290 
Prolonging the Flower Season 
Y APPLYING nitrate of soda around 
the pansy and sweet pea plants 
during this month, growth will be increased 
and the flowering season prolonged. A 
teaspoonful to every one or two plants will 
be sufficient, and this must be applied 
regularly at intervals of one week to get 
results. 
The flowers in pots and boxes will require 
more water than usual as the soil dries 
out faster now than in the cool spring 
weather. 
Chrysanthemums can be had in flower in 
November by setting out the plants very 
early in the month. Give plenty of water 
and shade for the first two weeks after 
planting. 
Do not allow cucumbers and squashes 
to go to seed, as that would cause the vines 
to stop bearing. Cut off the fruits with a 
sharp knife and the best time to do this is 
in the early morning. 
Take some cuttings from the old tomat 
plants and set them out some time this month 
when the soil is damp. They will produce 
tomatoes for use in August and September. 
Sow seed of watermelon and muskmelon 
during this month for a late crop in August 
and early September. Soak the seed in 
water at least twelve hours before planting 
to facilitate quick germination. 
This is the month for harvesting wheat, 
rye, and oats, and for sowing cowpeas and 
sorghum cane for hay. Cowpeas makea very 
profitable crop to grow for hay. 
Give the cotton very shallow cultivation 
as it will not succeed well if cultivated 
deeply at this time of year. Plant some cow- 
peas for seed in the corn rows at the second 
plowing of the corn and if possible do this 
before the first of the month. 
Set out cuttings from the sweet potato 
vines. Cuttings are better than plants, 
for at this season they will make a much 
quicker growth. 
Do not fail to plant an entire acre with 
sweet potatoes. One cannot have too 
many, for if it is not possible to market them 
profitably, they are excellent to feed to the 
hogs and thus save corn. There is more 
money in sweet potatoes even at fifty cents 
a bushel than there is in cotton at eleven 
cents a pound, the potatoes producing 
more to the acre and requiring less work. 
It is not yet too late to plant ground peas. 
The Spanish variety is the best for late plant- 
ings as the other varieties require a much 
longer season of growth. 
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE. 
Collards in the South 
eee are few more popular vege- 
tables in this locality than the col- 
lard, and this is probably because it is in 
the markets during the winter when other 
fresh vegetables are very scarce. Frost 
improves the flavor instead of ruining it. 
It is more easily cultivated than cabbage 
and can be grown on almost any soil, but 
it succeeds best in a rich, sandy loam that has 
been given a dressing of well-decayed cow 
manure at least two weeks before the plants 
are set out. The Georgia collard is the 
best to grow as the leaves are more tender 
and of a lighter green than the other varieties. 
Sow the seed thickly in a drill some time 
in May or very early in June. When the 
plants are four or five inches high transplant 
to two feet apart in rows which are from 
two to three feet distant. 
Wrap newspapers around the tops of the collard 
to blanch the leaves; the flavor then nearly equals 
that of the best cabbage 
Begin cultivation as soon as the soil has set- 
tled firmly about the roots of the plants and 
continue until the first frost. By keeping the 
soil loose and free from weeds, a mammoth 
growth will be encouraged and this constant 
cultivation will also keep the harlequin bugs 
from attacking the plants. Foran insecticide 
with which to kill these bugs see THE GAR- 
DEN MaAcazinE for April, 1907, page 145. 
The leaves can be very easily blanched 
by placing a large thick paper sack over 
the tops or by wrapping newspapers around 
them some time in October. Another 
way to blanch them is to dig up the stalks 
and place them very closely together in one 
corner of the garden. Pack the soil very 
firmly around the roots and cover the tops 
with green pine brush or anything which 
will keep out the light. The proper time 
to do this is during November when the 
soil is a little moist. Well blanched collard 
is almost equal to the most delicious cabbage. 
Georgia. Tuomas J. STEED. 
JUNE, 1908 
Propagating Hardy Garden Roses 
ee easiest and most satisfactory method 
of increasing one’s stock of garden 
roses, I have found, is by layering. The 
special advantages of this method for the 
amateur are that no greenhouse and no cold- 
frame are necessary, and indeed no special 
care of any kind is required. 
I have propagated roses in this manner 
with excellent results for several years, get- 
ting stockier, thriftier, and better flowering 
plants the first year than the two-year-old 
plants bought at the same time. 
Early in June I bend down to the ground 
the branch to be rooted and with a hammer 
and forked stake, placed abcut six inches 
from the root, drive the branch one and 
a half to two inches beneath the surface 
of the soil. This crushes and bruises the 
branch at the point where it is pegged 
down and the bruising seems to accelerate 
rooting. A hoeful of earth is throws 
over the lowest part of the branch anc 
trodden down firmly, completing ‘he 
operation. 
The following spring when the buds begin 
to swell, the stalk is cut off at the ground level 
between the parent plant and the stake and 
the new plant is lifted up and reset wher- 
ever wanted. With rare exceptions, these 
have a good bunch of roots at the point 
where staked down and bloom profusely 
the first season. : 
The varieties of roses with which I have 
experimented are the common General 
Jacqueminot, La France, Paul Neyron, Fran- 
cois Levet, Anna De Diesbach, and a yery 
old yellow garden rose whose name I do not 
know. Results were satisfactory with the 
exception of Paul Neyron, which did not 
strike roots. 
New Jersey. ABEL R. CorBIn. 
Sow collards in June. In the South they are more 
easily grown than cabbages 
