153 



THE CANAD1..N HORTICULTURIST 



June, 1914 



put in an appearance. Several d;i\ 

 later the bought seed began to come up 

 in a half-hearted way, but only about 

 one in ten of those planted germinated, 

 and most of the plants were spindlintj 

 and weak-looking. 



I made the same test with pansy, 

 aster, larkspur, and other seeds, with 

 the same results, though in a less mark- 

 ed degree, all the bought seed used bc- 

 itfg from the most reliable dealers, yet 

 in every case proving less vigorous than 

 that grown in my own garden. 



Tulip Bed«, Queen'» Park, Toronto, Ont. 



tage. Corn should not be used, as it 

 shades too much. 



Because of limited space the rows of 

 vegetables in a home garden are usually 

 close together, and often the seed is 

 planted thickly in order to have a large 

 yield. This is a mistaken idea, as the 

 plants cannot develop to their full size 

 if crowded. Vegetables grown for their 

 roots should be given as much space as 

 a mature plant needs. The very early 

 radishes which are ready for the table 

 in three or four weeks can be thinned 

 out as used, but the larger varieties 

 sl\ould be allowed two or more inches of 

 space. Beets can be thinned out and 

 used for greens, giving those left to 

 miature, about three inches of space. 



Plants grown for their foliage, as let- 

 tuce, parsley, and spinach need more 

 room than those whose roots are edible ; 

 and those which bear fruit, need plenty 

 of room in which to develop the fruit 

 bearing branches. 



Seeds of vining plants, as cucumbers, 

 melons, squash, and pumpkin are usu- 

 ally planted thickly, as the early bugs 

 and cutworms take some of the plants. 

 Only three or four should be allowed to 

 grow in each hill. Nearly all plants 

 can be transplanted, some of them, as 

 lettuce and parsley, seeming to grow 

 faster after being reset than before. The 

 best guide as to the room needed is a 

 good reliable seed catalogue or garden 

 text book, which usually gives the size 

 of a fully developed plant. 



To bring the best price on the market, 

 strawberries must be clean, evenly grad- 

 ed, and of good quality. Do not use old 

 packages for marketing. They are un- 

 sanitary and detract from the selling 

 value of the fruit. 



Are the currant bushes well filled with 



nice, large fruit? Small fruit is not al- 

 ways chargeable to a poor variety, but 

 is sometimes due to poor culture and no 

 pruning. Currants are borne largely on 

 wood three or four years old. Older 

 wood should be pruned out and enough 

 young wood also to prevent crowding. 

 This may be done early in the .spring or 

 in the autumn. Cultivate and add barn- 

 yard manure to the plants occasionally. 



Results from Homc-Grown Seed 



Letlie Harris, Brome Co. , Que. 



I have been experimenting to test the 

 relative merits of seeds saved from my 

 own garden as compared with those ob- 

 tained from the seedsmen, and find thai 

 it is well worth while to collect as muc'^ 

 as possible of my seed myself. I had 

 often been warned not to risk the failure 

 of my flower and vegetable gardens bv 

 planting my own seed since, it was said, 

 Canadian-grown seed was almost sure to 

 be perfectly ripened owing to the early 

 frosts and uncertainty of the seasons in 

 our climate. But anyone with good 

 judgment can distinguish seeds that are 

 plump and properly ripe from those 

 which are not, and it is my experience 

 that home-grown seeds germinate better 

 and in larger proportion than bought 



ones. 



Having bought a large quantity of 

 sweet peas of the rarer varieties (some 

 of them cost me a cent a-piece for the 

 seeds) I wished to test them in compari- 

 son with some of the same varieties 

 which I had saved from my garden last 

 year. I planted them in individual pots 

 in the greenhouse, to be set out in the 

 open later when the ground should h' 

 ready. Ninety-five per cent, of my own 

 peas came up promptly and were grow- 

 ing strongly before the bought ones had 



Killing Dandelions 



Cut the dandelion roots off below the 

 surface of the ground. 



Gasoline or kerosene, applied at the 

 crown of the dandelion, will kill indi- 

 vidual plants. 



When only a few stray plants appear 

 persistently use the spud, lor knife. 



On badly infested lawns, good results 

 may be obtained by spraying with sul- 

 phate of iron. Use one and one-half 

 pounds , of iron sulphate, which can be 

 purchased at any drug store, to one 

 gallon of water, remembering that it 

 will discolor clothing and cement walks. 



Apply the spray three days after the 

 lawn is cut, on a bright day when the 

 possibilities of rain are slight. 



The solution should be applied with a 

 sprayer which gives a fine mist-like spray 

 — a sprinkler is not satisfactory; 



The lawn should be sprayed about 

 once a month during the summer, and 

 not cut or watered for three days after 

 the solution is applied. 



Whatever method of eradication is 

 used, it is always well to reseed the lawn 

 in April, June, and September. 



For reseeding, eight or ten {X>unds of 

 seed should be used on a lawn, one hun- 

 dred by one hundred and fifty feet. The 

 seed should be sown broadcast, raked 

 in, then watered. 



A good lawn-grass mixture is fourteen 

 pounds of Kentucky blue-grass, two of 

 white clover, and two of red-top seed — 

 buv good clean seed and mix it your.self. 



Besides this reseeding, it is well to 

 scatter nitrate of soda over the lawn 

 before ai rain or just before the lawn is 

 sprinkled. Fifty pounds will fertilize a 

 lawn one hundred by one hundred and 

 fifty feet. 



We have learned by experience that in 

 a border where continuity of bloom is de- 

 sired all the tall plants should not be 

 put at the very back. The late bloom- 

 ing sorts are most of them tall, and if 

 they are all kept in the rear there is a 

 dearth of bloom near the front in late 

 summer or autumn unless annuals are 

 used, most of which do not go well with 

 perennials. — W. T. Macoun, C. E. F., 

 Ottawa, Ont. 



