12 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



August, 1914 



these that should surround the disk would 

 be missing. Dahlias, too, were affected, 

 but in a lesser degree. Pansies were per- 

 haps the worst sufferers. Their poor little 

 faces were often so distorted that they 

 seemed afflicted with floral paralysis. 



For such a condition of the soil, lime is 

 indicated, to drop into medical phraseology: 

 It sweetens, and promotes porosity. We 

 used it liberally. Clover now grows where 

 it was once unknown, the visible sign of 

 improvement. 



After liming, the crying need of such a 

 soil as ours is the introduction of humus, or 

 decayed vegetable matter. 



Stable manure has the great advantage 

 of providing both the humus which will 

 loosen a compact soil and the food elements 

 needed for the nourishment of the plant; 

 but it also has the disadvantage of intro- 

 ducing weeds and white grubs. And it is 

 not easily got in the city. 



We at length had the good fortune to 

 obtain a number of loads from our grocer. 

 At it was furnished late in the fall, the stuff 

 was first used as a winter protection. In 

 the spring, the fine part of this material 

 was dug in where it had lain. There was a 

 great deal of straw in this manure, and as 

 the former had not perceptibly rotted, it 

 was carefully removed, and buried with 

 lime to facilitate its decay. Six months 

 later it was incorporated with the soil where 

 most needed. We valued it not only for its 

 humus, but for its content of potash. I 

 noticed later that the only weed seeds 

 that survived the application of lime were 

 those of clover and several grasses. 



But the one thing that proved most 

 efficacious as a means of breaking up this 

 tenacious soil and making it friable, was 

 rotted grass clippings decayed till they 

 were like a rich dark earth, almost as black 

 as soot. We had several loads of this good 

 stuff. The clippings had been piled up by 

 the janitor of an apartment house against 

 the fence of a friend of ours, and the latter 

 objecting to the rotting of his property, we 

 obtained this material for hauling it away. 

 This substance has value, also, as a fertilizer. 



All grass clippings should be saved. 

 Sprinkled with woodashes and dug into 

 beds in the fall, there is nothing else so good 

 for asters. The soil will come to resemble 

 the woods earth so much liked by these 

 flowers without the disadvantage of con- 

 taining slugs and snails. 



We also had a compost pit into which 

 went all of the vegetable refuse of the kit- 

 chen, even tea and coffee grounds, all faded 

 cut flowers, weeds, dead leaves, etc. These 

 things were sprinkled with lime as each 

 layer was put in, to prevent odor, hasten 

 decay, and add value. This compost 

 proved of great benefit. 



After the introduction of humus from 

 these sources, the soil was in a condition 

 to make use of the elements of food pro- 

 vided by commercial fertilizers and they 

 were added as needed. 



Coal ashes were also used to some extent 

 as a means of breaking up this stiff soil, 

 but not because they contain either humus 



or plant food. It was because we had 

 them and because we knew they would 

 have a tendency to separate the particles 

 of earth. Their use resulted in improve- 

 ment, and the first sign was the appearance 

 of certain shade-loving weeds that had pre- 

 vously found the ground along our south 

 fence in too bad a condition even for their 

 existence. 



It is now believed by many that there is 

 no great difference in soils in the matter 

 of constituents but that the dissimilarity 

 lies in the degree of availability of the food 

 elements to the plants. However this 

 may be, judging by indications our ground 

 was deficient in potash and phosphoric acid, 

 but rich in nitrogen. 



Nitrogen is supposed to leach out 

 rapidly, but I am not surprised that it 

 could not get out of our soil. I'd like to see 

 anything get out of it after it had once got 

 in. 



We seemed to have a reservoir of that 

 element. Before we attacked the soil 

 from the correct angle, everything ran to 

 leaf. Yet, strange to say, the foliage, 

 though so luxuriant, in some cases showed a 

 tinge of yellow. This peculiarity is usually 

 due to the lack of nitrogen, but it may also 

 be caused by an excess, we are told, or by a 

 deficiency in some other element. Here, 

 I am inclined to think, it was ascribable to 

 the want of sufficient phosphoric acid. 

 This lack was also shown by the failure to 

 bloom well on the part of some plants, and 

 the anaemic pallor of the blossoms of others. 

 Either condition was most pronounced in 

 the case of plants that require a good 

 soil — dahlias, illustrating the first, and 

 bleeding hearts the second. Sheep fer- 

 tilizer or bonemeal was thereby indicated, 

 and supplied by the garden doctor, with 

 satisfactory results. 



The deficiency in potash was shown by 

 the soft stems of a number of plants, but 

 it was particularly evident in gladiolus. 

 These grew very tall and spindling, with 

 leaves that drooped and weak stalks that 

 could not support the weight of the blos- 

 soms, though these were less in number than 

 they should have been. Verbenas showed 

 a mass of feeble looking stems and leaves 

 and poor corymbs until wood ashes of the 

 commercial sort were dug in around them, 

 supplying potash. They then stiffened 

 up and not only began to bloom, but rust 

 spots which had begun to appear on their 

 foliage, now vanished. 



The wood ashes were also used with the 

 hope of sweetening the soil when the pan- 

 sies showed deformity. They were of 

 some use in this respect, but, in my opinion, 

 lime is better and more lasting in its effects. 

 But, though the ashes bleached the flowers 

 to some extent, we found them of great 

 benefit to the plants, promoting an upright 

 growth that did one good to see when con- 

 trasted with the "lopping" habit they had 

 at first shown. Sheep fertilizer or bone 

 meal, applied later, restored color to the 

 blossoms. 



One difficulty is still unconquered and 

 will remain so, I think, unless the yard is 



underdrained. Plants winter kill badly in 

 this cold, wet soil, with its poor drainage 

 and bad aeration, except when the season 

 is unusually favorable. And many that 

 endure the vicissitudes of winter pass 

 away with root or crown rot during an inau- 

 spicious spring. 



Yet in spite of our troubles, we have had 

 many flowers. 



Most annuals require a lighter soil than 

 ours, but we have grown numerous sorts 

 with various degrees of success. Portulaca, 

 petunias, sweet alyssum, four o'clocks, 

 marigolds, calendulas, zinnias, larkspurs, 

 ageratum, balsams, perillas, Japanese hops, 

 and wild cucumber have been good. Our 

 nicotiana, salvias, ten-week stocks, and 

 violas were fine. Our Shirley poppies were 

 the wonder of the neighbors who could 

 scarcely believe that such fairylike crea- 

 tures could spring from the soil hereabouts; 

 and we have had creditable asters, free 

 from root lice, though grown in sand. 



Certain perennials have found the soil 

 much to their taste after improvement: 

 Golden Glow rudbeckias and hardy sun- 

 flowers are but too well pleased, while 

 forget-me-nots of the variety known as 

 Palustris, whose habitat is marshy ground, 

 threaten to become a weed. Hollyhocks, 

 Oriental poppies, and German iris have 

 flourished; larkspurs and columbines have 

 managed to live comfortably; day lilies 

 and funkias, gaillardias, sweet Williams, 

 bleeding hearts, lilies-of-the-valley, moon- 

 penny daisies, primroses, hardy chrysan- 

 themums, Japanese iris, English daisies, 

 gypsophila, and heleniums, have compared 

 very favorably with those in other city 

 yards. With foxgloves, coreopsis, and 

 Canterbury bells, when failure resulted, 

 the trouble that has prevented success has 

 generally been winter killing or crown rot 

 in early spring. The wet soil, even when 

 beds were raised above the level, proved too 

 much for a certain delicacy of constitution 

 possessed by these. 



The gardener in such a place must 

 snatch half of his joys from the overcoming 

 of obstacles. And if he be endowed to 

 some degree with " the divine sense of humor 

 that rainbows the tears of the world," so 

 much the better for him. He will then 

 enjoy himself in spite of his almost insuper- 

 able difficulties. Yet it must be admitted 

 that it would be as cheap and less trouble 

 to move and garden in a more propitious 

 spot, if a hegira be possible. 



I have had hours of such discouragement 

 that I have declared with my Job's com- 

 forters, who, of course, have not been lack- 

 ing, "Nobody can do anything with such 

 soil as this." But I have also had my 

 moments of triumph when success has gone 

 to my head, as it sometimes does in the 

 case of other "artists," and I have thought, 

 "One who can raise flowers here can grow 

 them in the Sahara without irrigation." 



I end as I began. It is my private 

 opinion that any one can have a garden 

 anywhere if he wants one badly enough to 

 make the attempt and to persist in spite of 

 obstacles. 



