340 
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
JULY, 1916 
sunshine, moreover, was almost clear sand. What 
wasn’t sand was ashes, and tin cans and old shoes, 
etc.—in short, filled land and filled in regardless of 
any future uses. As I couldn’t change the condi- 
tions I searched through my gardening books and 
made a list of everything that preferred sandy soil. 
I had two short borders in which the soil was 
good though partially shaded, and they presented 
a chance for more fastidious plants, Foxgloves and 
Columbines being the best. Last summer I raised 
a bed of perennial seedlings in that sand heap, 
had excellent Dahlias, and plenty of annuals. I 
confess I have not vet tackled the tin can region, 
but a long, low compost heap is to be there all this 
summer, with climbing Nasturtiums to cover it, and 
I will then be making new soil. And I shall plant 
a cover crop of rye to be turned in during the late 
summer. 
New Hampshire. L. M. Rosstns. 
Raising Perennials from Seed 
"eee are several popular perennials that are 
easily raised from fresh seed sown in the fall, 
which will germinate the next ‘spring. A few are 
Adlumia, Monkshood, Clematis, Dodecatheon, Pri- 
mulas, Violas, Peonies, Phlox, Gas-plant, Adonis. 
There is little use buying seed of the above and 
sowing it in the spring as few if any will grow. 
Some will appear the following spring if the 
seed bed is not disturbed. The seeds of most 
perennials germinate slowly although there are 
exceptions. The best plan is to sow the seed 
as soon as it ripens in the summer or fall, preferably 
in a coldframe; some, like columbine and larkspur, 
will germinate quickly and make blooming plants 
the next season, others will not germinate until 
spring. Phlox is a good example, and always 
blooms the first season. 
Much disappointment and expense might be 
saved customers if seed concerns would furnish 
trustworthy information in their catalogues, ad- 
vising which sorts must be ordered in the fall and 
holding the filling of such items until fresh seed 
should have been received. A few do, but the 
great majority probably have no way of knowing 
or testing results themselves. : 
There is one of the most beautiful of our native 
plants—Lithospermum hirtum—which has not 
been taken into the fold by any of the specialists 
in native plants. It is well worth a place in every 
garden with its large clusters of yellow flowers, 
something like flattened heads of forget-me-nots. 
The root grows deep and long and the major part 
of it must be secured in order to transplant it ~ 
successfully. It grows from one to two feet high 
and is native in light, sandy soil. 
Glencoe, Ills. Percy W. ARMSTRONG. 
Pin-Money Crops for the Home Gardener-. r. rockwett 
VI. 
ANY towns and small cities, which are 
abundantly supplied with lettuce and 
other salad vegetables in the spring, have 
to depend almost entirely upon produce 
shipped froma distance for their fall supplies of salads. 
The reason is that many farm gardeners who have 
time to grow these things in the spring are too rushed 
with other work during midsummer to start the 
fall crop, even if they have the facilities. This condi- 
tion opens up an opportunity for the pin-money gar- 
dener: it is much easier for him to make a fair profit 
from salad vegetables grown for the fall market than 
to make a success of them, financially, in the spring. 
In some cases these ‘fall salads—lettuce, endive, 
witloof chicory (French endive), and corn salad— 
may be sold most_profitably at retail, but as a gen- 
eral thing it will pay better to market them through 
some good local grocer with whom you are doing 
business. Always make a point of quality. This is 
a market which will be open to you year after year, 
and it will pay much better to discard a large part 
of your crop the first season, if it is not strictly first 
class, and sell only the best. But insist on a fair 
price. Local grown or “‘native” salads, which are 
fresh and crisp, should always command preference 
over those shipped from a distance, if they compare 
favorably with the latter in size and solidity. 
ape two points on which the gardener who is 
growing fall salads for the first time is likely 
to slip up are varieties and securing a good “stand” 
of plants. All the crops mentioned above, ex- 
cept witloof chicory, may be grown where they are 
sown, by proper attention to thinning. But if 
garden space is limited at this time, as is likely to 
be the case, just as good results can be had by 
starting the plants in a seed-bed and transplanting 
later. In fact, if the season is dry, and irrigation is 
not available, it is better to start the seeds in some 
place where they can be watered until large enough 
to transplant, by which time generally rain will have 
become more frequent again. 
For the small pin-money garden a packet, or at 
the most an ounce, of any variety of the several 
things to be planted will give a sufficient number of 
plants. To make sure of securing a good germina- 
tion, use the following method of planting. Fork 
up the seed-bed, and then, before raking it, give it a 
thorough soaking with the hose, applying all the 
water the soil will absorb. If this is done late in 
the afternoon, it will be in ideal condition for raking 
smooth and planting the following morning. Unless 
the seed bed is within reach of the hose, so that a 
fine spray may be used in watering, the following 
further precautions, to make assurance doubly sure, 
will be advisable. Open up shallow trenches, two 
or three inches deep, and a foot or so apart, where 
the seed is to be planted. Fill these with water 
until it ceases to soak away readily, and then fill the 
trenches with prepared soil, half humus or fine old 
compost, and half light garden soil, and plant on 
this surface, about half an inch deep. For-the small 
amount of seed to be planted, this extra work will 
take very little time, and will constitute a long step 
toward success. As soon as the seedlings are well 
up, they should be thinned to stand one to two 
inches apart, and if they begin to crowd before their 
permanent positions are ready, thin again. Good 
strong plants are the greatest factor of success, and 
fifty such are preferable to a hundred of only medium 
quality. 
ETTUCE is in the fall, as it is in the spring, 
the leading salad crop. Some markets use 
both the head and the loose-leaved sorts in the fall, 
but as a general rule the former is preferred, even 
in localities where much of the loose-leaved sort is 
used in the spring. Of the heading sorts, I know of 
nothing superior to Big Boston for fall growth. It 
is not only all that could be desired in size and qual- 
ity, but thrives at a low temperature and with- 
stands frosty weather to a remarkable degree. Ifa 
loose-head sort is wanted, use Grand Rapids; but 
unless you are certain you will have an opening for 
it, try only a few dozen heads the first season—the 
fact that you may like it yourself will mean little 
in selling it. For retail trade, or where your cus- 
tomers may be reached directly, the little bronze- 
colored Mignonette has a distinct quality of its own 
which discriminating users will be quick to recog- 
nize. 
To get prime crispness and quality, lettuce—and 
in fact all the salad crops—must be grown rapidly. 
If possible, use ground that was manured in the 
spring, and in addition sow in the drills, or mix with 
the soil where each plant is to be set, a mixture of 
fine bone and dried blood, half and half. Big 
Boston requires about twelve inches apart each 
way, or fifteen inches each way under irrigation. 
Planting and fertilizing can be done rapidly by 
opening up furrows one way with the plow attach- 
ment on the wheel-hoe, and then cross marking and 
dropping the fertilizer at the cross marks, a handful 
to every three or four hills. Then reverse the 
plow and throw the dirt back, the cross marks be- 
tween the rows serving to show where the plants 
are to be set. In growing crops for pin-money 
profits the employment of labor-saving methods in 
doing the different “operations” is essential: the 
ways that serve well enough where a few plants are 
set out for home use, will not answer when larger 
quantities are to be handled, on a semi-commercial 
basis. 
TES PREPARE the plants for transplanting, 
which is usually done in from four to six weeks 
after sowing the seed, or during August, open up 
with the wheel hoe a shallow trench on either side 
of the row of seedling plants, and give a thorough 
soaking some hours before the plants will be wanted. 
SALADS FOR LATE SUMMER AND FALL 
The soil where they are to go should be marked, 
fertilized, and made ready for them just prior to 
transplanting, as it is important to have a freshly 
prepared surface, otherwise the dry soil from the 
surface will crumble down into the holes in the 
process of transplanting, greatly increasing the 
likelihood of loss. If the plants are large, or the 
weather dry, cut back the larger leaves a third to a 
half, as this lessens the transpiration, and does not 
make such a heavy drain on the little roots while 
they are becoming reéstablished. If the soil is so 
dry that watering seems necessary, apply it in the 
bottoms of the holes before transplanting. 
A few days after transplanting, give a light appli- 
cation of nitrate of soda, and follow this with an- 
other a week later. This, and clean cultivation, 
and irrigating if possible, will be all that is required 
until the plants are ready for market. Begin this 
as soon as the first few heads are ready. The last 
part of the crop may be carried without injury 
through the first few frosts by covering it two or 
three inches deep with marsh hay. As this may be 
used later for strawberries or other mulching, it 
involves little expense beside the labor of putting 
it on, which is not great. The price generally 
goes up after the first frost, so it is well worth 
while to save any lettuce you may have for this 
late market. 
ee other salad plants: Cos lettuce usually 
sells in more limited quantity, but at a higher 
price, in most local markets, so it will be well to try 
it out, on-a small scale for the first year. Dwarf 
White Heart is one of the best and easiest to grow 
of this type. To blanch the interior leaves or heads 
more thoroughly, tie the tops with raffia or with soft 
twine, in the same way you do to blanch cauli- 
flower. 
Endive is handled in the same way as lettuce until 
the plants are nearly matured. Then the plants, 
which are rather flat and spreading in habit of 
growth, are blanched by tying up the outside leaves, 
or by placing over them wide boards, preferably 
nailed together in a flat A-shape. Green Curled 
is the variety most generally sold, but the Giant- 
fringed grows to a larger size: Broad-leaved 
Batavyian is the sort sold as Escarolle, used both as a 
salad and like spinach. As compared with lettuce, 
there is only a limited demand for either. 
Witloof chicory is becoming more and more 
popular. It is grown during the summer to form 
large roots, and in late fall the tops are cut off, and 
the roots stored and forced as wanted during the 
fall and winter months. For more particulars 
about forcing, see the article on page 184 of THE 
GarDEN MacGazing, for April, 1916. 
Corn salad is the hardiest of all. Sow thinly in 
drill in August or September, and protect with hay 
for early winter use. Good to follow the last of the 
outdoor lettuce crop. 
