590 



GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



I LOCAL SOCIETIES j 



WESTCHESTER AND FAIRFIELD 

 (CONN.) HORT. SOCIETY 



The society met on April 8 last for its 

 usual monthly business session at Green- 

 wich. 



Mr Curtis, head of The Westchester Farm 

 Bureau, favored us with a splendid talk on 

 "Soil Fertility." This subject has been 

 thoroughly dealt with by writers m The 

 Chronicle, so that it is unnecessary tor me 

 to go into too great detail, but there were 

 some interesting points he spoke of which 

 will be of benefit to many readers. 



In America, he said, we are far behind the 

 European countries in tackling soil prob- 

 lems, the main reason having been the un- 

 limited amount of new land to go at when 

 the land in use gave out. Not until recently 

 has anything been taught in the schools here 

 about soil or its products. Mr. Curtis de- 

 scribed the necessity of Nitrogen in the soil ; 

 how it can be placed there, and how it be- 

 comes available by the action of bacteria 

 for plant-life. He dealt at length on the 

 subject of organic matter, giving us many 

 points about its value in the various states 

 that it can be employed in. 



\ <rood fertile soil is a soil rich in humus 

 which can onlv be obtained by the decom- 

 position of organic matter. This action takes 

 place only under certain conditions, three 

 things being essential for the bacteria to 

 separate or tear down the constituent parts 

 of the substance. These are heat, moisture 

 and air. The lecturer gave us examples of 

 cold storage to do away with the warmth, 

 canning various products to eliminate the air, 

 and drying others to take away moisture, 

 therebv preventing any decay. 



Mr. 'Curtis reminded us that in turning 

 under the ground a green cover crop, nine- 

 tenths of it is water, therefore only a sma 1 

 percentage would ever become plant food. 

 He said people had laughed at hun be- 

 cause he had manv times bought up all the 

 straw slacks he could to plough under his 

 land but that he had had the smile on them 

 when it came down to production. 



In giving his hearers the benefit of his 

 knowledge on the most profitable crops that 

 are suitable for this locality and what do 

 not pay, some items on potatoes that were 

 not generally known came to light. Many 

 gardeners have contended that in order to 

 get good crops of this vegetable it was es- 

 sential to plant large tubers or parts of 

 such, some have relied on medium and 

 small ones, but Mr. Curtis said it does not 

 matter a jot as long as the seed potato came 

 from a vigorous vine that had healthy blood 

 and had produced large tubers. 



Many have often wondered why seed saved 

 from good crops grown in this vicinity do 

 not produce good results. A question to this 

 effect was asked and the Farm Bureau head 

 informed us that although the potato came 

 from the South and was originally discov- 

 ered in lands near the Equator it was found 

 at a high cool altitude in the Andes moun- 

 tains. 



When grown in the humid heat of Con- 

 necticut its vitality was lost, and being sub- 

 jected to at least si.xtecn diseases it is neces- 

 sary to seek seed grown in the cool of Maine 

 and New Hampshire which still maintained 

 its vigor. Mr. Curtis answered at the close 

 a battery of questons to the delight of all 

 present. 



George Hewitt, Cor. Secy. 



SEWICKLEY (PA.) HORT. SOCIETY 



The regular monthly meeting was held 

 Tuesday evening, April 12, 1921, with 

 President John Carman presiding. Ap- 

 proval was given a committee report, fixing 

 September 29 and 30 as the date -for a 

 Dahlia show, and November 3 and 4 for 

 a Chrysanthemum show. 



Kecommendations of the by-laws com- 

 mittee were approved, as submitted at the 

 last meeting and the secretary was in- 

 structed to have the revised code printed 

 and distributed to the members as soon as 

 possible. 



A letter was read from .\. H. Ethering- 

 ton, late gardener to E. A. Woods who is 

 now in business on his own account at 

 Thomasville, Ga., offering three prizes of 

 Rose plants for amateur members of the 

 society for Dahlias exhibited at the show 

 in September. The offer was accepted, and 

 a vote of thanks ordered sent to tlie donor. 



The question box proved the feature of 

 the evening, ."^n interesting discussion took 

 place on a wide range of horticultural 

 practice, many questions coming from 

 amateurs, and some interesting experiences 

 were disclosed. Among those participating 

 in the discussion, were Mr. and Mrs. L. A. 

 Woods, Mrs. Jennings, Miss Christy, 

 Messrs. Carman, Curran. Wm. Thomson, 

 Jr., Katro, Rapp, Roderick ,Ross, and Gib- 

 son. Hv. Gibson. 



ST. LOUIS ASSOCIATION OF 

 GARDENERS 



The St. L<uiis .\5s0ciati0n of Gardeners 

 held its May meeting at the Forest Park 

 Greenhouses on May 4. The circular 

 issued by 'the N. A. G. Committee on Sign 

 Boards, "A Menace to our Highways," was 

 read and a resolution passed unanimously 

 endorsing tliis movement. The topic of the 

 evening was a lecture on "Formal Land- 

 scape Gardening" illustrated with numerous 

 lantern slides, and delivered by L. P. Jensen. 

 This was followed by considerable discus- 

 sion. It was requested that the date for 

 the N. A. G. convention be set as soon as 

 possible that Western members may arrange 

 their vacations to be in attendance. 



L. P. Jensen, Cor. Secy. 



THE QUESTIONNAIRE 



Subscribers arc invited to make free use 

 of this department to solve problems that 

 may arise in their garden work. Questions 

 on the ordinary pursuits of gardening, that 

 can be readily answered by applying to the 

 usual reference books should not be re- 

 ferred to the Questionnaire, 



I have a little rust in the Begonia 

 Gloire de Loraine, Glory of Cincinnati, 

 and I have noticed it is on the leaves of 

 the tuberous. I would be glad if you 

 will tell me what to do to stamp it out 

 and keep it in check. — H. T. — Canada. 



If the trouble is due to a fungus, spray- 

 ing with any good fungicide, Fungine, for 

 example, at frequent intervals should prevent 

 rust ; affected leaves are better removed and 

 burnt. It is advisable to use the fungicide 

 in a mist-like spray and late in the after- 

 noon. ."Vny necessary watering should be 

 confined to the roots. Sometimes the hot 

 sun shining upon wet leaves, especially 

 through imperfect glass, will cause rust-like 

 blotches, and in any case, overhead water- 

 ing should be done as early as possible in 

 the morning so that the foliage can dry be- 

 fore the sun gets very high. — A. S. — N.J. 



ANBDPM 



Trees and 

 shrubs, dis- 

 tinctive in 

 quality and 

 large size 

 which will 

 produce an 

 immediate 

 effect 



^or country 

 residences and 

 estates 



ANDORRA 

 NURSOUES 



Oxstmt'HiU.lb 



Have you seen 

 ANDORRA? 



Full Line of Choice 

 VEGETABLE and FLOWER 



SEEDS 



at Pre-War Prices 



Also special mixtures of recleaned 

 lawn grass seed. 



Write (or new cat.Tlogrnc of 



SEEDS, BULBS, PLANTS & 

 GARDENERS' REQUISITES 



JOHN WILK 



155 West 33rd St., New York City 



CONINE NURSERY CO. 



STRATFORD. CONN. 



Large Specimen Evergreens includ- 

 ing Large Cedars with Large Ball 

 Platformed. Large Size Fruit 

 Trees, Small Fruits. Large Hybrid 

 Rhododendrons and Kalmia. 



If interested advise, and we will call. 



Established 1S95. 

 Reference Dun & Bradstreet. 



There's not a leaf within the bower, 

 There's not a bird upon the tree, 



There's not a dew-drop on the flower. 

 But bears the impress. Lord, of Thee. 

 Mrs. .Ameli.\ Opie. 



