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THk GAR DEN (MAG AAS Zia Nar 
HE one sure way to surely avoid wearing the annual spring worry 
wrinkles, is not to put off selecting and ordering now, the things to 
One Sure Way to Overcome 
Your Spring Planting Worries 
plant that you are so soon going to need. Why doso many first need 
to be stirred by the return of the daffodils before making a move toward 
selecting and ordering their needed shrubs, evergreens and shade trees? 
Last Summer, ten chances to one, you may have planned what you would 
do this Spring, in a planting way. 
If so, then you now know your wants. 
With our catalog before you, the ordering is the least of your worries. 
If however, you put off ordering until the time the “put-offs” order; then 
the rush of the season will be on and you will have to take your turn with 
the rest, no matter where you buy. 
But on the other hand, if the planting question is all quite new to you, 
and what to plant; when to plant; and where to plant are perplexing un- 
certainties; then let us help you personally. 
One of us will give special attention to your queries and gladly advise 
the best solution of your planting problems. 
One thing certain; there is no finer stock to be found anywhere. No matter 
whether you want one or hundreds of any particular thing, we have it for 
you, uniform in quality throughout. 
Our prices are neither low nor high. They are exactly what you would 
Shrubs 
O YOU want a group for hiding your 
foundations? Then let us suggest 
some tall growing kinds for the back; 
a few of the medium heights; and for the 
front, the desirable low growing kinds. 
Such a collection will insure you a series of 
blooms the season through; and a sprinkling 
of cheery red berries during the bleak winter. 
Write us the space to be planted and we 
will promptly advise what,to plant and its 
cost. Tell us whether the space is in the 
sunlight, or shaded by the house or by trees; 
also the nature of the soil. 
Evergreens 
less there has been a great awaken- 
ing to the beauties of evergreens, 
and a recognition of their hundred 
and one uses. 
From the natty little dwarfish ones; to 
the big sky reaching kinds; there is a range 
of shapes and colors that is a revelation. 
There are at least a dozen shades of green; 
not to mention the golden hues, the blues 
and silvery colorings. 
Surely you will want evergreens. A choice 
lot of stock we have for you. 
expect to pay for such absolutely dependable stock. 
Send for our catalog. Take every advantage of early ordering. 
Can you use half a dozen or more of these fine, symmetrical 
globe evergreens, standing 23 to 3 feet high in their stocking feet, 
Shade Trees 
UST because some of your friends have 
been discouraged at the slow growth 
of their shade trees, it is no reason for 
your feeling anything but hopeful. Such 
trees as maples, lindens, catalpa, pin oaks 
and the like surely are not fslow growing, 
provided they have the necessary roots when 
transplanted. 
But that word provided is the vital word. 
Our trees are so provided. Come to our 
nursery and we will gladly dig up any tree 
you say and prove it to you. 
Specials 
NA big nursery like ours, covering several 
hundred acres, we are bound, occasion- 
ally, to haveleft odd lots of stock, which, 
on account of their small number, we do not 
list in our catalog. 
Among these will be some extra large, 
well matured specimens which are just the 
thing for immediate effect. 
Write us for information about them; also 
for prices. You will be agreeably surprised 
at the great value offered for the moderate 
price asked. 
and having a compact mass of strong roots? Write for prices. 
Ss 
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ramingham ‘Nurseries 
W.B.WHITTIER & CO. - FRAMINGHAM,MASS. 
What is a fair rental for a given property? Ask the Readers’ Service 
Marcu, 1916 
The “Science” of Growing Asters 
F ALL annuals, Asters unquestionably yield 
the greatest return for the time and money 
expended. I use two packages of mixed colors 
every season, and for three years have had a 
most attractive mass of color in my Aster bed. 
The seed should be sown early in March, 
either in coldframes or in shallow boxes in the 
house. Mine I plant in boxes, thinly cover with 
soil and place panes of glass over the boxes. 
I keep the little plants at an even temperature, 
. not very warm. Plenty of sun is needed, but 
stronger roots will develop if the soil is kept 
cool. When they attain their second leaves 
(perhaps in six weeks or two months after 
planting) they are ready for transplanting 
into two-inch pots, one plant to a pot. Here 
they become a perfect mass of rootlets until it 
is time to set them in their permanent bed in 
the open ground. Last year I transplanted 
eighty-three from my two packages of seed. 
This extra “fussing” pays in sturdier plants 
and greater bloom later on, however, and ren- 
ders the plants practically immune from the 
black beetle. In the years I have raised Asters 
they have never been afflicted with this pest 
and I understand the method of “pot-erown” 
plants is largely the reason. 
The permanent bed must be well prepared. 
Last year, after removing the sod, Tae well 
rotted stable manure spread over it. This was 
put on thickly and for’ a foot down it was 
forked with the soil until of a powder-like fine- 
ness. A small hole for each plant was dug 
. with a trowel and a space of one foot was 
allowed between the plants. Water was poured 
in each hole, a little soil sprinkled over and 
the plant set in just as it came from the tin 
pot, the soil being pressed in firmly around the 
roots. By watering the roots in this way there 
is no necessity of protecting the plants from 
the sun. 
Whenever the soil became caked, I would go 
over the bed with a hand fork, digging up the 
soil. This treatment was continued until the 
leaves of the plant were of sufficient size to 
meet. The plants began to bloom about the 
first of August, were as large as chrysanthe- 
mums, on strong, tall stalks, and lasted for six 
weeks. 
New York. CAROLINE HALSEY STooTSs. 
Winter Nature Study 
INGE study in winter time ought to in- 
clude those subjects which belong to the 
season and which may he studied more easily 
than at any other time. I always choose, in 
my work with children, to make a study of the 
shapes of trees, their bark and the buds, for 
the deciduous trees unhampered by a leafy coy- 
ering show their structure better in winter 
than at any other time of the year. All ex- 
periments with germination and testing of 
seeds, soils, and the weather properly come 
during January, February and March. 
I take small groups of children out into the 
country, or to nearby parks for the tree study. | 
Have the children take pencils and note-books | 
to jot down notes in. Study character of bark; | 
girth of trunk; branching, opposite or alter- | 
nate; position of buds and general shape of | 
tree. Such trees as the Shagbark, with its loose 
hanging bits of outer bark; the Dogwood with . 
its close, alligator-skin bark; the Striped Maple 
with its prominent light-shaded lines in the 
bark; and many other trees are best to choose 
because of striking characteristics. Naturally 
one will choose the trees most common to the 
place or those most accessible to a given school 
or home. But even then pick out trees which 
form vivid images in a child’s mind. 
I love too the forcing out of tree buds for 
pleasure and study. When these blossoms ap- 
pear long before their time much is added to | 
the study because of the miracle of real tree 
buds coming out while snow is on the ground. 
Choose buds of fruit trees, red maple, poplar, 
willow and other early blooming trees. Cut 
off portions of terminal branches about two or 
three feet in length, put these in warm water 
and place in the dark for about two weeks, 
then bring to the light. These blossoms will 
be a joy in your own living room or in the 
class room. 
New York. HE. E. SHaw. 
