282 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



January, 1906 



Twelve-Ounce Peaches Grown 

 Under Glass 



THERE is a special satisfaction in growing 

 peaches under glass if you have the 

 facilities. They come in before those out- 

 doors and are unequaled for lusciousness. 

 Of course they need a little heat in winter, 

 but only a little. 



The tree from which I picked the peaches 

 shown in the accompanying photograph has 

 been in its present situation for four years, 

 being two years old when planted. It 

 carried over 300 peaches this season. The 

 variety is Lady Palmerston, English, I 

 believe, in origin. It is trained to a trellis 

 in the greenhouse and covers a space of about 

 170 square feet. We consider peaches one 

 of the most satisfactory crops to grow in a 

 greenhouse. With average care in the 

 keeping of the tree clean and ripening the 



Peaches weighing 11 3-4 and 12 ounces. Six trees 

 in the greenhouse Keep fruit "in season" from 

 June 8th till late in September. Fancy 300 peaches 

 on a single six-year old tree ! 



wood properly in the fall, a good crop can 

 be depended on year after year. Very little 

 fire heat is necessary, as frost won't injure 

 the trees through the winter. Unless the 

 fruit is wanted very early the trees need not 

 be started into growth before the first of 

 March, and then a night temperature of 40 

 to 45 is high enough. The house, in which 

 this tree is growing with five others, was 

 started March 1st, and we pulled the first 

 fruit on June 8th. 



The trees we cultivate are so arranged that 

 a supply is kept up from that time to the 

 middle of September. The first to come 

 in is Hale's Early; the others, that follow in 

 succession, are Royal George, Alexandria 



Noblesse, Princess of Wales, Sea Eagle and 

 Lady Palmerston, the latter ripening its 

 first fruits about the 6th of September. Most 

 of the trees will maintain a supply from 

 fourteen to eighteen days, so that there is 

 very little break in the supply of peaches 

 from the time the first fruits are pulled early 

 in June until the last are gathered from the 

 fifteenth to twentieth of September. 

 New York. Wm. Scott. 



Sow Vegetables Now for Febru- 

 ary and March Eating 



THE big advantage the man with a small 

 greenhouse has over a gardener who 

 has only hotbeds looms up in January. You 

 are almost sure to catch cold if you run out 

 bareheaded in January or February to adjust 

 the ventilators. 



Moreover, you can control conditions so 

 much better that you can raise fresh vege- 

 tables for use in February and March in less 

 time and with more certainty than you can 

 in hotbeds. The most practical things for 

 this purpose are lettuce, radishes and spinach, 

 but you ought to have the other easy, short- 

 season crops, to wit, watercress, spearmint, 

 and mustard (how Englishmen adore these 

 greens), all of which you can eat in February. 

 You can have in March beans, beets and 

 garden cress. 



Of course there is no excuse for not having 

 parsley all the year round. A patch three 

 feet square is enough for a family of four. 



And why not try a crop of mushrooms 

 under the benches, even if January is a little 

 late? For you it is a by-product, because 

 you have to supply heat and care anyhow. 

 If you get a crop that lasts through February 

 and March, you can treat your neighbor who 

 has only hotbeds. If not, all right — it has 

 cost you nothing but the spawn. 



The Southerner's Reminder 



IN the latitude of Richmond the great item 

 is the preparation of hotbeds. Sow in 

 hotbeds lettuce and radishes for use in Feb- 

 ruary; beets for March; early cabbage, 

 cauliflower and onions for April. 



Start in a hotbed pansies and other flower 

 seeds which you want to bloom a month 

 earlier than if sown outdoors. The young 

 plants may be set out early in April, and will 

 bloom in May. 



Cut saplings for bean poles and brush for 

 peas. 



In the latitude of New Orleans the planting 

 season is at its height. 



Set out every kind of fruit tree and plant. 

 Make cuttings of LeConte pears, Marianna 

 plums, pomegranates, and Scuppernong or 

 other Southern grapes. Dig borers out of 

 peach trees. 



Sow all hardy vegetables outdoors and 

 start in a hotbed the tender ones, e. g., 

 tomatoes, eggplants and peppers. 



Plant roses and other bushes and sow all 

 annuals and perennial flowers. 



Dig up, divide and replant such perennials 

 as are not hardy North, e. g., cannas, cala- 

 diums and verbenas. 



Other Garden Problems That 

 Need Solving 



IN THE November number we mentioned 

 twenty problems like that of fringed 

 gentian culture which would make delightful 

 studies for amateurs. Here are some more. 

 We offer $5.00 for the best answer to any 

 of these questions. For conditions, see the 

 November number. 



21. How to get rid of chickweed that is 

 ruining a lawn. 



22. How can we get a good white lily for 

 the million; one that will not be capricious, 

 like L. candidum, and will be hardier than 

 L. longiflorum? 



23. What device for growing house plants, 

 costing $10 or less, can a renter have which 

 will avoid the chills and draughts of the 

 window sill, dirty water on the carpet, the 

 moving of heavy objects, and the excessive 

 heat and dryness of the ordinary living 

 room? 



24. What kind of flowers has given you 

 a continuous sheet of bloom — not scattering 

 blossoms — for the longest possible period, 

 say three months, and how did you get the 

 results ? 



25. How can we keep up a big yield of 

 sweet peas right through the dog days in 

 spite of red spider, and without spending an 

 unreasonable amount of time in picking 

 pods? 



26. Can you prove that any important 

 plants are lime lovers, and that others are 

 lime haters? 



27. Who can show the best record of 

 rhododendrons or laurel raised from seed ? 

 (Amateurs only.) 



28. How can you cure or prevent the 

 China aster disease ? 



29. Can you devise a simple little floral 

 clock of garden flowers which will not cost 

 more than $50? 



30. Who can show the greatest improve- 

 ment in our native asters? 



31. In hepaticas? 



32. Who grows perfectly healthy holly- 

 hocks without spraying in a neighborhood 

 where the disease exists? 



33. How can we get larger and more 

 perfect flowers of golden glow without 

 staking the plants? 



34. Who can discover a sure and simple 

 way of growing the largest of all poppies — 

 Romneya Coulteri ? 



35. Who can report the best success 

 in the North with Southern Allegheny 

 plants e. g., galax, leucothoe, Rhododen- 

 dron Catawbiense, Azalea Vaseyi, etc. ? 



