284 Miscellaneous Hints on Gardening 



feed the neighbors' pets and poultry, it will safe- 

 guard your own flowers. Plant sunflowers for the 

 chickens and a few heads of cabbage for the rabbits 

 and they will not molest the flowers. The safest 

 protection is a well-placed wire fence, though this 

 may not be desirable. 



Keep pruning instruments sharp, that there may 

 be no rough ragged edge on the plant causing a wound. 

 A coating of paint applied to the cut while the 

 wound is healing will keep too much sap from 

 running out, tending to bleed the plant to death. 

 In many ways plants are to be treated like human 

 beings. 



All waste foliage after pruning should be burned 

 and thus returned to the earth in the form of wood 

 ashes, helping to supply plant food. 



Stake all tall growing plants that are likely to 

 become bent or blown down by the first strong 

 wind. Not to stake them until they are already 

 bent or blown over may mean hard work to 

 straighten them, even if they are not actually 

 broken in half. A garden with a profusion of 

 neglected flowers is not at all attractive. 



Do not cut off all the foliage when pruning a per- 

 ennial. Enough leaves should remain to furnish- 



