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GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



(OF AMERICA) 

 Devoted to the Science of Floriculture and Horticulture 



1 Vol. XXIV 



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AUGUST, 1920 



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BOTANICAL 



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No 8. 



Things and Thoughts of the Garden 



MONTAGUE FREE 



AT the time of writing (July) one wonders if the 

 weather is going to be the reverse of that of 

 the season of 1919. Last year we experienced 

 fair!}' dry weather until well into July which kept us 

 busy with the hose and sprinklers. The latter half of 

 the year, as will be well remembered by those who were 

 so unfortunate as to take their vacation then,' was wet — 

 decidedly so. Up to the present this year, there have 

 been abundant rains, ideally distributed in point of time, 

 and the question is are we to have a late Summer and 

 Fall as dry as last year was wet ? The rains so far as 

 can be learned have, in general, been of decided benefit. 

 Never have I seen vegetation present a more thrifty ap- 

 pearance. The lawns are as green and the trees as fresh 

 as though it were ilay instead of July. Rhododendrons, 

 and evergreens generally, with the exception of those 

 that were badly injured by the Winter, are in the best 

 of condition as a result of the wetness. Of course there 

 have been a few drawbacks — weeds have thriven amaz- 

 ingly, peas have been a poor crop in some gardens, and 

 geraniums have been inclined to make leaf growth in- 

 stead of blooming as they should, but, so far as can be 

 ascertamed there has been no disastrous fungous out- 

 break as a concomitant of the wet weather. 



^ ^ ^ ^ 



Many gardeners on Long Island and in New Jersey 

 that I have spoken with have declared that the Winter 

 of 1919-20 was the worst in twenty years in respect of 

 injury to vegetation. How much of this was due to 

 the \Vinter and how much due to the fact that the grow- 

 ing season was extended to December by abundant 

 moisture and comparatively high temperature? It is 

 surely not wholly a question of low temperature as the 

 mercury descended considerably lowxr two years ago 

 with less disastrous results. It is well known that soft, 

 sappy growth is less adapted to withstand low tempera- 

 tures tlian that which is well ripened, and there was un- 

 doubtedlv much of the former, owing to the abnormal 

 weather conrlitions. Another factor that may have a 

 bearing on the situation, is that maiiv plants had their 

 vitality lowered by the severe Winter of 1916-17 and 

 were unable to stand another onslaught coming so soon 

 after their previous ordeal. 



W'e still have much to learn with regard to the effect 

 of Winter on plants — whether the injury is dependent on 

 the conditions of the preceding season, fluctuations of 

 temperature, contiiuious low temperature, drying winds, 

 the amount of moisture present in the soil, character of 

 the soil, snow covering, city conditions, vitality of the 

 plants, sun shining on leaves when ground is frozen, etc., 



or combinations of these factors. It is probably true 

 that different plants react in different ways to these con- 

 ditions ; what we need is to know more definitely just 

 what we may e.xpect to happen to certain groups of 

 plants under certain conditions so that, where possible, 

 suitable measures mav be taken. 

 ;^ -t- * * 



The Autunm blooming Crocuses are not planted nearly 

 so much as they might be. They are delicate in color- 

 ing and dainty in appearance and are specially suitable 

 for planting in the rock garden as they brighten it up 

 at a time when there is little else in bloom. They are 

 not fastidious as to soil, requiring only a well drained 

 spot exposed to the sun. The present is a good time 

 to plant them if corms can be obtained. A point in their 

 favor is their cheapness, and they are not prohibited 

 by Quarantine 37. There is not the range of color that 

 one obtains in the Spring blooming kinds, most of them 

 being of some shades of lilac, or white. C. sathiis, 

 lilac or white is a good variety, sometimes liable to be- 

 come a weed due to its free seeding habits. This species 

 has bright red style branches which provide the saft'ron 

 of commerce. Other good kinds are C. hadriaticus, 

 white; C. zonatns, pale lilac: C. sf'cciosiis. lilac-blue; 

 and several varieties of the latter which are well worth 

 growing. 



^: i^ ^ * 



Items of interest to horticulturists sometimes crop 

 U]) in unexpected places, as witness the following, culled 

 from an advertisement by a restaurant firm that is in- 

 tcrnationallv famous : — " Aristoxenus grew lettuce as the 

 firide of his garden, and, in order to increase their flavor 

 he irrigated them with his choicest wine." This sounds 

 extravagant in these days of the 18th Amendment, but 

 quite apart froin this, consider the futility of watering a 

 plant with wine in order to increase its flavor. If the 

 tlav(n- of plants could be intluenced materially by the 

 flavor of applications to the roots we would have to be 

 rather more careful of the type of fertilizers used, and 

 many that are at present highly esteemed would have 

 to be eliminated ! 



During the "war gardens" craze one of the large 

 metropolitan dailies had a cartoonist who gave facetious 

 advice on garden matters. If this practice of .-\risto.x- 

 cnus had come to his attention one can imagine his 

 reply to a mythical an.xious reader asking for informa- 

 tion on how to make lettuce "head." 



Aristoxenus was a Greek philosopher who flourished 

 in the 4th century B. C. He was an extensive writer on 

 music, philosophy, and ethics. Whatever his attain- 



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