300 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



December, 1907 



grapes, such as Vergennes, Salem ijnd 

 Lindley; and apples, like Fameuse, 

 Mcintosh Red and Spy. 



OUT-OF-DOOKS 



On pleasant days many odd jobs 

 can be done on the lawn, and in the 

 garden. Saw dead limbs from trees. 

 Wrap and protect tender vines and 

 shrubs. Remove and burn garden rub- 

 bish. Examine fruit trees for San 

 Jose scale. Seek eggs of cocoons and 

 insects and destroy them. Clean gar- 

 den -tools and cover the iron work 



with grease to keep them from rusting. 



Pruning fruit trees, bushes and vines 

 may be done at any time during the 

 winter if you think that you will not 

 have time to do the work in early 

 spring. Best results usually are secured 

 in northern climates by pruning at 

 the latter time. 



Mulch the newly-planted bulb beds. 

 Use strawy manure or spruce boughs. 



Review your garden successes and 

 failures of the past summer. Tell the 

 storv in a letter to The C.\x.\dian 



Horticulturist. It will be pub- 

 lished for the benefit of others. It 

 matters not whether your garden w;i 

 large or small, whether your exjjerienci. 

 was with a hundred plants, rare or 

 common, or with only a single simple 

 geranium, tell the story as it is. Read 

 the experiences with asters and dah 

 lias on other pages of this issue. Have 

 you done similar work with these or 

 other kinds of plant? Send illus- 

 trations if you have them. They will 

 be returned at your request. 



TKe Amateur's GreenKouse in December 



THIS is one of the interesting periods 

 of the year for the greenhouse of 

 the amateur. The plants which 

 have been out of doors all summer, 

 many of them resting, are beginning to 



A.. Alexander, Hamilton 



the pots, they should never be allowed 

 to get dry. 



This matter of watering plants grow- 

 ing in the dwelling or greenhouse, is a 

 most important one. How often we 



A Private Greenhouse Affords much Pleasure to its Owner 



Near the centre stands Mr. A. .\lexander, Hamilton, Ont., an enthusiastic horticulturist who has contributed 

 many valuable articles to The Canadian Horticulturist. 



show their gratitude for the congenial 

 quarters provided for them by pushing 

 out their new foliage, so fresh and green, 

 and perhaps adding their gay coloring 

 fo make the house a real beauty spot for 

 its owner to revel in while the blasts of 

 winter are holding high carnival without. 

 The bulbs, especially the narcissus in 

 variety, and the Roman hyacinths will 

 now be pushing upward to the light, 

 especially those planted early in October, 

 and will afford a source of daily interest 

 and pleasure in watching their growth 

 and development. After bulbs com- 

 ittence to grow and the roots are filling 



hear the question asked: "How often 

 should I water my plants?" The best 

 answer to this is: "When they require 

 it." I always tell my questioners to 

 use their knuckles. I tell them to tap 

 the pot with their knuckles or a piece of 

 wood. If it gives a clear ringing sound, 

 then water is certainly needed, but if 

 dull and heavy, sufficient has been given. 

 When watering, do it thoroughly : never 

 water in driblets. The question of water- 

 ing the plants in a small greenhouse is 

 a most important one during this and 

 the following two or three months. 

 Of course, it is taken for granted that 



the plants that have been brought in 

 from the outside have been repotted 

 into clean pots and fresh soil, and that 

 those lifted from the borders, such as 

 geraniums and other suitable plants, 

 have been "cut back" and carefully 

 potted in pots, scrubbed clean inside and 

 out. We have to remember that plants 

 that have been standing outside or 

 growing in the borders have exhausted 

 the soil, especially those in pots, for in 

 the copious summer watering, nearly all 

 the plant food has been washed out. 

 The thorough drainage of the pot should 

 be attended to. 



Those who grow freezias in their 

 greenhouse, and who does not? should 

 place around the edge of each pot four or 

 five neat stakes six or nine inches in 

 length, with green thread or fine cord or 

 wire at intervals of three inches around 

 the stakes. If this is done when the 

 plants are a few inches above the edge 

 of the pots, it prevents the plants sway- 

 ing over and getting unsightly. Good 

 bulbs of all kinds are so cheap now and 

 in such variety, that a constant succes- 

 sion may be kept up for months. 



The aphis or green fly is one of the 

 enemies of the amateur greenhouse. I 

 have found the extract of tobacco, vap- 

 orized in a small copper dish over a 

 . spirit lamp, the handiest and most effec- 

 tive remedy, and it does not injure the 

 bloom as the ordinary smoking by burn- 

 ing tobacco stems does. 



Too high a temperature should be 

 avoided. It should not get below forty 

 degrees. A temperature of forty-five 

 degrees is high enough for the night at 

 this time of year, while it may have a 

 day temperature of fifty-five or sixty 

 degrees. Of course, if tenderer plants, 

 known as stove or hot-house plants, are 

 grown, then a temperature "ten degrees 

 higher would be required. 



Best effects in flower combinations are 

 secured by planting each kind by itself. 

 Where contrast is desired, however, two 

 or three colors may be used, provided 

 thev are such as harmonize well. 



