August, 1907 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



25 



The Californian's Reminder 



AUGUST might be termed the month of 

 garden arrangements, as next month 

 we generally get the first rains which mark 

 the beginning of the rainy season. The 

 first thing to arrange for is future plantings 

 of all kinds, and if you have not an accurate 

 knowledge of the tree or plant that is to be 

 planted find out where specimens of it are 

 growing and go and see them. Then you 

 will be able to form a true idea of how the 

 plant or tree looks, as every year is proving 

 that all authorities are in error in regard 

 to the size of trees and plants when they are 

 grown in California. 



Select and order the bulbs for next month's 

 planting, early in August. All the Dutch 

 bulbs do well the first year, but the narcissus 

 and daffodils will go on increasing year after 

 year and each year produce as good flowers 

 as the first year they were planted, providing, 

 of course, that they are given a congenial 

 enviionment. Select a place for planting 

 them where they will have all the sunlight 

 that there is. Dig into the ground that the 

 bulbs are to be planted in, a quart of coarse 

 bone meal with the soil when spading it. 

 Do this early in this month and if the land 

 is poor add a light dressing of old manure, 

 but do not use ham-decayed manure as the 

 bulbs dislike anything that has a tendency 

 to fermentation. The following varieties 

 have done exceptionally well with me : 



Emperor. A large flower with large deep 

 yellow trumpet with a lighter-colored 

 perianth. 



Empress. Large trumpet, rich yellow with 

 whitish perianth. 



Horsefieldi. Golden yellow trumpet with 

 white perianth. 



Ard Righ or Irish King. A beautiful 

 yellow, one of the earliest to bloom. 



All the polyanthus varieties do exceedingly 

 well, often bearing twelve flowers on a stem. 

 I do not wish to give the impression that the 

 above varieties are superior to the many 

 others, but as previously stated they are 

 among the best varieties. 



There are several kinds of seed that do 

 well if sown now, such as perennials, trees 

 and rare kinds of seed from foreign countries. 

 Prepare the ground by irrigating it three 

 days previous to digging it, and if it has a 

 tendency to pack, dig a barrow load of sand 

 into it. Then rake it over smoothly and sow 

 the seed. If the seed is very small, cover 

 lightly with sand, but for seed that is as large 

 as mignonette, use old worn-out manure as 

 a light mulch over it. 



Owing to the lack of green food, the birds 



are very apt to find the young seedlings and 

 eat them. To protect the seedlings make 

 a frame out of boards six or eight inches 

 wide and six feet long by three feet wide 

 (outside measure) then stretch wire netting 

 three feet wide with half-inch mesh. These 

 frames will last for years and are equally 

 valuable at all seasons in California and the 

 Southern States. 



Santa Barbara. W. H. Morse. 



Daisies the Year 'Round 



T l 



'HE Marguerite, or Paris daisy (Chry- 

 -*- santhemum frutescens, var. grandi- 

 floritm) is grown in nearly every garden in 

 the cities and towns about San Francisco 

 bay. The flowers are much larger than 

 those grown in the East. It thrives the year 

 round in the open air and in moist land it is 

 grown as easily as a cabbage. No one out 

 here would think of going to a florist or 

 nurseryman to purchase it, unless one of the 

 rarer sorts not possessed by any neighbor- 

 ing friend is wanted, for the Marguerite 

 daisy is easily grown from cuttings, almost 

 as easily as is a geranium. 



This hedge was grown from cuttings which 

 were six inches long. They were planted 

 six inches apart in a trench, which was made 

 with a hoe. A foot apart would have been 

 close enough. Nearly every cutting rooted, 

 and afterward they were thinned so that the 

 plants stood eighteen inches apart. The 

 hedge was intended to screen a bed of bulbs 

 from another portion of the garden and it 

 served its purpose effectively and they seemed 

 to be always in bloom. 



To make the flowers larger and more 

 plentiful, the hedge was clipped each time 

 the flowers began to fade. This prevented 

 seed from maturing and kept the plants from 

 assuming a rusty appearance. After each 

 clipping the hedge would start into growth 

 with renewed vigor and would soon be a mass 

 of dazzling white. 



I find that after three or four years it is 

 well to renew the plants, as the older ones 

 become scraggly. 



California. W. A. Pryal. 



^^ 



$133.31 from Fifty Hens 



T^OR years I had from twenty-five to 

 A fifty hens about the farm and fed them 

 whatever feed I had, plenty of it to be sure r 

 but somehow I never got eggs until April 

 or May. I had a good lot of hens and 

 chickens, Barred Plymouth Rocks, and so 

 I determined to make a trial with them, keep 

 books and find out what I made from them 

 and how to improve in methods. I picked 

 out fifty pullets and young hens, patched up 

 an old shed I had, made two pens out of it,, 

 put in some south windows at small expense,, 

 and started my experiment. I had fifteen, 

 bushels of mangels I had raised, some sun- 

 flower seeds and about 300 heads of cabbage, 

 I went to the neighbors and gathered up all 

 the old bones I could find as well as those 

 on my own place. Now I was ready for 

 the poultry business. I began keeping 

 account with the flock November 1, 1905. 



My foodstuff was as follows: Oats, buck- 

 wheat and sunflower seed mixed, and kept 

 in a box in front of the fowls at all times. A 

 mash of cornmeal and bran ever}' morning 

 and whole corn at night. Burned bone 

 finely broken up was kept in the straw litter 

 on the floor of the poultry house. Finely 

 chopped beets were given even' morning,, 

 just enough so that they would eat it all. A 

 cabbage was hung up by a string in each pen, 

 and meat given three times a week, and here 

 is the secret of egg production on the farm at 

 small expense. I got my neighbors to save 

 the carcasses of their young calves for which 

 they had no use after the pelt had been 



The Marguerite daisy is a very desirable plant for California lawns; it blooms almost continuously. 



