164 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



July, 19 1- 



Another View in Mr. Whyte's Famous Half Acre Garden 



Shirley poppies may here be seen with Blue Larkspur and apple trees in the background. 



Mr. Whyte in his wholesale office. 



gest yielding, and hardiest red raspberry 

 in the world." 



HIS OWN GAEDENER 



Mr. Whyte, who is the president of 

 the Ontario Horticultural Association, is 

 his own gardener. Each day he works 

 in his garden from about six until half- 

 past eight in the morning. The rest of 

 the day, from nine until six, is spent by 



He 



does not go home at noon. The even- 

 ing is reserved mainly for rest and en- 

 joyment of the garden. It is to be won- 

 dered at that a garden such as this has 

 nttracted such wide attention, or that 

 it has been much admired from time to 

 time by the representatives in Ottawa of 

 our King and Queen 



July Work With The Flowers 



Wm. Hunt, O.A 



KEEP the flowers of sweet peas 

 picked at least every second day 

 after they start flowering, to pre- 

 vent them from seeding. If allowed to 

 seed the flowering period will be of short 

 duration. If the weather is very hot and 

 dry, spray them with cold water at least 

 once or twice a week on the under side 

 of the foliage to keep down aphis and 

 red spider. If they require watering at 

 the roots, remember that a good soaking 

 once a week is better than giving them 

 a little water every day. Sweet peas are 

 deep rooted plants : light surface water- 

 ing is no good to them. 



Spray the tops of dahlias every day in 

 hot weather and keep them moist at the 

 roots. Cut off the small weak shoots 

 close to the ground and allow only two 

 or three main stems at the most to each 

 plant. One stem only is best if large 

 blooms are required, unless the plants 

 are very robust and strong. Be sure to 

 put a strong stake to each plant and tie 

 it up before the stem gets broken off by 

 windstorms or some other cause. It is 

 a good plan to drive a stake in by the 

 plant when it is planted, as it is often 

 left too late. 



Watch out for the small tarnished 

 plant bug that spoils the aster buds when 

 they are quite small. The tarnished plant 



,C., Guelph, Ont. 



bug is a small, brownish-grey insect 

 about half an inch in length, very like a 

 small fly. This bug can be easily re'cog- 

 nized when examining the plants from 

 the fact that it disappears quickly on the 

 plant being touched, usually darting 

 underneath the leaves out of sight, or 

 dropping to the ground where it cannot 

 be seen, or perhaps flying away. The 

 best time to catch these pests is in the 

 very early morning. 



A good remedy is to sprinkle the plants 

 a few times early in the morning with 

 wood ashes, pyrethrum powder, helle- 

 bore, or tobacco dust. This is the same 

 bug that destroys the terminal growth of 

 chrysanthemums, causing blindshoots, 

 from which no flowers develop. It was 

 the main cause of the discontinuance of 

 growing chrysanthemum plants out of 

 doors in the summer time. They some- 

 times attack these plants in greenhouses. 

 The best remedy for them in the green- 

 houses is to fumigate with potassium 

 cyanide, using about one quarter of an 

 ounce of cyanide per thousand cubic feet 

 in the usual way. This remedy cannot 

 be used in a dwelling-house on account 

 of the deadly nature of the fumes. 

 OALLA lilLIEB 



Do not allow the roots of calla lilies 

 to become too dry. It is a mistake to 



dry these plants too severely^ especi?/iy 

 for window culture. If the pots they are 

 in are plunged in the ground in a par- 

 tially shaded place, and the soil kept 

 barely moist, they succeed Aiuch better 

 than when they are dried out too severely. 

 Complaints are often made of the calla 

 lily not flowering. This is often caused 

 from drying out the roots too severely 

 during the resting period. I have taken 

 them out of the pots early in July and 

 planted them out in a light, rich soil in 

 the open garden, and kept them well 

 watered. When the growth was about 

 twelve inches in height they were lifted 

 carefully and potted. The results, both 

 as to quality and quantity of flowers, 

 well repaid the extra trouble taken with 

 them. 



1 



Culture of the Sweet Pea 



H. J. Edwardi, Wiaeipeg, Mu. 



When sweet peas begin to bloom, it 

 is best to cut all the fully developed 

 flowers daily. .See that no seed pods 

 are allowed to form ; if this is not done 

 the plants will cease to bloom. 



In dry weather give a liberal supply 

 of water, and occasionally a little weak 

 liquid manure. If the above directions 

 are followed the plants should be in 

 bloom from the first week in July until 

 fall. The grandiflora type will with- 

 stand the wind far better than any 

 of the Spencers. When named varie- 

 ties are grown, all rogues should be 

 carefully removed ; and leaving one 

 strong plant to every three or four 

 sticks (about 12 inches) is a secret to 

 success. 



SUCCESS CERTAIN 



I am confident that anyone who 

 adopts the method of cultivation, I have 

 here suggested, will be fully repaid 

 by the result ; not only will there be a 

 considerable increase in the length of 

 the stems, larger and finer flowers, but 

 also a greater profusion of blooms com- 

 pared with the average sweet peas we 

 usually see in Manitoba. 



When there are more flowers than are 

 needed, I would like to mention that we 

 have a number of institutions in this 

 province where the sick and injured are 

 being cared for. The majority of pa- 

 tients in these institutions are always 

 pleased with the gift of a few flowers 

 and no flowers are more highly appreciat- 

 ed than a well grown bunch of what is 

 said to be the sweetest and most indis- 

 pensable of all the annuals, Lathyrus 

 Odoratus. 



For aphis, take four ounces of quas- 

 sia chips, boil ten minutes in a gallon 

 of soft water ; strain off the chips and 

 add four ounces of soft soap, which 

 should be dissolved in it as it cools, 

 stirring it before using. This decoction 

 of quassia chips and soft soap is the 

 least offensive and the most efficacious 

 of all aphis remedies. 



