iSgS. 



GARDENING. 



121 



trees can be found in California valleys as 

 far north as Shasta county. It succeeds 

 on a great variety of soils but makes its 

 best growth on rich, retentive soil. The 

 trees can be readily grown from seed, 

 which should be planted in sandy loam 

 in January or February, according to the 

 time when the soil becomes warm, cov- 

 ered about one-hall inch and kept moist 

 but not wet. Growth in seed-boxes pro- 

 tected from cold winds, and with partial 

 shade until the plants are in full leaf is to 

 be commended. From the boxes trans- 

 plant into nursery rows early in the fall, 

 retaining the earth about the roots as 

 much as possible and using water if the 

 soil is dry. The trees endure transplant- 

 ing even when of considerable size by the 

 treatment usually accorded olive or 

 orange trees. 



Go down to the cellar and lookover 

 the bulbs and roots that were carefully 

 stowed away there in fall. Cannas, dah- 

 lias, gladioli, etc., may be safe enough so 

 far as temperature is concerned but it is 

 wise to be on the lookout for decav 

 among these and other roots. Dahlias 

 are especially subject to rotting, and this 

 is an infectious disease which spreads 

 with great rapidity among the tubers. 

 Then the gladiolus corms need cleaning 

 and sorting, and tuberous begonias also 

 should be turned over and arranged by 

 size, not forgetting to have an eye to the 

 host of miscellaneous things which usu- 

 ally find shelter here. Cannas in particu- 

 lar need frequent attention, but in their 

 case it is a liability to shriveling from a 

 lack of moisture which constitutes the 

 chief danger. The newer cannas do not 

 store away so much vitality as those of 

 a generation ago. The roots are smaller 

 and it has been found an improvement on 

 the old system of storage to place the 

 roots of Crozy and Dammann varieties 

 underneath the benches of a cool green- 

 house, or in some such situation as will 

 similarly afford them an opportunity to 

 continue their growth at a moderate 

 pace through the « inter. It is suggested 

 that the full activity of the latter snould 

 be maintained tne year through — but 

 that's another question. 



Chrysanthemums and sweet peas 

 have enjoyed a wide range of popularity 

 within a few years, and it now seems as 

 it the public were to have still another 

 floral idol in the dahlia. This plant has 

 many good qualities, and there is suffi- 

 cient variety in its flowers to please all 

 •kinds and conditions of men and women. 

 The amateur grower will find more than 

 one good corner for it in his little plot, 

 and the shrubbery plantations of larger 

 estates will be much benefited by its pres- 

 ence. It is a plant of easy culture, afford- 

 ing a brilliant and interesting display at 

 small cost. We have already one dahlia 

 society in this country, but there is really 

 no argument against each community 

 havingitsown special committee ororga- 

 nization for the consideration of all ques- 

 tions concerning the plant. But by all 

 means begin with the dahlias, reserving 

 the place for a few of the best kinds now 

 offered by the dealers. The dahlia, of 

 course, is not at all a new plant, but 

 some special attention has been given to 

 it within the past two years with the 

 result that many of the old and perhaps 

 familiar kinds are not considered worthy 

 of perpetuation. Try some of the new 

 varieties, and look to these pages for 

 advice as to their treatment at the proper 

 season. 



Improve factory grounds by all 

 means, and imitate the good work which 

 is being carried on in this and other 



directions by the National Cash Register 

 Co. of Daj'ton, Ohio. This manufactur- 

 ing concern has had the grounds about 

 its extensive plant laid out in thorough 

 style by one of our most efficient land- 

 scape gardeners, and now designs to edu- 

 cate the people of that region to an 

 appreciation of the art in its application 

 to town parks and home surroundings. 

 Much, indeed, has been accomplished 

 already, as we hope to be able to show 

 by illustrations in an early issue. The 

 adornment of home grounds and yards is 

 encouraged b3' awarding liberal cash 

 premiums under the following suggestive 

 heads: "Landscape Gardening," "Best 

 Kept Premises," "Vine Planting," "Boys' 

 and Girls' Prizes," "Window-Box Gar- 

 dening," and "The Best Vegetable Gar- 

 dens." But the scheme does not end here. 

 During the winter months, when compar- 

 atively little actual gardening can be 

 attempted many evenings are devoted to 

 able lectures covering the entire field and 

 illustrated by stereopticon views of the 

 best examples of foreign and domestic 

 work The enterprise is assuredly laud- 

 able and merits the highest degree of suc- 

 cess. The moneyed powers of our num- 

 erous industrial towns and cities can do 

 much on these lints to increase the value 

 of their property; and even if that were 

 mere imagining, which it is not, there is 

 surely some pleasure in such reflection as 

 follows a wise contribution toward the 

 making of a happy and contented people. 

 Awake and be doing. 



The Vegetable Garden. 



NOTES ON VEGETABLES. 



One would naturally suppose there 

 was not much to be said about vegeta- 

 bles with frost in supreme control of so 

 much of our territory, but the fact re- 

 mains that to the true gardener, whether 

 amateur or practicioner, there is no 

 time when he can say that all is finished. 

 There is always a something that re- 

 mains. In a somewhat extended experi- 

 ence in gardens, one trite saying remains 

 still fresh as if spoken but yesterday. It 

 was the custom of a gardener of the old 

 school who was master of his art, to 

 give a little talk to each new graduate as 

 he was about to leave him, and a part ot 

 his advice was: "Always take care of the 

 pot, lad;" andinafter life we havenoticed 

 that if peace reigned in the kitchen, the 

 government was safe for the time. 



Very soon we shall be flooded with gar- 

 den literature in the shape of seed cata- 

 logues, which, of course are gotten up to 

 sell the seeds. If examined closely, one 

 will see that in a dozen or more kinds of 

 beans or peas, all are described as being 

 "indispensable" or "invaluable" and so 

 on until about all the superlatives are 

 exhausted, and I am free to confess that 

 it is difficult to choose what is best to 

 plant from such a number of desirable 

 kinds. Taking peas as an example, and 

 working it out, however, we shall soon 

 see that it is not so difficult as it seems 

 at first sight. We want one or two first 

 earlics, a kind to follow on, then a mid- 

 season main crop, with some one of the 

 tall sorts for late, five kinds in all to 

 insure a continued succession from the 

 time peas come in. All ought to be sown 

 the same day, as soon as the soil is in fit 

 condition to work in April, and it is our 

 practice to sow again the same sorts as 

 soon as the previous sowings appear 

 above ground, planting none but the late 

 kinds after the second sowing. 



In this way we are sure of a succession 

 of peas all through the season. The 

 moral is, that each kind is valuable in its 

 way, either at some period, in some soils, 

 or in various climates, and all have their 

 advocates or the sorts would soon disap- 

 pear from the lists. 



And now a word as to novelties in veg- 

 etables. It is a recognized rule here never 

 to grow a novelty, except sufficient to 

 test it.' By the time it has been tested it 

 ceases to be a novelty, and if a desirable 

 kind, we know its season, quality and 

 general utility. But to depend on an 

 untried variety to fill a place in the gar- 

 den calendar would never do, because it is 

 an unknown quantity, very interesting 

 perhaps to those who want to find out 

 all about it, but one of the things that 

 need to be "well shaken before taken." 

 It must also be said that if one wants a 

 good strain of seeds of a particular vege- 

 table, one is apt to find it among those 

 varieties of only a few years' standing. I 

 would rather take a novelty of two or 

 three years' reputation than an old estab- 

 lished variety, for it is an established fact 

 that it is impossible to get true strains of 

 old, well tried kinds of many vegetables. 

 They have either run out or been neg- 

 lected, while a new thing is more likely to 

 be kept up to the standard claimed for it 

 by its introducer. It is best to plant 

 strictly novel varieties sparingly and for 

 trial only, relying on what you are sure 

 will succeed in your garden for the main 

 results for the year. 



If the garden is situated on an unfavor- 

 able piece of land for the culture of vege- 

 tables, as often happens where small 

 estates afford no choice, it is well to take 

 a piece each year, no matter how small, 

 and properly fit it for the purpose. This 

 is best done by taking out a wide trench 

 to start, excavating the unsuitable sub- 

 soil and replacing with something better 

 wherever it can be obtained. We have 

 had to remove in this way from beneath 

 the whole of the vegetable garden a 

 choice stratum of gra\el, which in some 

 places came up to within six inches of the 

 surlace and was easily visible in dry 

 weather; but now all the soil is good to 

 a depth of two feet with a layer of clay 

 placed belo <* it, and celery, peas, lettuce 

 and such things as used tobehard to pull 

 through a dry time, even with irrigation, 

 are able to take care of themselves. In 

 our case it was a big task, done at odd 

 times, and the benefits are not to be esti- 

 mated. If a trench be kept- open, it is 

 ready to bury refuse from the lawn, gar- 

 den and the potting bench, and it is sur- 

 prising how soon it is filled up and ready 

 to be covered with the good soil from the 

 top of the next trench. The safest and 

 cheapest way to get plants to do well in 

 dry weather is to have a deep root run, 

 so that they can get down into the cool 

 moist earth below. 



There are many things that one raises 

 in the garden that one cannot have 

 enough of, and the season seems all too 

 short. This cannot be remedied if there 

 be no means of forwarding things under 

 glass, but if the most be made of each 

 while it lasts, we should hear less com- 

 plaint. It is our practice to sow another 

 row of all vegetables as soon as the last 

 kind is above the ground. The row may 

 be short or long according to the need of 

 the familj' or space at disposal, but 

 always sow little and often ot peas, beans, 

 corn, lettuce and such root-crops as beets 

 that come quickly and soon become too 

 old for use. Make succession the watch- 

 word for the coming year; aim to raise at 

 least two crops from each piece of ground 

 by planting or sowing late crops between 



