7^2 



GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



for the art of all the masters to catch the fleeting visions of 

 bcautv that the waterside Irises provide. And yet it is better 

 that there is no realism in art that can fix their transient glories. 

 Just because it is not so, because each day and hour produce 

 some new but evanescent color delight peculiar to the texture 

 and color of the Iris, they are the more desirable to a beauty- 

 loving mankind to whom variety is movement and lite; hxity, 

 stagnation and death.— The Garden (British). 



THE VALUE AND USE OF LEAVES AS MANURE 



MORE attention will have to be paid to the question of using 

 ve'^etable manure during the coming Winter than has ever 

 been paid to it before. Stable manure is offered by factors at 

 fabulous rates, and the price at stables is very little less ; to this 

 has to be added a very considerable amount for cartage, so that 

 in some districts the cost per load works out at about a pound. 

 Whatever may be said to the contrary, stable manure is assuredly 

 not worth twenty shillings a ton. Gardeners should use it as little 

 as possible and turn their attention to vegetable manure. 



Leaf-mold is one of the first materials that one thinks of when 

 searching for a suitable substitute for stal^le manure, but leat- 

 mold is. in itself, not rich enough to replace stable manure as an 

 active fertilizing agent. It can, however, by treatment, pe im- 

 proved so much as to.be a most efficient substitute, and there 

 follow methods for carrying this out. 



Oak and Beech leaves are undoubtedly best for the manulac- 

 ture of first-class leaf-mold; but, except in certain districts, 

 there are not nearly enough of these leaves to make the quantity 

 of mold that will be required. Other leaves have therefore to 

 be used ; but, rather than run risks of ruining what might be 

 valuable manure by mixing in unsuitable kinds, it is well to 

 destroy on the garden bonfire all acrid leaves, such as those from 

 Conifers and Poplars. Papery leaves, such as those of the Plane, 

 which come to the ground in the late Summer, should also not 

 be incorporated, as they are so tough that they will take many 

 months to rot. . . 



The usual way of making leaf-mold is, as all experienced 

 gardeners are aware, to let the leaves rot in a heap or pit for 

 eleven or twelve months, turning them over occasionally so that 

 all the leaves may become uniformly decomposed. This treat- 

 ment makes admirable humus for incorporating in potting soils. 

 If such leaves are to be of much use for digging in during the 

 late Winter and early Spring, a more expeditious method must 

 be employed. Experiments last season showed that two methods 

 of treatment give excellent results, and as the matter is of the 

 greatest importance to gardeners, both are outlined below. 



The first method involves the use of half-rotted vegetaljle ref- 

 use. Cabbage leaves, seed-free weeds, grass clippings and so forth. 

 A hole is got out, sufficient to hold at least three-quarters of the 

 material that w'ill be required, and a thick layer of half-rotted 

 vegetable refuse its first thrown in. The leaves as collected are 

 shot into the hole, a few cans of water in which a little super- 

 phosphate of lime is dissolved being thrown over thein. If the 

 leaves are collected in very wet weather, which is advisable, as 

 they then do not blow about so much, it is unnecessary to water 

 them. In this case a little dry superphosphate should be scat- 

 tered over them to increase their manurial value, and at the 

 same time to hasten to some small extent their decomposition. 

 Having put in leaves to depth of about 10 inches, the mass should 

 be trodden down as firm as possible. It will be found that they 

 will shrink by at least one-half. It is then advisable immediately 

 to cover them up with a further supply of half-rotted vegetable 

 refuse, making this moderately firm. The process is repeated as 

 necessary until all the available leaves have been collected. A 

 thick layer of half-rotted vegetable refuse, or, failing that, soil, is 

 then thrown over the mound. 



A large hole is now, by means of a wooden pole, bored in the 

 top of the mound, and into this is tipped all liquid manure that 

 can be spared. Strong house slops can be pressed into service 

 should the supply of liquid manure from the farm or the gar- 

 dener's liquid manure barrel be exhausted. Further soakings 

 should be given at frequent intervals, and it will be found that in 

 a little time the whole pile will begin to ferment, and will be quite 

 warm when the hand is put down the bore-hole. In a very few 

 weeks the whole mass will have become rich in valuable humus, 

 and by Christmas the heap can be taken to pieces, the outer parts 

 being thoroughly mixed with ihe rest and dug in without further 

 treatment. 



It sometimes happens that such an abundant supply of vegetable 

 refuse is not available for the making of leaves into humus. It 

 goes without saying that if they are mixed with stable manure 

 their decomposition will be greatly hastened, and the manure 

 will go a great deal further. The second method, however, in- 

 volves neither the use of vegetable refuse nor of stable manure. 

 This method is based on the fact that artificial fermentation can be 

 induced by the application of heat to wet vegetation. The garden 



bonfire will be in full swing throughout the Autumn and Winter 

 for destroying any forms of vegetable refuse which are too hard 

 to rot. There is a great deal of waste heat which might well be 

 utilized, and this can be turned to advantage for the speedy con- 

 version of leaves into humus. In the first place, if it is impossible 

 to collect the leaves in wet weather, they must be given a thorough 

 soaking of plain water. It should be noted that it is quite un- 

 necessary, and indeed, wasteful, to soak them for this purpose 

 with liquid manure, as if this be done much of the food content 

 of the liquid manure would be wasted. The garden bonfire should 

 be coaxed until it is a mass of red-hot ashes, and upon this should 

 be quickly piled a large quantity of the soaked leaves. Instantly 

 the outer redness of the fire will vanish, and such heat will be 

 evolved as will make the material sweat right through. This 

 sweating makes the material commence to decompose, and while 

 a small proportion of it is certain to be charred, comparatively 

 little waste of humus is involved. Do not let the fire burn through 

 il though, otherwise its value for humus will be practically nil. 

 Preferably it should be dug in while it is still sweating, and a 

 little dissolved bones or superphosphate may be scattered over it 

 along the open trenches. — The Garden (British). 



SUGAR AS A PRESERVATIVE FOR BORDEAUX MIX- 

 TURE 



AT the annual meeting of the Massachusetts State Vegetable 

 Growers' Association, held at the Experiment Station, Lex- 

 ington, Mass., L^. S. A., it was demonstrated that sugar used in 

 combination with Bordeaux mixture will indefinitely preserve the 

 latter. It is stated that a teaspoonful of granulated sugar is suffi- 

 cient for the preparation of 50 gallons of a 4-4-50 Bordeaux mix- 

 ture, equal to one-eighth ounce of sugar for every pound of copper 

 sulphate used. The teaspoonful of sugar is dissolved in one quart 

 of water and the solution is added to the 50 gallons of water 

 used in preparing the Bordeaux mixture ; an excessive amount 

 of sugar causes the copper to dissolve. As ordinary Bor- 

 deau.x mixture loses its effectiveness if not used within a very 

 short time after being prepared, the use of this small amount of 

 sugar will, it is claimed, save much waste of the fungicide, for 

 with its use the mixture can be kept an indefinite time at its 

 full effectiveness. — The Gardeners' Chronicle (British). 



THE RIGHT JUDGMENT IN PLANTING DAFFODILS 



WHERE it is proposed to plant Daffodils in a large way, it is 

 best to do it with some definite intention, rather than to 

 sprinkle them about in haphazard fashion. IMuch damage as to 

 good effect has been done in many places by quantities of bulbs 

 Iieing bought at sales and sent to the country place for the 

 gardener to plant, without any special instructions. It is not the 

 .gardener's fault if the result is unworthy or even absurd, as in a 

 known case where some thousands of Daffodils were planted 

 round Oak trees in concentric rings, in an important region 

 where garden ground joined on to park land. 



What" has been found to be the most effective way is to plant 

 in a series of long shaped drifts, with a rather thicker nucleus. 

 To set out the ground for planting a stick can be put at the end 

 of each drift, or what is a still better guide, a garden line or thin 

 rope laid down to define the edge. It is not meant that the bulbs 

 should be in any sort of line against the rope, but only tliat the 

 line of rope should confine the edge of the growth. The actual 

 planting may be in groups of three or four bulbs anywhere with- 

 in, with occasional single bulbs. 



The general run of the groups may best be arranged so that 

 the more obvious points of view are at a more or less right angle 

 to the general axis of the whole group. It is surprising how 

 good the effect of such planting is, especially in the late after- 

 noon when the yellowing sunlight, striking on the successive lines 

 of bloom, intensifies the color of the Daffodils and makes the 

 whole into a most satisfactory picture of plant beauty. 



Each large planting should be of one kind at a time, whether 

 pf yellow trumpets or of some good kind of Incomparahllis or 

 Inbrid. Where the soil is chalky, it will be well to make exten- 

 sive plantings of the white Poetkus. It is a native of limestone 

 ?lpine pastures and is never very happy in the light soil. — The 

 Garden. 



LONICERA STANDISHI AND L. FRAGRANTISSIMA 



WITH these two Winter-flowering Honeysuckles a good deal 

 of confusion exists, both names being often used indis- 

 criminately; indeed, one is frequently quoted as a synonym of 

 the other." thou.sjh in reality they are separated by several well- 

 marked characteristics. L.' Stan'dishi is of quite shrub-like habit, 

 forming a somewhat erect growing bush, clothed with ovate- 

 lanceolate leaves, hairy on both surfaces when young, but when 

 mature almost smooth on the upper side, thou.gh beneath, the 

 hairs are still retained. The foliage of this is deciduous. The 

 flow^ers are white, borne during the Winter months, and are de- 



