The Garden Magazine 



Did the Darwin Tulip Disappoint? — Are 

 there any Garden Magazine readers, others 

 than myself, who have been particularly dis- 

 appointed in their Darwin Tulips this year? 



A large proportion of bulbs in my beds, in 

 some amounting to nearly half, sent up a 

 flourishing bunch of leaves But no flowers. 

 This trouble was not confined to the older 

 beds, but all seemed to be affected more or 

 less without regard to age. Several other Tulip 

 raisers in this section report the same trouble, 

 and as none of them can give an explanation, 

 I wish some fellow Teader would enlighten me 

 as to the cause and the remedy, if there is a 

 remedy. Is it due to the peculiar season or to 

 some disease which has attacked the bulbs, and 

 will they probably flower all right next year? 

 Am a great lover of tulips but an amateur 

 at the business of raising them, and any 

 advice would be gratefully received. — Ernest 

 C. Exford, Pitts field, Mass. 



[No disappointment with us, indeed! 

 Perhaps the bulbs you received had suffered 

 in transit. If, as did happen to some cargoes 

 last fall, they were delayed and heated on 

 shipboard that would account for the failure 

 to bloom. — Ed.] 



Why So Few Currants? — A few years ago 

 we purchased for garden purposes a small 

 plot of ground that had been in garden for 

 several years. A row of currant bushes was 

 growing along one side. We debated whether 

 to dig them up and decided to let them grow 

 another year as "we were all fond of currant 

 jelly." That summer raspberries and black- 

 berries were scarce and high-priced and we 

 turned to our currants to supply us with fresh 

 fruit. We did not expect to relish them 

 especially, but to our surprise found them very 

 appetizing, particularly for breakfast, having 

 as they do the tartness which the general use 

 of oranges and grapefruit has demonstrated 

 the morning appetite craves. The bushes bore 

 for more than a month and during that time 

 currants were on our breakfast table each 

 morning. The more we ate of them the 

 better we liked them. It was with real 

 regret that the last were picked. 



That fall in discussing garden plans instead 

 of debating whether to grub out the currants 

 we decided to give them particular attention. 

 A horticulturist was hired to prune them and 

 on his advice the following year we sprayed 

 them early in the spring with arsenate of lead, 



That season they yielded more abundantly 

 and the currants were nearly half again as 

 large as they had been the previous year. 

 Needless to say we relished them for table use 

 even more than we had the first season. Be- 

 sides eating them as a fruit we put up jelly 

 and dined off currant pies and currant sherbet. 

 The latter, to our notion, is one of the most 



Food Conservation Our Duty 



COn another page of this issue Mr. 

 Carl Vrooman, Ass't. Secretary of 

 Agriculture, appeals directly to THE 

 Garden Magazine readers to use 

 their every energy at this time to- 

 ward the conservation of the crops 

 now growing in the gardens of tne 

 people. 



CIt is conceded that the Garden 

 Neighbors rallied nobly to the 

 earlier appeals to increase food crop 

 production this year. THE GARDEN 

 Magazine readers responded not 

 alone in working their own gardens 

 to best efficiency, but also in stimula- 

 ting others and in assuming their 

 proper burden of responsibility in or- 

 ganized local efforts. 



CBut there remains the problem of 

 cashing-in. The crops have been 

 grown — they must be conserved. 

 Methods of distribution must be de- 

 vised so as to reduce to the minimum 

 any waste of product. Herein lies the 

 opportunity for every Neighbor. 



^T And, further, write at once to Mr. 

 ^U Herbert Hoover, Food Adminis- 

 tration, Washington, D. C, and enroll 

 as an active member in the "United 

 States Food Administration " and so 

 obligate yourself to take part in au- 

 thorized neighborhood movements. 



delicious of the frozen desserts. The bushes 

 were in bearing fully five weeks. A feature 

 which surprised us was the length of time the 

 bunches held together and the fruit remained 

 in good condition after apparently being dead 

 ripe. There is almost no waste for this reason as 

 it is seldom necessary to pickmore anyday than 

 is needed for immediate use. Another thing, 

 we decided that currants are easier to pick 



and easier to handle than any other small fruit. 

 Since out interest in currants has become 

 active a friend who operates a fruit farm in 

 western New York has written me that he 

 received $700 last year for the fruit from an 

 acre of currants. So, it would seem, that 

 growing currants for the market is no less 

 advisable than growing them for home con- 

 sumption. — F. L. Clark, Iozva. 



Who Succeeds with Heather? — I note on 

 page 174 of the April number what is said of 

 the heather. I planted it here in two spots, 

 high and low, and it browns in winter and dies 

 back. I wrote to the Biltmore Nursery, from 

 whom I obtained the plants, and was told that 

 it thrived there, and only needed sun and air. 

 My location gives both, exposure West — good 

 soil well drained. Near by I have Biota nana 

 and Retinospora obtusa which thrive. Any 

 advice you can give me will be appreciated. 



In reference to broad-leaved evergreens it 

 seems that Ilex glabra and crenata are of very 

 slow growth here. Evonymus japonicus does 

 well in northern exposure, same for Rhododen- 

 drons and Mahonia. — Jos. L. Wood, Va. 



[Heather is essentially at home in northern 

 regions or what amounts to the same thing, 

 high elevations in more southerly places. It 

 likes cool, light, well-drained soils with plenty 

 of water, too. Can any Neighbors help our 

 friend ? — Ed.] 



Spanish and German Iris From Seed. — In 

 The Garden Magazine, for June, Miss 

 Sturtevant, speaking of Iris from seed says: 

 "They do not ordinarily produce seeds unless 

 crossed by hand." I have several seed pods 

 on mine now (varieties like Madame Chereau, 

 Queen of May, etc.) which I will save and try 

 her plan. She may mean that the variety 

 does not change unless fertilized by hand, 

 however, I shall watch mine with interest. 

 [It could hardly be expected that varieties 

 would come true from seed in any case, and 

 more especially since the pollination must 

 have been accomplished by some outside 

 agency. — Ed.] 



I have a wonderful bed of Spanish Iris, 

 next to a Pansy bed. Last fall I noticed some 

 "wiry looking things" coming up among the 

 Pansies. I first thought they were a good 

 crop of wild onions and was about to uproot 

 them when, on comparing them with the 

 young growth of Spanish Iris, I decided they 



