172 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



July, 1916. 



These lake shore g*a.rdens in Iljiilt-yibury, Out., demonstrate how nicely llower.s will bloitni in 

 New Ontario in spite of the short season. 



spiuiich, and herbs. What more do 

 you want? Take more care in trans- 

 planting than earlier in the season. The 

 one crop to be given most attention 

 now is celery. With a view to succes- 

 sion, keep the early celery well wat- 

 ered, cultivated, hilled up as it grows, 

 and feeding with liquid manure with 

 a teaspoonful of nitrate of soda to a 

 pail full once a week. Do not let soil 

 get into the heart. Use Bordeaux mix- 

 ture for blight, and set out fresh plants 

 as fast as room can be found for them. 

 Onions being shallow rooted need lots 

 of water and feeding. 



Trim the Tomatoes. 

 Keep the tomatoes well trimmed of 

 laterals. Do not let the plants have 

 extremes as to moisture at roots, as 

 this causes black rot. I have formed 

 theories on the subject of tomatoes for 

 years, and the varieties that have stood 

 the final tests with me, are Chalk's 

 Early Jewel, which matures a little 

 later than Earliana, but makes up for 

 it in productiveness, smoothness and 

 quality, and is to my mind the ideal 

 scarlet variety for the home garden. It 

 is fine for slicing. Earliana is the ear- 

 liest to ripen and takes second place to 

 Chalks for its meaty and acid qualities. 

 Next comes Livingston's Corele.ss. 

 Though not so well known it will 

 eventually become, I feel, the leader on 

 account of two distinct characteristics, 

 namely, it does well in partially shady 

 locations. This is a good feature for 

 the home or city back garden, where 

 partial shade predominates, owing to 

 high board fences and neighbour's 

 trees. Secondly, it is as round a.s a 

 baseball, and, consequently, there is no 

 waste in slicing. It has a good smooth 

 skin, beautiful color and fine flavor. 

 Some gardeners prefer size to quality, 

 and, consequently, go in for Ponderosa 

 and Beefsteak, two varieties which are 

 large, ugly, indented at stem, and do 

 not rank with others in quality. 



Of the pink varieties of tomaTiTs 

 Beauty seems to suit the Toronto dis- 

 trict well. It is very handsome in ap- 

 peai'ance, has a mild flavor, and Is also 

 good for slicing. June Pink runs it a 

 good second. It is a trifle earlier, rip- 

 ens quickl}', but is not so meaty, and 

 will not slice so handih-. These five 

 varieties will fill the requirements of 

 any home garden, with the possible ex- 

 ception of adding the small fruited 

 varieties used principally for the din- 

 ner pail and picnic baskets. 



Cauliflower is the most highly appre- 

 ciated and most delicately flavored of 

 all the cabbage family. It is generally 

 regarded, erroneously, as being ihe 

 most difi'icult to grow, although the 

 truth is that providing the soil and cli- 

 matic conditions are favorable it can be 

 grown easily. I have grown cauliflower 

 in my city backyard garden, equal to 

 any displayed for sale in shop win- 

 dows. It requires a cool corner, a rich, 

 loam\', retentive soil, with much humus, 

 must be grown qviiekly, and is a lover 

 of moisture. Some people will say this 

 is easier said than done, but not so. 

 Get the seed in early, transplant care- 

 fully into a rich soil, and by frequent 

 attention, have good, strong plants 

 when planting out time conies. An- 

 other drawback to quality is the proper 

 handling in bleaching by covering the 

 heads Avith their own leaves. The best 

 variety for the home garden is the 

 early dwarf Erfurt or Snowball. 



The Compost Heap 



Choose a spot for your compost heap 

 where material may be added to it 

 from time to time and where rain will 

 not drain away too much of the fertiliz- 

 ing value. It is a good plan to sow 

 the heap over with cow peas, oats, sow 

 beans, clover or some other green crop 

 and when the growth is eight or ten 

 inches high fork it into the heap. This 



kcep.s it from becoming too dry. 



Small heaps, containing about a 

 wagon load of compost may be made 

 with the material mentioned above 

 with the addition of fifty pounds of 

 bone meal, fifty pounds of ground phos- 

 phate rock, fifty pounds of hydrated 

 lime and ten pounds of nitrate of soda. 

 This makes a compost exceedingly rich 

 in fertilizing elements, but is rather 

 expensive for ordinary garden use. 



Summer Care ot Koses 



Dorothy PerkinB 



THE rosarian's path is not thornless. 

 One has to contend with dry, hot 

 season.s, cold, wet seasons, and the 

 numerous little insects which seem 

 prone to worry the rose, and drive the 

 grower to distraction, unless every pre- 

 caution is taken. Keep the soil around 

 the rose bushes well hoed in hot wea- 

 ther, so that the moisture and air will 

 permeate 1o the roots. Liquid manure, 

 made by placing a couple of pecks of 

 manure in a rain barrel filled with 

 water, ."should not be used after the real 

 hot weather has arrived. Allow about 

 one gallon of the liquid diluted with 

 more water until straw coloured, to 

 each bush, and apply after a rain. This 

 is an excellent nourishment for roses, 

 especially for those grown for sho\.- 

 purposes. 



As soon as the new leaves appear 

 commence spraying for aphids. How 

 they love to form in one grand proces- 

 sion on the new shoots, sucking the 

 sap and closing the pores. Over night 

 they feast on the leaves, and in the 

 morning one is liable to find only the 

 skeleton of the leaf. Fine hose spray- 

 ing is often suggested, but it is really 

 almosi useless, it only wa.shes off the 

 little flies, and they make their way to 

 another bush. Buy a small bottle of 

 nicotine, follow the directions and 

 spray, spray until both arms ache, then 

 commandeer the family's arms and 

 continue operations. Spray under the 

 leaves and on top of the leaves, but 

 never on the rose itself. W^hale oil 

 soap is less expensive, but not so 

 effective. 



JLldew on the bushes is often caused 

 by poor drainage, so don't forget the 

 porou.i bottom in the rose bed. The 

 first indication of mildew is a grayish 

 white dust, like powder, resting on the 

 bush. In a day or so the leaves curl up. 

 and the buds become large, but refuse 

 to open, and havp a blistery appear- 

 ance. As soon as the disease is dis- 

 covered, dust the whole bush with or- 

 dinary household sulphur. If this is 

 ineffective spray with Abol, which can 

 be purchased at any seed house. 



These two diseases are most common 

 to roses, but with precaution, early in 

 the season, can be overcome. If you 

 are not successful in checking the mil- 

 dew thro\\' the bush away. 



