June, 1913. 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



153 



ers and also has power to destroy all or 

 most of the insect pests found on the 

 plants and in the soil. Always keep dead 

 leaves and flowers picked off as this not 

 only makes the plants look better but 

 prolongs the season of bloom. 



Peonies and Trio Germanica in Garden of J. R. Thompson, Hamilton, Ont. 



Transplanting Garden Annuals 



p. D. Powe, Cainsville, Ont. 



I 



k 



June is by far the most important 

 month in the year in the flower e^^arden, 

 for if we are to have success we must 

 give the plants the best of attention. 

 This is the month the plants make their 

 growth and much of the transplanting, 

 thinning and cultivation is done now. 



Transplanting and thinning are very 

 important matters that must not be ne- 

 glected. The boxes which we have start- 

 ed will need our first attention. When 

 the seeds are well up, having made their 

 first or second pair of leaves, they are 

 best transplanted either into their bloom- 

 ing quarters or into another box. Set 

 them in the garden from six inches to 

 two feet apart. A good plan to go by 

 is the height plants will attain when full 

 grown. Divide this by half, and you 

 have the distance apart to place the 

 plants. If it is too early to plant out 

 take another box, fill it with good soil, 

 and place the plants three inches apart 

 each way in it. This gives sufficient 

 space and you get strong plants. Plants 

 that will not succeed when transplanted 

 must be sown thinly out of doors. When 

 they are well up thin them out to the 

 right distance apart. It is cheapest for 

 the city grower to buy plants that he 

 cannot grow in the garden, from some 

 florist. By so doing you get the bene- 

 fit of the florist's years of training, and 

 up-to-date facilities. 



The best time to thin or set out plants 

 is before seven in the morning and after 

 five in the afternoon. If the work is 

 done in the morning cover the plants 



with papers so as to protect them from 

 the sun's rays. By neglecting to do this 

 you may lose your whole stock. Water 

 should be given in the evening only, ex- 

 cept in the spring when the morning is 

 the best, as the plants will not then re- 

 ceive a chill, which might retard them. 



THE OABE or THE PLATTTS 



When the plants are well started, the 

 surface of the bed should be frequently 

 worked with a small hoe, cultivator or 

 weeder, not only to keep the beds free 

 from weeds, but also to encourage the 

 plants to grow by keeping the soil loose 

 and friable around them. This cannot 

 be done too often. If done twice a 

 week you will obtain fifty per cent, bet- 

 ter plants and bloom. 



During dry periods the plants should 

 be given water when the sun is down. 

 This watering should be done well. Let 

 the water soak right into the roots. Sur- 

 face water does plants more injury than 

 good. After watering stir the soil well 

 to prevent caking or crusting of the soil. 

 In dry weather, when water is scarce, 

 lawn clippings are excellent to cover the 

 surface of the bed with. They preserve 

 the moisture and keep down the weeds, 

 and also enhance the beauty of the bed. 



Washing day is a great day with the 

 housewife, and also with the garden if 

 the wash water is only used right. Noth- 

 ing helps flowers as much as soapy water 

 so long as it does not contain lye or 

 other strong acid to eat them. The 

 soapy water contains a large amount of 

 ammonia, animal f^it, and other fertiliz- 



Spraying to Destroy Dandelions 



Prcf. J. E. Howitt 



Probably no weed attracts more at- 

 tention at this time of the year than the 

 homely dandelion. Everywhere lawns 

 are to be seen yellow with this pest. 

 Later, when the seeds are ripe, they are 

 still more unsightly. Spudding dande- 

 lions from the lawn is a laborious and 

 unprofitable task. Some easier and 

 more effective method has long been 

 looked for. During the past three years 

 the Department of Botany has been try- 

 ing experiments in spraying with a solu- 

 tion of iron sulphate to kill dandelions 

 ill the lawn. The results obtained are 

 much more promising than those secured 

 by some experimenters in the United 

 States, and should be of interest to the 

 readers of The Canadian Horticulturist. 



Only last year's results are cited, but 

 those of the two previous years are very 

 similar, though the data are not so 

 exact. In last year's trials a twenty 

 per cent, solution of iron sulphate was 

 used. This was prepared by dissolving 

 two pounds of iron sulphate in each gal- 

 lon of water. This solution was applied 

 with a knapsack sprayer in the form of 

 a fine spray just after the first few 

 dandelions in the plots came into flower. 

 Forty-eight hours after the application of 

 the solution, the leaves of the dandelions 

 were found to be blackened and burned. 

 The burned and withered leaves were 

 raked off and the plots left for about 

 two weeks, when the dandelions were 

 seen to be sending up new leaves. Ano- 

 ther spraying was then given with the 

 same results. A careful watch was kept 

 on the plots, and it was found necessary 

 to spray them six times during the sea- 

 son in order to prevent the leaves get- 

 ting a start. 



This spring the plots were closely ob- 

 served and the results of last year's 

 sprayings noted. Each plot contained 

 one hundred and sixty-eight square feet. 

 The dandelions in these sprayed plots 

 and in the unsprayed check plot were 

 counted. In plot number one there were 

 one hundred and thirty dandelions; in 

 plot number two, one hundred and forty- 

 one dandelions; and in plot number 

 three, ninety-one. In the check plot (un- 

 sprayed) there were approximately eight 

 thousand four hundred dandelions. These 

 figures show that over ninety-eight per 

 cent, of the dandelions in the plots were 

 destroyed by spraying six times with a 

 . twenty per cent, solution of iron sul- 

 phate. Some of our correspondents who 

 Sprayed their Ifl^ns last year with iron 



