264 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



January, 1906 



Transient annuals soon gave way to permanent perennials. The foxgloves and 

 Sweet Williams border the pergola of which the clothes posts are a part 



The receptacle for liquid plant food which is so often an eyesore was made 

 unobjectionable by sinking an iron ash-can which could be covered 



can, the can with cover costing $3.25. A five- 

 pound package of sheep manure placed in this 

 barrel filled with water makes a mixture of the 

 proper strength for a safe fertilizer. Let it 

 steep a day or two before using. After the can is 

 half emptied there will be enough virtue left 

 in the sediment at the bottom to warrant 

 filling again with water before adding more 

 manure. 



The first year that we raised hardy peren- 

 nials from seeds autumn found us without 



definite plan for the protection .of the little 

 plants. Having no coldframes we covered 

 the seedlings with leaves and litter, with the 

 result that the ground did not freeze and 

 the plants were all smothered. Early in the 

 following fall any young plants to be carried 

 over were shifted to a raised bed and when 

 cold weather set in they were covered with a 

 strip of chicken wire on sticks about three 

 inches above the plants. Over this was 

 placed two inches of straw, with a few dried 



plant stalks to keep it loose and allow circu- 

 lation. We banked the sides with leaves, 

 the wire being bent at the edges to keep them 

 from the plants. Here we successfully 

 carried over our entire family of seedlings. 

 Not one of the plants died, and they all re- 

 tained their foliage all winter. 



My garden may be a "poor thing," but it is 

 "mine own." No hand other than mine 

 has dug in it after the first heavy labor was 

 finished. 



Two clothes posts moved closer together and covered with vines formed the basis of a pergola. A galvanized-iron hooK and cleat for the clothes line cost fifty cents 



