100 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



October, 1917 



Just a Talk about 

 a Hobby of Mine* 



THIS will be my last opportunity 

 to talk'to you this year on a sub- 

 ject that has been dear to me for 

 twenty-three years, and in which I am 

 to-day more deeply interested than 

 ever — the Peony. 



Each Spring so many people express 

 their regrets to me because they allowed 

 the previous Fall to go by without making 

 a peony planting. I feel, therefore, that 

 I cannot let this month go by without a 

 final reminder while there is yet plenty of 

 time to plant, since I consider early Octo- 

 ber the very best time of all. As a matter 

 of fact, I do none of my own planting until 

 after mid-October, and wherever exhibited, 

 my flowers usually take most of the first 

 prizes. 



My appeal to you on behalf of the 

 Peony is not merely a business one. We 

 already have the largest and most select 

 peony business in this country, if not in 

 the world, and with a barrel of flour in the 

 larder, coal in the cellar and a Berkshire 

 hog (thanks to a fellow peony enthusiast) 

 fattening for Christmas, why should I care? 



If you knew the Peony as I know it, you 

 would love it as I love it. The brush of a 

 Corot, master of colors as he was, would 

 falter before the modern Peony's wondrous 

 range and delicacy of shades. De Longpre, 

 the greatest flower painter of our time, 

 threw down his brush in despair as he 

 failed to catch the elusive tints — the won- 

 drous sheen of the Peony. 



And who can drink in the delicious per- 

 fume of to-day's varieties without wonder- 

 ing what a Roger & Gallet — a Colgate, 

 would give to match what Nature gives 

 us so freely in the Peony. And speaking 

 of Nature, did you ever stop to think how 

 you and Nature working hand in hand can 

 produce living pictures of beauty, such as 

 no Rubens, no Corot, no Angelo ever 

 achieved ? 



A very dear old lady, who herself gave 

 most freely of her time and wealth to the 

 betterment of humanity, once asked me if 

 I realized how my own efforts were making 

 mankind happier and more blessed. 



Time passes — opportunity slips by. 

 Soon it will be a year too late. Send to- 

 day for a free copy of 



"The Flower Beautiful" 



which tells you the whole story. 



George H. Peterson 



Rose and Peony Specialist 

 Box 50 Fair Lawn, New Jersey 



* This advertisement appeared one year ago 

 in the Garden Magazine and is repeated by 

 request. It brought forth a good deal of fa- 

 vorable comment, both from the publishers ^ of 

 this magazine and from many advertising 

 men in general. 



High Pressure Vegetable 

 Gardening 



' I A HIS idea isn't mine. I stole it, but hav- 

 ■*■ ing proved it out I'd like to pass it on. 

 It's about the best way that I know of for 

 getting three crops of staple vegetables a 

 year from the same land: 



Not far from Philadelphia, there is a 

 little truck farm that bears all the earmarks 

 of Pennsylvania Dutch ownership. Two 

 years ago there was on that farm a field that 

 was working as only a natural born gardener 

 can make his fields work. This field was 

 producing, continuously and in succession, 

 crops of peas, potatoes, and sweet corn. 

 I had only an instant glimpse of the field as 

 I sped by on the car but I saw enough to 

 convince me that it was a good scheme and I 

 resolved to try it. 



Our garden has to work as hard as any in 

 existence for a garden with us is not some 

 ground to play with or on which to carry on 

 nice little experiments but a piece of land that 

 must be made to produce its maximum quan- 

 tity of foodstuffs. On a portion of it, sixty by 

 seventy-five feet in size, we planted on April 

 3, Prolific Early Market Peas in rows four feet 

 apart. About the middle of May, when the 

 peas were well along toward bearing, Irish 

 Cobbler potatoes were planted between the 

 rows of peas. By the last week in June the 

 peas were practically done bearing and were 

 removed. In their place, after all the weeds 

 had been cleaned out, White Plume celery 

 plants were set out. At that time the potato 

 plants were blooming and their leafy growth 

 helped to keep the hot sun from striking 

 directly on the young celery plants. Celery 

 was substituted for sweet corn in the original 

 scheme because it yielded a greater profit 

 from a given area and was better suited to 

 our conditions. As the celery grew the 

 potato plants gradually died down until 

 the first week in September when the potatoes 

 were dug and the ground between the celery 

 rows smoothed up, some of it being banked 

 up against the celery. Most of the celery 

 was left in the ground until November i, 

 when it was lifted and stored. 



Under the "Dutch" method our garden 

 produced forty pecks of peas valued at 50 

 cents a peck, twenty-two bushels of potatoes 

 valued at $1.75 a bushel, and seventy-five 

 dozen bunches of celery valued at 50 cents a 

 bunch. In producing this $96.00 worth of 

 vegetables the expenses, of course, ran higher 

 than if only one crop had been grown. It 

 required more seeds and plants and more 

 labor, and we had to use more manure in 

 preparation and more fertilizer for the crops 

 themselves. If it had not been for the 200 

 pounds of 4-10-1 fertilizer, costing $5.00, our 

 try at intensive gardening would have been a 

 dismal failure for we know by experience 

 that it is impossible to get constantly good 

 crops from our garden unless we feed the 

 soil sufficiently. 



We didn't keep an exact account of what 

 our garden cost us but the largest estimate 

 that we have been able to make is $45.00, 

 which includes our labor and leaves us $51.00 

 to declare dividends with. Our season, six 

 to seven months from freeze to freeze, is 

 just barely long enough to allow us to get 

 three big crops a year from our garden. 

 Modifications in the crops to suit other soils 

 and other climates would of course have to 

 be made if the "Dutch" system was tried 

 in other sections of the country. 



Morgantown, W. Virginia, R. E. Allen. 



HOLLAND BULBS 



Darwin, Cottage and Early Tulips, 

 Hyacinths, Narcissi, Crocuses, etc., 

 of exceptionally fine quality 



Order early while assortment is complete 



PEONIES 



Best varieties in strong clumps 



PHLOX AND IRIS 



in Vigorous, Field-Grown plants 

 New and choice sorts 



It is planting time now. Send to-day 

 for our catalogue 



FRANKEN BROTHERS, Deerfield, 111. 



THE most complete stock of 

 hardy plants in America. Illus- 

 trated catalog of hardy plants, shrubs, 

 trees and bulbs sent free on request. 



ELLIOTT NURSERY COMPANY 



326 Fourth Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa. 



m iiii iii 



=iv : ===r-j=j 



iliiiiil: 



Hi 



^KINNER 



System 



OF 1 R R lOATION 



DOUBLES GARDEN 

 CROPS 



Saves them from drought loss. Ab- 

 solutely bothertess. Special sprink- 

 lers for lawns. Send for booklet. 



THE SKINNER IRRIGATION CO. 



SI 9 Water Street Troy, Ohio 



OF ALPINES AND ROCK 

 PLANTS from the rugged slopes 

 of the Rocky Mountains will con- 

 dense more joy into a small space 

 than any other style of Fall Gar- 

 dening. The list includes rare and 

 choice varieties of Anemone, Co- 

 lumbine, Clematis, Delphinium, 

 Gentian, Evening Primrose, 

 Pentstemon, Yucca, Hardy Cacti, 

 and many others not commonly 

 cultivated, all hardy and easily 

 grown. 



Besides native plants, we grow 

 and catalogue all the best orna- 

 mentals for the Northwest, in- 

 cluding trees, shrubs, evergreens 

 and hardy flowers. Either cata- 

 logue free. 



Rockmont Nursery, Boulder, Colo. 



DUTCH BULBS 



are coming! 



The Quality of "Diamond Brand" Bulbs of igi7 crop 

 promises to be superfine! We are not so sure about the 

 Quantity, but hope enough will reach us to go around. 

 C^^.V.7 rtffov To popularize the giant-flower- 



opeciai \jTrer. — i ng darwm tulips we wui 



mail 12 blooming bulbs each of CLARA BUTT, clear salmon 

 pink, PHIDE OF II A i It 1.1 Ml. deep rose shaded 

 scarlet and GRETtllEN, very light salmon, &f 

 30 fine bulbs In all, postpaid for V 1 



FREE:— Treasures of Bulbland 



describes the choicest Hyacinths, Tulips. Daffodils, 

 etc. Delivery in September. Write for your 

 copy TO-DAY. 



NETHERLAND BULB CO., 32 Broadway, N. Y. 



If a problem grows in your garden write to the Readers' Service for assistance 



