THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



123 



as to culture and care of 

 ihe same. This method 

 intensifies the interest and 

 awakens in the scholar the 

 idea of being closely obser- 

 ant as to results, one of 

 e principal factors neces- 

 ^ry to success, and one 

 that helps materially from 

 all points of view. 



Ksai 



brantford's good work 



Excellent work of this 

 nature has been done by 

 the society at Brantford, 

 Ont. It is described in a 

 recent letter t.o The Horti- 

 cuLTURisTby Sec. R.Walter 

 Brooks, whose letter reads 

 as follows : ' ' Our society, in 

 1903, held an exhibition of 

 fruit, flowers and vege- 

 tables which was a failure, 

 financially. 



"In 1905 we distributed 

 about 6,000 packages of 

 seeds, including asters, 

 scabiosa, verbena, salpig- 

 lossis and Phlox drum- 

 mondi. A package of each 

 was given toanypupildesiringthem. The 

 exhibition took place in the fall, when 

 we distributed about 125 plants and 500 

 hyacinths as prizes. Every exhibitor 

 who did not get a plant was given a 

 bulb. It was one of the most success- 

 ful exhibitions ever held here, although 

 we made no charge for anything. 



"This year we are starting out on 

 the same lines, but more extended. 

 The seeds selected are asters, scabiosa, 

 verbena, zinnia and nasturtium. We 

 did not consider that the children were 

 successful with phlox and salpiglossis, 

 hence the change. We have 8,775 

 packages ready for distribution this 

 year. These include one-ounce of asters, 

 150 packets with 100 seeds per package; 

 one ounce of verbenas, 220 packets with 

 60 seeds per package; one ounce of 

 scabiosa, 200 packets with 25 seeds per 

 package; one pound of nasturtium, 355 

 packets with 10 seeds per package; one 

 punce of zinnia, 140 packets with 25 

 seeds per package. 



"Papers have been distributed to the 

 public and separate schools asking for 

 the names of all those desiring seeds. 

 I have 1,407 names from the public 

 schools. The separate schools have not 

 returned theirs yet. The officers and 

 teachers of the schools render us all the 

 assistance possible in getting the names 

 and distributing the seeds." 



siMCOE children interested 



In the town of vSimcoe. Ont., the hor- 

 ticultural society considers its work 

 among the school children about the 

 most valuable it undertakes. The chair- 

 man of the committee having charge of 

 this work, Mr. Henry Johnson, has 

 written The Horticulturist as fol- 



Returns from One Season's Work with School Children 



lows: "We commenced giving seeds 

 to the children of our public schools in 

 1904, giving them that year, asters, 

 nasturtiums and pansies. In the fall 

 we had an exhibition, but did not offer 

 prizes. There were 125 entries. The 

 understanding was that only flowers 

 grown from seeds given by- the society 

 should be shown. 



"Last year we distributed the same 

 kinds of seeds, but the children were 

 told that flowers grown from any other 

 seeds might compete as well. Our show 

 was held in September and was a great 

 success. There were 440 entries made 

 by about 125 pupils. We had as high 

 as 30 entries in a section, and judging 

 was quite a task. Prizes to the value 

 of $50 or $60 were awarded. They con- 

 sisted of bulbs, seeds, plants a'nd garden 

 literature, donated by some of our mem- 

 bers. Prizes were won by 54 children, 

 some of them getting several. 



"This year we gave them asters, 

 phlox, verbenas and zinnias. About 

 230 of the pupils of the public school 

 asked for seeds and we gave them about 

 650 packets. We bought only the best 

 seed, got it at wholesale and put it in 

 packets ourselves. The direct benefits 

 from the distribution of seeds to the 

 children in this way are apparent." 



Tomatoes on Sod Land 



W. C. McCalla, St. Catharines 

 We are considering planting tomatoes on a' 

 piece of new ground, sandy loam, which has not 

 been plowed for 15 years. Will tomatoes do 

 well on such land, if it is ])lowed early and cul- 

 tivated?— (Subscriber, Collingwood. 



1 would advise you not to attempt 

 to grow tomatoes this year on such 

 land. Had the old sod been plowed 



last fall, a large amount of work this 

 spring with disk and drag harrows 

 might put it into fair shape for to- 

 matoes. I would, however, much pre- 

 fer to give a heavy dressing of manure, 

 plant corn this year, and it would then be 

 in fine condition for tomatoes in 1907. 



I BULB DEPARTMENT | 



^^ Questions ans-wered by W* 



V Mr. Herman Simmers w 



oa|^ nM%>« OM%>« /-M%>> />.4'^|>> 



Bulbs for Spring Planting' 



What common bulbs should be planted in the 

 spring? What soil conditions are most desir- 

 able, and at what time of the season should they 

 be planted? In what month or months do 

 spring-planted bulbs bloom? — Subscriber, Owen 

 Sound. 



There are a number under this head. 

 We will include cornis, rhizomes, tubers, 

 etc., in case Subscriber may not be 

 aware of the exact term. All the bulb- 

 ous appearing plants when dry have the 

 appearance of bulbs, and this leads 

 many people to think they are actually 

 bulbs, whereas the actual botanical dif- 

 ference is very great, although the results 

 are somewhat the same. To answer 

 this question I will simply call them all 

 bulbs, as is the usual custom. 



The list includes: Tuberous rooted 

 begonias, double and single flowering, 

 amarylHs.cannas, dahlias, gladioli, liliums, 

 caladiums, callas, gloxinias, hyacinths, 

 candicans, tuberoses, oxalis, tigridias. 



In most cases the soil conditions are 

 a well enriched sandy loam. The time 

 of planting should be April and May. 

 The flowering period continues from 

 lulv until frost takes them ofT. 



