What to Do in April 
F YOU want shade for the veranda 
during the coming summer plant 
some seed of the moonflower vine this 
month. I consider this one of the most 
satisfactory vines for the purpose in our 
section. The flowers appear in the early fall. 
A plant grown from seed sown last April 
attained a height of fifty feet and thickly 
covered an area over seven feet square. 
During the whole of last season this plant 
did not produce a single flower; it had been 
given too much nitrogenous fertilizer. If 
you want flowers use a fertilizer that is 
not too rich in nitrogen. Moonflower 
vines grown from cuttings planted out in 
April will flower five or six weeks earlier 
than those grown from seed. 
Keep- the old blossoms cut off- the-sweet 
pea vines, and they will continue to flower 
fora long time. This also applies to pansies 
and other plants that are now in bloom. 
Now, when the soil is moist, is the proper 
time to transplant from the hotbeds to the 
flower beds. 
Set out cabbage, cauliflower, tomato, 
pepper, eggplant, and sweet potato plants. 
just after a rain, when the soil is damp. 
Sow the seed of watermelon and musk- 
melon for the main crop. Soak the seed 
over night for quick germination, and to 
insure a good stand and to save replanting, 
put from twelve to fifteen seeds to a hill. 
The last of this month is the most favorable 
time for planting lima beans. They re- 
quire a very rich, sandy loam soil and cannot 
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
be grown successfully on a thin soil unless 
it is very highly fertilized. 
Okra, for soups, should have a place in 
every garden. Sow the seed now in any 
garden soil, but the plant thrives best in a 
very rich, sandy loam that is moist through- 
out the season. 
April is the time to sow, in the open 
ground, the seed of tomatoes for canning. 
The large red tomato is the best for the 
purpose. 
The average Southern farmer does not 
pay sufficient attention to the variety of 
cotton he plants or to the selection of seed. 
Try some of the improved seed this year 
and I believe you will have better success 
than you had last year. The reason why 
cotton seed did not satisfactorily germinate 
was probably that you planted it too early 
and too deep in the ground. The last of 
April is the proper time for planting and 
one inch is the right depth. 
Do not fail to raise some peanuts this 
year. Plant the seed during this month. 
Georgia. Tuomas J. STEED. 
Thimble-flowers in the South 
FTER the blue-bonnets have bloomed 
and faded in Texas, and the fair 
pink primroses have been dried up by the 
sun and wind, then gay thimble-flowers 
(Lepachys columnaris), flaunting a tropical 
luxurianee-of color that seems to typify the 
very spirit of Summer, fling a brilliant carpet 
over the thirsty land. They defy harsh 
conditions, and thrive on barren rocky soil 
parched by burning sun and drying wind, 
blooming either in full sun or in partial shade. 
However, in locations where the soil is better 
and there is some moisture, the blossoms 
are much larger and better colored. 
From seed self-sown in the fall, they 
bloom during May, June, and into July. The 
individual flowers are surprisingly lasting, 
becoming larger and deeper colored with 
time. I have tied a string to a flower to 
mark it, and in passing the same. spot weeks 
after, noticed it still fresh. 
The blossoms show such tendencies to 
variation that I wonder some enterprising 
Showing the profusion of bloom of the thimble-flower in Texas. It self-sows South and will bloom 
either in full sun or in partial shade f 
APRIL, 1908 
florist does not make an improved variety. 
In color they vary in the same locality from 
pure, solid yellow, to velvety maroon. The 
petals of some show a maroon spot toward 
the base, while in others this spot is gradually 
enlarged until in some there is left only a 
narrow rim of yellow, which finally dis- 
appears in the all-maroon varieties. 
Again, they vary in the number of petals 
from five to fifteen, while occasionally may 
be found flowers so doubled that the petals 
cover the “thimble” up to the top. I 
have tried to count the petals in these very 
double ones but stopped after reaching 
The thimble-flower (Lepachys columnaris) a yel- 
low and brown prairie flower. A perennialin the 
South; an annual in the North 
twenty-five. The cone, or “thimble,” is 
green in color, and covered with brown or 
yellow stamens. 
The plant is a much branched one, grow- 
ing three feet high, with finely-cut, fernlike 
foliage. It grows either as an annual or 
perennial, and the seedling plants seem to 
come into bloom at the same time as the 
older ones. My experience has been that ~ 
they do not bear transplanting well, and on 
that account it is best to sow the seed where 
the plants are to remain. 
Central Texas. Anita M. MILLER. 
Advantage of Growing Clover 
i MAY be safely stated that if clover 
be grown continuously and in rotation 
on a farm the grain crop will be successful, 
but very often a crop of clover will bring 
better returns to the farmer than he would 
get from grain. Clover hay is more 
relished by farm stock than is timothy hay, 
and cattle fed regularly with a ration largely 
composed of clover show a marked im- 
provement over those given only fodder 
and timothy. But the drawback to the 
general use of clover is that it often winter- 
kills, and the land given over to this crop 
has to be seeded each year. If some pro- 
gressive farmer could discover a variety proof 
against winter-killing, his fortune, as well 
as many other long-suffering farmers’, would 
be made. 
