THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



93 



is as good a variety as you will want to 

 grow. 



I would not advise any one, with a 

 limited plot, to attempt either cabbage 

 or cauliflower. 



What about beans? Well, of the 

 dwarf varieties, try Early Yellow Six 

 Weeks, and Burpee's Saddle Back Wax. 

 If you want a dwarf bean quite orna- 

 mental, as well as delicious, try Burpee's 

 Blue-podded Butter Beans — tall grow- 

 ing or climbing; White Creaseback — for 

 eating or pickling, none better; White 

 Dutch Case Knife — young pods for 

 eating and beans excellent for shelling; 

 Horticultural, and Lazy Wife's — of fine 

 flavor and valuable for snapshorts. 

 Lettuce— Grand Rapids, Tom Thumb, 

 Hanson, and many others. Onions? 

 Well, yes, try them, but first ask some 

 one who is successful with them. Dan- 

 ver's Yellow and Prizetaker are hard to 

 beat. You will need a row of cress and 

 mustard, and several rows of spinach 

 — the Victoria being a good variety. 

 If you have a rich mellow soil, try a few 

 rows of salsify, or vegetable oyster. A 

 few plants of Scotch Kale will give you 

 fine greens after the frost has come. 

 Cucumbers? Yes, Everbearing, Boston 

 Pickling, Giant Pera and Fordhook 

 White Spine. Emerald is also worth 

 growing. If vou want a few squash, 

 try Mammoth White Bush for summer 

 use, and Hubbard for winter. 



Now for tomatoes. Buy well-estab- 

 lished plants and give them the hottest 

 spot in the garden. Work the ground 

 well. If it is a heavy soil and you can 

 easily get sand, mix quite a lot into the 

 soil, with a liberal supply of manure. 

 After the plants have been well estab- 

 lished, put a coating of sand on the 

 ground all around the plants. Use 

 stakes or trellis wires to tie the plants 

 to, and cut out all lateral branches be- 

 low the fruit. Varieties? — Well, Spark's 

 Earliana. Matchless, Acme and Golden 

 Queen. Try a hundred or so of Paris 

 Golden celery if you want to. The 

 experiment will be interesting. 



The quantity of vegetables you can 

 get off of a small plot will amaze vou. 

 It is difiicult to tell you how to do it. 

 I could shew you how. You will learn, 

 best of all, by going at it yourself. It 

 is an excellent tonic. 



HoAV to Start Ferns 



Thos. Manton, Eglinton 



How can Asiiaragus and Maiden Hair Ferns be 

 best started? — (Mrs. A. P. H., Prince Edward 

 Co. 



Asparagus Plumosus, generally called 

 the Asparagus Fern, is best raised from 

 seed. The seeds can be procured from 

 any of the leading seedsmen. They 

 germinate quickly if soaked for an hour 

 in water as hot as the hand can be held 

 in, and then sown in rich garden soil and 

 placed in a warm window. As soon as 

 the plants are large enough to handle, 

 they should be potted each into a very 



small pot and kept in a warm, light place. 

 As the pots fill with roots larger pots 

 should be given and extra rich soil sup- 

 plied. Maiden Hair Ferns are started 

 from ripe spores gathered from strong, 

 well-grown plants. 



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I BULB DEPARTMENT | 



^r* Questions Ans-vvered by ^f* 



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Uncovering Bulbs 



Wlial is the best time to uncover bulbs which 

 liave been protected during the winter, and how 

 should it be done?— (C. J. K., Picton. 



To give a definite date one cannot do 

 so ; generally towards middle of April 

 if weather continues good. After they 

 have been uncovered for a few days 

 should a frost come afterwards they 

 will not be damaged. To uncover the 

 bulbs remove the litter with a fork, 

 taking care to avoid breaking shoots 

 that are coming through the ground. 



Best Bvilboxis Plant 



Is there any bulbous plant more desirable for 

 perennial borders than Lilium candidum. — 

 (H. C, Orangeville. 



Lilium candidum has always done 

 remarkably well in this climate. Others 

 have done fairly well but do not increase 

 as rapidly. Lilium auratum, Lilium 

 speciosum, album, roseum, rubrum, 

 punctatum, have been successful, and 

 follow the Lilium candidum in their 

 blooming period. 



Cutting Crocus in La-wn 



How long should crocus bulbs in the grass be 

 left to ripen after flowering, before the lawn is 

 mowed? — (H. G., Guelph. 



It seemingly makes no difference at 

 what stage the tops are cut ofT, especial- 

 ly if the bulbs are planted deep enough. 

 They are more likely to increase than 

 diminish if cut off early. 



Early Spring "WorK 



What work should be done with bulbs during 

 April or early May? — (J. C, Simcoe. 



Very little work is necessary except to 

 carefully remove the litter placed there 

 in the fall. All the other work should 

 have been done to the bed in the fall 

 at time of planting. 



Bulbs A.fter Flowering 



Will you kindly tell me whether a tulip or 

 hyacinth bed can be utilized after the bulbs 

 are done flowering, for cannas, gladioli. Tub- 

 erous Begonias, etc., without removing the 

 bulbs ?— (A. R. B., Stirling. 



This depends very much on whether 

 you have planted your tulips, hyacinths, 

 etc., deep enough. If you have you 

 may plant gladioli or Tuberous Begonias 

 in the beds, but cannas had better not 

 be as they root very deejily. They are 



apt to take too much nourishment from 

 the soil for the bulbs to do well another 

 season. As soon as the bulbs have 

 bloomed and tops withered somewhat 

 you can fork the bed lightly and dig 

 some well-rotted manure or artificial 

 fertilizer in the bed. With this treat- 

 ment good results are assured. 



April. Planting 



Are there any bulbs that should be planted 

 in April? — (S. A., BurHngton. 



Assuming this to be open air planting 

 there are none that can be planted with 

 safety. 



Seeding DoAvn a La"wn 



Prof. H. L. Hutt, O.A.C., Guelph 



1 desire some advice in the matter of seeding 

 down for a school lawn. The soil is very sandy 

 but not l)arren sand. Garden crops do fairly 

 well in it. Which is it more advisable, to sow 

 the seed in the fall or in the spring? I have 

 heard that if seeding is done in the fall, one 

 bushel of rye per acre should be used with the 

 lawn grass to serve as a foster crop. The rye 

 would come up in the spring and help to form a 

 sod. Would it help to scatter some commercial 

 fertilizer and should it be applied with the seed 

 in the fall, or could that be done as well in the 

 spring? Would a top dressing of manure in 

 the fall, if the seeding is done then, be of nmch 

 advantage? 1 have used barley with fair suc- 

 cess as a foster crop when seeding in the spring. 

 — (J. W. G., Kingston. 



In seeding down a lawn, it is not 

 advisable to use anything as a foster 

 crop. Rye would grow so strong and 

 rank as to nearly choke out the smaller 

 grasses sown at the same time. The 

 best way to get a well seeded lawn 

 is to use a mixture of the hardy native 

 grasses of fine growth. We have found 

 Red Top, Blue Grass, and White Clover, 

 equal parts by weight, make an excel- 

 lent mixture. The best time to seed 

 down for a lawn is early in the spring, 

 as there is then sufficient moistu e to 

 cause early germination of the seeds, 

 and in a favorable season there should 

 be no difficulty in getting a good green 

 sward in a couple of months. The 

 older it gets the thicker it becomes. 



When seeding is done in the fall the 

 plants usually have not time for much 

 growth, and a great number are de- 

 stroyed in the winter. If fall sowing is 

 resorted to, I would recommend giving 

 the soil a Hberal dressing of well-rotted 

 manure before winter comes. The coars- 

 est of this can be raked ofT in the spring 

 before the seed is sown. 



The seed should be raked into the 

 soil, and in case of sandy soil in a dry 

 season, it would be best to foil the land 

 after seeding. If the ground is poor 

 and the grass does not come up evenly, 

 this can be remedied by occasional top 

 dressings of well-rotted manure in the 

 fall and raking in additional grass seed 

 in the poorer spots in the spring. 



