the mix- 

 ture towards this clear end while another 

 man is raking it. When all is well mixed 

 throw out of the pan in a heap, still keep- 

 ing up raking the pile while throwing it 

 out. If not tar enough is used, your walk 

 will not last, if too much it will keep soft 

 for too long a time, but will make up for 

 this in lasting quality after it once be- 

 comes hard. 



The next operation is to move the mix- 

 ture to the stone bed of your walk. Ap- 

 ply it about two inches thick. Have 

 your stone roller ready, let it be clean and 

 "wet, scatter a little sand and push the 

 roller back and forth, never stopping in 

 one place twice. Scatter more sand to 

 keep it from sticking to roller and shoe- 

 soles. When all is rolled lengthwise trim 

 off the edges with a trowel. Then ham- 

 mer down the edge with the maul so that 

 everything will be flnsh with the curi)- 

 boards. Now roll crosswise, give the 

 edges a final trimming with the trowel, 

 and j'our walk is finished. 



As I mentioned in preparing the stone- 

 bed there are jilaces which the rollers can- 

 not reach, these must be treated with the 

 maul. If everything is done riaht your 

 walk will harden in a .short time and 

 should last for years. If however, the 

 mixing was at fault, if it begins to crum- 

 ble or the broom begins to pick up small 

 particles, get your tar kettle ready with- 

 out delay. Heat a cpiantity of tar and 

 wash your walk all over with it, using an 

 old broom for a brush. Allow the tar to 

 flow in and sand it well. (Thesand should 

 be fine Coney Island beach sand, w-hen- 

 ever used on the.surfacc). This will give 

 a nice smooth surface. If this tarring is 

 repeated once in two or three years a 

 walk thus made will last forever. C. 



