CARDEN MAGAZINE 
Marcu, 1916 
READERS SERVICE 
This department will help in dealing with general con- 
ditions. 
It cannot render personal professional service 
English Gooseberries 
I want to grow English gooseberries. In what 
way may success be ensured 7—A. H. S., Long 
Island. 
—Mak&eE the land rich with an abundance of potash 
and phosphoric acid, and nitrogen enough to make 
a fair growth of wood. Shallow, level cultivation 
will give the best results. The land must be kept 
rich with a heavy dressing of stable manure or 
fertilizer each year, using enough to produce 
strong new canes each season. The distance® be- 
tween plants is most generally 4 by 6 feet, and 
they may be planted either in the fall or spring as 
is most convenient. Some growers set the plants 
nearer than four feet in the row, and prune the 
bushes to three or four strong canes. The pruning 
consists in removing the old wood after it is three 
or four years old and allowing only a limited num- 
ber of new canes to grow. These canes should be 
strong and upright. 
Duty on Imported Rose Bushes 
What is the duty on Rose bushes imported from 
France? I note that prices there are much cheaper 
than here.—J. S., New Jersey. 
—THE duty on Rose bushes is about four cents per 
plant. It should be remembered, however, that 
this does not represent the entire cost. The plants 
have to be cleared through a broker and you will 
have to pay the broker’s fees, the custom house 
entry charges, and several other incidentals, such 
as cartage, etc., which brings up the cost consid- 
erably on small quantities of plants. It will be 
much more satisfactory for you to give your order 
to some large importing firm of florists or nur- 
serymen and get them to import the goods for you 
in conjunction with their own plants. 
What is Paradise Stock? 
What is Paradise stock on which dwarf apple 
trees are grafted?—M. L., New Jersey. 
—PaRADISE and Doucin are names given to nat- 
urally dwarf forms of the common apple which 
grow in France and which are used by nurserymen 
as stock upon which to graft other varieties of 
apples to produce dwarf trees. Paradise gives the 
smallest tree and the Doucin a slightly larger, 
from whence it is occasionally: known as_ half 
dwarf. The names are purely horticultural and 
have no botanical significance. 
Commercial Production of Aster Seeds 
I have been quite successful in the field cultiva- 
tion of Asters, but do not find a sufficient market 
for them as cut flowers. Could I profitably raise 
seed for market ?—HE. F., New York. 
—UNLESS you have some very special facilities and 
special strains of Asters we would not advise your 
attempting to grow the seed for the market as 
this is a very highly specialized industry. We do 
not know of any statistics that can be given you, 
but the industry is carried on in a very few places 
in the world where conditions are especially favor- 
able, one of them being in the western part of New 
York. 
Farming in Maine 
What crops would you advise me to raise in 
Washington County, Maine, in a sandy, gravelly, 
loamy soil that has just been cleared? Potatoes 
and beans have been successfully raised in the 
neighborhood.—G. B. B., Maine. 
—Kwowi1neG, as you probably do, climatic and 
other conditions in Washington County, it is diffi- 
cult for us to make any detailed suggestions as to 
the best crops for you to attempt to grow there 
since a decision should depend largely on ex- 
tremely local conditions as regards soil and topog- 
raphy, the distance to and nature of available 
markets, the condition of the roads, nearness to 
railroads and other means of transportation and 
the amount of capital and labor that one is pre- 
pared to put in the farming operations. There 
would seem to be, however, no reason why either 
potatoes or sweet corn or peas for canning should 
not prove well adapted for the land you wish to 
dovslor It occurs to us that you can obtain sug- 
gestions or information as to cultural experiments 
carried on there from the Industrial Department 
of the Maine Central Railroad, Portland, Maine. 
Your State College of Agriculture at Orono should 
also be able to help you. 
How to Make a Rose Bed 
In making a Rose bed in my lawn, should the 
sod and upper layer of earth be removed and dis- 
carded, to be replaced by good soil? Can good 
results be obtained by removing two layers of soil 
(ten or twelve inches deep each) and then placing 
the top soil with sod at the bottom while the soil 
previously at the bottom is placed at the top of the 
bed?—J. A. S., New York. 
—IN PREPARING a Rose bed the soil should be ex- 
cavated for two feet or so, the broken sod placed 
at the bottom; then a layer of soil thoroughly 
mixed with manure, and finally a layer of good 
loam containing slightly less manure to avoid the 
possibility of burning the roots. It is best not to 
set any plant with its feeding roots in the sub- 
soil—that is, soil six inches or more below the 
surface—since this is liable to be acid and of poor 
physical and chemical condition. For this reason 
in planting trees the top soil is put at the bottom 
of the hole where the roots go. In planting small 
bushes or seeds it would be necessary to keep 
more of the top soil near the surface. 
Fertilizers 
What is the best fertilizer, other than stable 
manure, for a light soil that has been neglected ? 
Is it advisable to use commercial fertilizer in rows 
or drills at the time of planting vegetable or 
flower seeds? Are tobacco stems a good fertilizer? 
—S. A. J., New York. 
—A LicHT soil needs vegetable matter before all 
else. Where expense is not too important, the 
prepared humus materials advertised in the farm 
and garden journals are valuable in building up 
the soil of the garden; otherwise green manure 
crops (that is, clover, vetch, rye, etc.) plowed 
under, are the best thing in place of stable manure. 
Commercial fertilizer used in the drills and hills 
is extremely helpful. Tobacco stems have some 
little fertilizing value and are also useful in repel- 
ling insects. 
Nitrogen and Phosphorus, with Wood Ashes 
In what proportion should nitrogen and phos- 
phorus be used with wood ashes to make a good 
fertilizer for a rather sandy garden soil?—H. P. 
A., Rhode Island. 
—ACCORDING to several authorities a standard 
fertilizer mixture for garden crops should contain 
about 4 per cent. of nitrogen, 8 per cent. of phos- 
phorie acid, and 10 per cent. of potash. On this 
basis a mixture could be prepared of 250 pounds 
of nitrate of soda, 100 pounds of ammonium sul- 
phate, 350 pounds of tankage to supply the nitro- 
gen; 900 pounds of acid phosphate and, assuming 
unleached wood ashes to contain 5 per cent. of 
potash, 4,000 pounds of these. This being a rather 
impracticable quantity, it would be well to reduce 
it and add some of the potash in the form of sul- 
phate or muriate. Of course it is not essential 
to stick to these figures, though they are valuable 
as a guide. We should also mention that for all 
sandy soils one of the best possible fertilizers is 
well rotted stable manure. ou can use this in 
practically unlimited quantities if well worked 
into the soil and, although it carries some pers 
itself, it can be reinforced in this respect by the 
use of any available quantity of wood ashes ap- 
plied after the manure has been plowed under. 
The Cost of a Dutch Colonial House 
I want to build a house for permanent occu- 
pancy, about 30 by 40 feet over all, first-class in 
‘rather than a fair average. 
every way, style, Dutch Colonial. Could I build 
such a house for $7,000?—W. H. S., Penna. 
—IT SEEMS reasonable to expect a Dutch Colonial 
frame house, built in a first-class manner, with 
1,200 square feet floor plan area, for $7,000. We 
should say, however, that this is the lowest limit 
It would depend a 
great deal on whether you choose expensive heat- 
ing, plumbing and lighting fixtures. You would 
probably have to content yourself with a good 
Georgia pine floor rather than oak or other hard 
wood. At the present time prices of building ma- 
terial and labor are somewhat lower than they 
have been and the chance for getting what you 
want at that price is rather good. 
Proper Time to Plant Junipers 
What is the proper time to plant Junipers? TI 
have frequently transplanted specimens from the 
woods, but with very little success——H. G. P., 
Montana. 
—THE best time to transplant Juniper is in the 
spring. The transplanting of trees taken from the 
forest is not usually successful unless the work is 
done when the trees are very small. Nursery 
stock is much more satisfactory for the reason 
that it has been transplanted from one hed to 
another, and in these different movings a large 
ball of roots have been developed. 
Japanese Yew 
Would the Japanese Yew be an appropriate 
dwarf evergreen to plant at the south end of a 
piazza, having sun all winter but some shade in 
the summer? Would it be sufficiently ornamental 
and how tall does it grow?—E. W. M., New 
Hampshire. 
—WE DoustT if the Japanese Yew would thrive in 
this situation if the shade is heavy. In Japan it 
ultimately attains a height of one hundred feet, 
but it grows very slowly. If it will endure the 
conditions under which it must grow, it should be 
perfectly satisfactory as a low-growing plant. The 
native Hemlock would be a more satisfactory tree 
to plant at the south end of the piazza, and it can 
be cut back to keep it under proper control as to 
height. 
Constructing a Church 
We are building a church, 32x 60 ft., of moss 
rock, and wish to. use four steel I-beam girders 31 
feet long. What should be the size of the girders 
necessary to support the joists? There are no par- 
titions on the floor, and as the basement of the 
building is to be used as a gymnasium, we do not 
want posts in it—F. N. P., Colorado. 
—Usine four steel I-beams gives a span of 12 feet 
between each beam. This would require a 20-inch 
I-beam 80 pounds. By using three I-beams there 
-is a span between beams of 15 feet and this also 
would require a 20-inch I-beam 80 pounds. So you 
will see that by using four beams there is one 
beam too many. It is necessary to use this size 
for a 12-foot span, as any smaller beam or lighter 
weight would not do for even a 12-foot span. The 
wooden floor joists which I presume will be of 
spruce should be for the 12-foot span 3x 10s, 12 
inches on centres, and for the 15-foot span 3 x 12s, 
16 inches on centres. 
Primulas for Winter Bloom Indoors 
How are Primulas chinensis fimbriata and ob- 
conica gigantea grown for winter blooming in the 
house?—G. B. R., Kentucky. 
—Sow the seeds in March or April in pans; prick 
off in thumb pots when large enough and keep well 
rooted during the summer. When in 4-inch pots 
place the plants in a coldframe, using about two 
inches of cinders beneath the pots, and spray often 
and keep shaded with a slat hence Pot when nec- 
essary, but a 6-inch or 7-inch pot should be large 
enough to finish in. Feed freely when flowering 
starts. Use good rich soil with plenty of drainage. 
