For February, 1920 



75 



varieties being more susceptible to it 

 than others. W. J. W., N. Y. 



Uur experience with celery is that some 

 of the cliief causes of pithiness is too early 

 planting, lack of moisture and a too luxuri- 

 ant growth. We have not noted that the 

 celery growers for market are troubled 

 with pithiness, and it is their practice to 

 put out the young plants in the held around 

 the 1st of July. Of course, the celery fields 

 are in rather low ground, and the plants 

 never suffer from the lack of moisture ; in 

 fact, the lowest parts of the truck farms 

 we have in mind in early si)ring are often 

 submerged, and are used year after year 

 for celery, which fact makes it appear that 

 moisture is one of the chief essentials for 

 good celery growing. It is our observation 

 that the growers mentioned above do not 

 manure very heax-y. At least, not one- 

 quarter as much as is the general practice 

 among private gardeners. For that reason 

 the celery does not attain the size that one 

 often sees at the vegetable e.xhibitions. But 

 it does grow to a good table size, is much 

 more handy to store for the winter, and is 

 seldom or, perhaps, never pithy ; besides, 

 what is tlie use of big celery, anyway? Only 

 the heart is used. — T. H, 



Will you please answer the following 



question through the Chronicle. How 



can I make my Hardy Phlox bloom two 



weeks later than their regular season? 



F. W. H., Pa. 



In answer to above question as tn how 

 to retard the flowering season of hardy 

 Phlox for two weeks, if you would pinch 

 the growth when about a foot high, it 

 would have the desired effect. It has been 

 our practice to pinch about one-half the 

 shoots, or leads, in a clump, the average 

 .Vycar-old clump having about 1 dozen 

 leads when about one foot high, and the 

 pinch leads flower about two to three weeks 

 laier than the unpinched ones. By remov- 

 ing the dead flower heads before the seed^ 

 form wc thus get three and four crops of 

 flowers from our phloxes in the season. — 

 J. P. 



Here and There 



Why We Mulch Plants in Winter 



Many persons if asked this questi(jii 

 would reply: "To feed the plants and tci 

 keep them cozy and warm during the 

 Winter." 



The most you can say for this answer i~ 

 that it contains some truth. We surely dn 

 not imagine that a four- to six-inch mulch 

 of manure or leaves will prevent the pene- 

 tration of such freezings as is usual in thi^ 

 latitude. As a matter of fact, mulchiny 

 should not lie done uiitil after the ground 

 is well frozen. To do so beforehand often 

 means the harboring of mice and vermin in 

 the_ material around the plant. 



Now. as to feeding the plants, it must 

 be admitted that the mulch, if it has 

 nianurial value, does do this but not in 

 Winter. People don't do much feeding 

 W'hile asleep, neither do plants. It is only 

 when plants are most active in growth thai 

 they assimilate the greater tjuantity of food. 

 \yiiat plant food there is in the mulch is 

 cither held in suspension in the moisture of 

 the soil or is available humus to be dug inio 

 the ground when Spring arrives. So the 

 mulcliing material feeds the plant 

 ultimately. 



The prime object and purpose for mulch- 

 ing is to conserve moisture around the 

 roots and to maintain a more even tempera- 

 ture of the soil in which the plant is 

 growing. 



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Nursery Trees and Shrubs 



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Buyers in carload lots can buy to great advantage. 

 The cause is a reconstruction of our nursery; a clearance of cer- 

 tain blocks: the planting of new propagations for which more 

 ground is needed. 



Ask for "Clearance Sheet ' if you can use plants in quantity. 

 Arrangements may be made for the call of a salesman, for a 

 professional landscape gardener's service, and for planting plans. 

 Small orders always appreciated and carefully handled, but in 

 regular course of business, and not at "clearance prices." 

 Write us about your wants whatever they may be. Tell us size 

 of property and how much planting is already done. 



THE PlONEEPs NURSEKYMEN OF AMERICA 



6765 Chew St., Germantown, Philadelphia 



ANDORRA 



Ornamentals ex- 

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We cater to the 

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ANDORRA 

 NURSERIES 



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 Philadelphia, Pa. 



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If a plant is subjected to alternate thaw- 

 ing and freezing it lares worse than if the 

 soil had remained frozen the whole Winter 

 through. Take herbaceous perennials as 

 an example, especially those which are 

 surface rooting like the liardy Chrysan- 

 themum, and note what damage is done 

 them. By reason of this fluctuation of 



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temperature they are lii;i.: ,i:. ..at of 



the soil and by exposure oi the roots to 

 the air and sun are often killed. .V mulch- 

 ing of light litter prevents this from occnr- 

 riiig by keeping the plant shaded and the 

 soil from thawing cpiickly. 



Without doubt the most perfect mulch 

 and one that fulfills a two-fold purpose is 



